I looked at him.

“You really loved her?”

He smiled through his tears.

“From the beginning.”

“But what about me?”

He took a breath.

“I loved you too.”

My heart stopped.

Then he continued.

“But not the way you thought.”

I looked away.

“For years, people told us we’d end up together. You and I believed them because it seemed obvious.”

He shook his head.

“Then I watched you with Gemma.”

“What did you see?”

“A sister who was terrified of losing her.”

He paused.

“And I realized something.”

“What?”

“You didn’t need someone to take care of you.”

His voice softened.

“You needed someone who would help you stop feeling responsible for everyone.”

I couldn’t speak.

Then the hospital doors opened.

A nurse rushed toward us.

“Gabriel?”

He jumped to his feet.

“Yes?”

“The babies are here.”

My entire body froze.

“But Gemma?”

The nurse hesitated.

“She survived the delivery.”

Gabriel closed his eyes.

A sob escaped him.

“And the twins?”

“Both alive.”

---

PART 6 — THE TWINS

We were finally allowed into the neonatal unit several hours later.

Two tiny babies lay beneath warming lights.

One girl.

One boy.

Gabriel stood between the incubators, completely overwhelmed.

I watched him touch the glass.

“That’s our daughter,” he whispered.

Then he moved to the second incubator.

“And that’s our son.”

I smiled through tears.

“What are their names?”

Gabriel looked at me.

“Gemma chose them.”

He pointed toward the first baby.

“Lily.”

Then the second.

“Noah.”

I reached toward the glass.

“They’re beautiful.”

Gabriel nodded.

“They’re everything.”

Then a doctor approached us.

“She is awake.”

Gabriel nearly collapsed with relief.

---

PART 7 — GEMMA WAKES

Gemma looked exhausted when we entered her room.

But she smiled.

“Did they make it?”

Gabriel took her hand.

“They’re perfect.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Both?”

“Both.”

She looked at me.

“You read the letter?”

I nodded.

“You scared me half to death.”

She smiled weakly.

“I knew you would be angry.”

“I wasn’t angry.”

“You were.”

I laughed through my tears.

“Maybe a little.”

Gemma squeezed my hand.

“I needed you to know.”

“Know what?”

“That I’m not helpless.”

The words hit me harder than anything else.

She looked toward Gabriel.

“He never saved me.”

I looked at her.

“He stood beside me.”

PART 8 — THE PERSON BEHIND THE SMILES

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