— I have a sister.
Caroline fell silent.
— What’s his name?
— Emma.
— How old is he?
Luke clenched his hands.
– Nine.
Caroline looked at him in disbelief.
– Nine?
Luke nodded.
— I raised her.
Ty?
“When everything fell apart, there was no one there. I was the one who made her breakfast. I was the one who took her to school. I was the one who made sure she ate. I was the one who read her stories.”
His voice began to break.
— She was my child, even if I wasn’t her father.
Caroline felt a lump in her throat.
— Where is he now?
Luke lowered his head.
— In foster care.
– Why?
— We got there together.
There was silence.
— Why didn’t you tell me about her?
Luke started crying.
— Because I was afraid.
– What?
— That when you find out about Emma, you won’t want me anymore.
Caroline looked at him silently.
— In previous families I did everything to be rejected.
– Why?
—Because I knew that if I really liked them, I would have to lose my family again someday.
He wiped his tears.
— When I met you, I tried to do the same.
Caroline felt a pain in her heart.
— What did you do?
“I started being rude. I wanted you to think I was the problem.”
— But why?
Luke replied after a moment:
— I wanted you to give me back.
Caroline shook her head.
– Why?
—Because Emma thought I left her.
Then everything started to make sense.
Luke explained to her that during subsequent adoption attempts, Emma watched as adults took Luke away and then disappeared from his life.
The girl began to believe that her older brother was abandoning her.
So Luke tried to sabotage every new relationship.
He wanted no one to adopt him.
He wanted to go back to Emma.
But at the same time he became more and more attached to Caroline.
“And then it got even worse,” he said.
– What do you mean?
— I started to love you.
Caroline felt tears welling up in her eyes.
— Luke…
— I didn’t want to. I really didn’t want to.
— This is not something you need to apologize for.
The boy looked at her.
— I was afraid that if I loved you, I would betray Emma.
Caroline walked up to him.
— You didn’t cheat on her.
— I did something worse.
— Co?
Luke looked at her with tears.
— I told her I had found a new family and that I no longer needed her.
Caroline froze.
– Why?
— I wanted her to hate me.
— Luke…
— I thought that if she hated me, it would be easier for her when I was gone.
Caroline hugged him.
— You can’t decide for yourself what will be easier for her.
Luke burst into tears in her arms.
– I know.
The next morning Caroline said:
— We’re going to the agency.
Luke looked at her in surprise.
– What for?
— To find Emma.
The boy turned pale.
— What if she doesn’t want me?
Caroline replied:
— Then we will respect her decision.
— What if he hates me?
— Then we’ll give her time.
— What if we don’t find her?
Caroline squeezed his hand.
— We will search.
