She stood glowing in her lace dress, greeting guests, fixing Lily’s bow, brushing Maya’s hair.
“You girls look perfect,” she said.
Maya glanced at me.
I nodded.
When Jenna raised the mic—
“Thank you all for coming! Tonight, we’re celebrating love, family, and —”
I stepped forward.
“Actually, babe, I’ll take it from here.”
Her smile faltered.
I pulled out a small remote.
“We’re not just here to celebrate a wedding,” I said. “We’re here to reveal who we really are.”
The screen lit up.
Her voice echoed through the room:
“The house? The insurance money? It should be for us! I just need James to wake up and smell the coffee… and put my name on the deed. And after that, I don’t really care what happens to those girls. I’ll make their lives miserable until he gives in. And then this naïve man will think it was his idea all along.”
Gasps filled the room.
I played more.
“Don’t cry, Maya… You need to grow up before you keep writing your silly stories in them.”
“But we don’t want to leave… He’s the best brother in the world.”
Jenna panicked.
“That’s not — James, that’s out of context!”
“I heard everything.”
“You can’t do this to me!”
“I just did… and anyway, you did it to yourself.”
Security stepped in.
“James, you’re ruining my life!”
“You were going to ruin theirs.”
A week later, the adoption was finalized.
Maya cried quietly.
“We won’t be separated now,” Lily said.
That night, we made spaghetti.
“Can we light a candle for Mommy?” Maya asked.
“Of course.”
Later, Lily leaned into me.
“We knew you’d choose us.”
I couldn’t speak.
I just cried.
And they held onto me.
We were safe.
We were real.
And we were home.
