Page 69 of Bossy Ex's Brother

“No, but you were popular,” Beth said. “You may not have known it, but you were. Everyone knew who you were. I was just your little sister.”

She said it in such a forlorn way that it made my heart ache. I took her hand in mine.

“You know I’m not saying I handled everything perfectly,” she continued. “But I just needed space to be my own person and not be compared to you or Mom all the time. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” I said. She wanted the freedom to make her own mistakes and discover her identity. I sometimes felt like I was trapped taking care of them, but I didn’t think I was trapping her with my expectations as well. I wondered if it was what I was doing with Felix too.

Probably, I thought. And when he’d tried to tell me, I wouldn’t listen.

“I understand.” I nodded. “And I’m sorry. I’ll give you space now. I won’t ask for anything, but if you need me for anything, call me, okay.”

Beth beamed at me and said, “Thanks, sis. And…I love you. I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”

God, I was going to start bawling, wasn’t I?

“I love you too.”

We made peace, and then I went and made peace with Felix too. We had a deep talk, and he told me he would eventually go back to school, but with his own money.

“I don’t want you to be paying for it,” he said. “You’ve already paid for enough.”

“But I don’t care about paying for it,” I told him. “You’re so smart, Felix. You have the whole world ahead of you.”

“And I still do," he said as he smiled. “Just watch me.”

But he adamantly refused to let me help him, so I had to let it go.

Now, all I needed to focus on was my work and my baby.

I took a deep breath, now steeling myself.

“Hey,” Stella said, walking up to me in her glittery costume. “You’re needed in the bathroom. May’s in the middle of a panic attack.”

“Why?” I asked though I was already moving.

“Not sure. But she needs to get over it because she’s up first.”

I headed to the bathroom to find May sitting down by the toilet and trying to take deep breaths. Fab was beside her, tapping her on the back, and I came over and knelt down.

“Hey, hey,” I said soothingly, pushing her hair back. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“I can’t do this,” she said, gasping for breath. “This is ballet class all over again.”

“But May, you’ve done this a billion times. You’ve danced in front of so many people here.”

“Yes, but then I was just dancing with a few tricks here and there. Sure it was difficult, but I was working way below my potential. It was fun. I didn’t have to think about the technical stuff. But now I’m going to put on a whole performance for these guys who probably go to the opera with their wives and know what a good set is supposed to look like.”

I smiled at her, bringing her chin up. “I’ve seen you dance. It’s fantastic. Remember when you showed me the Nutcracker?”

She nodded.

“I thought it was incredible. I didn’t want to tell you at the time because I didn’t want to make some of the other dancers feel bad, but I was seriously blown away. It’s why we put you first, and you’ll kill it. I have absolute faith in you.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened.

“Really. Now let’s go blow their minds.”

And she did.

---