Because Ethan had never been a prize to keep or a problem to solve.
He was a person.
And once we finally treated his future—and one another’s—as a matter of choice rather than possession, the question of who was his “real” family stopped needing an answer.
We already knew.
We were.
All of us.
Not in the same way.
Not without scars, mistakes, boundaries, or unfinished conversations.
But truthfully.
And this time, truth was enough.
