Claire’s heart shattered as her son, Ethan, refused to accept his newly adopted sister, Lily. His anger escalated, and one night, he screamed, “You don’t love me! Take her back!” But the real terror hit the next morning when Claire woke to find Lily’s crib empty.
Panicked, she searched the house, her heart racing as fear crept in. “Ethan?” she cried, her voice filled with dread. Barefoot and in pajamas, she rushed outside, her thoughts racing: had Ethan taken Lily?
The tension had been building for months. Ethan, terrified that adopting another child would make him less loved, constantly resisted the idea. When they finally adopted Lily, a two-year-old with bright eyes and wild curls, Claire and her husband, Mark, were overjoyed. But Ethan’s resentment grew, and their home became filled with silence instead of laughter.
Then, one morning, Claire found both children gone. Panic surged as she rushed outside, only to stop dead in her tracks. Ethan was carefully pushing Lily in her stroller, bundled up for the cold, his face full of both pride and nervousness.
“I just wanted to feel what you feel,” he said. The love that had once felt lost now grew in the most unexpected way.