Page 147 of Their Greatest Strength

He doesn’t stir when the bed dips beneath my weight or when I brush the shaggy hair out of his eyes. I take advantage of that, continuing to stroke his head and cheeks the way I used to when he was ten years old and heartbroken.

When I kiss the top of his head, he finally wakes up, sleepily blinking up at me in the darkness.

“Lake?” he croaks.

“Hey.”

“Did I miss my alarm?”

“No. You don’t have to get up for school yet.”

He nods, confusion bunching his brows. “So, why are you here?”

“I just wanted to tell you that I love you and that we’re going to be okay. No matter what happens, I’ll look out for you.”

“I know. You’ve always done that.”

Releasing a tight breath, I continue smoothing his hair. “Have I done a good job here, Nate? Or do you only say that because I’m your sister?”

“Of course you’ve done a good job. Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not.”

He pushes himself up on his arm and frowns at me. “You’re the best sister out there. I’ve always known that I’ll be okay as long as I have you. And one day, you’re going to stop doubting yourself so much and just accept that you did everything right.I’m far from a kid now, Lake. I don’t need your protection all the time anymore. You need to stop worrying so much about me and start thinking about yourself and what you want.”

“You’ll always be a kid to me,” I argue.

“We’re good now.I’mgood. Look where we live and the life we have. Jamie’s awesome, and you’re smiling so much it’s almost creepy. He’s family now, isn’t he? He loves us, and I love him too. I love the both of you.”

“You love him?” I whisper, my heart throbbing in my chest.

Nate nods, an open honesty in his eyes. “Yeah. He’s like a brother. Or a dad, I guess. In the same way that you’re like my mom. In a halfsies kind of way, you know?”

It’s the last thing I expected him to say.

“Yeah, I know. And I love you, Nate. I love you so much. All I want is to give you a good life.”

“You’ve done that. I think this is where we’re supposed to be. We had to go through what we did so that we could find our place here. You took a big risk marrying him, Lake, but look what happened. We completed our family,” he says confidently.

I lean forward and pull him into my arms before I break. He hugs me instantly, rubbing my back up and down. It’s such a grown-up way to comfort someone and another damn sign that he’s smarter and more mature than I’ve been giving him credit for.

There’s only one person I’ve ever met who wears his heart as loose on his sleeve for everyone to see as my baby brother, and he’s in the other room. Nate having a man in his life at his current age and stage of maturity, let alone one as amazing as Jamie, is something I will never take for granted. The things he’s learning from him are going to help nurture him into an even better man than he’s already on his way to becoming.

I know I’ve made a mistake immediately.

My current plan crumbles in my mind and is quickly replaced by a new one. One that I hope won’t blow up in my face as fast as the first one would have.

I’m not ready to give up on our little family yet. Not by a long shot.

JAMIE

The first thing I see when I open my eyes is Nate towering over me. I blink a few times to see if he disappears, but when he folds his arms across his chest, I realize he’s not a figment of my imagination.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I grumble.

“Good morning, Jamieson.”

“Woah, what’s with the full name? You sound like my mom.”

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