Then he changed the subject.
Now Ethan looked at his mother.
“Mom.”
Sadie slowly approached the bed.
She leaned toward Lily.
The moment she saw behind the baby’s ear, her hand flew to her mouth.
Ethan whispered,
**“Mom. She has it.”**
Sadie’s eyes filled with tears.
I looked between them.
“Has what?”
Ethan carefully brushed Lily’s dark hair aside.
Behind her ear was a tiny, pale, triangular birthmark.
It was barely larger than my fingernail.
“That?” I asked. “It’s a birthmark.”
Ethan nodded.
**“I had one exactly like it.”**
I stared at him.
“Same place. Same shape. Mom has a picture. Mine faded before I turned five.”
Sadie took my hand.
Then she said something that confused me even more.
**“That mark runs in the family. Just not in Levi’s family.”**
“What does that mean?”
Ethan took a long breath.
Then the secret finally came out.
“Levi isn’t my biological father.”
I stared at him.
“He’s my father in every way that matters,” Ethan continued quickly. “He raised me. He was there for everything. But biologically, there was someone else.”
Sadie looked down.
