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MY DAUGHTER WAS THRILLED TO HOLD HER NEWBORN SISTER—UNTIL SHE WHISPERED ONE WORD THAT SHOOK ME TO MY CORE ==== She sat cross-legged at the edge of the hospital bed, her little hands trembling as they gently cradled the bundle in her lap. My oldest, Lina—just four years old, dressed in her favorite red suspenders and crooked ponytail—looked like she was holding the universe. Her eyes sparkled with something beyond excitement. Reverence, maybe. Or… something I couldn’t place. The room smelled of antiseptic and warm skin. My body ached from the birth, stitches pulling with every breath, but all I could feel in that moment was gratitude. I had worried endlessly during the pregnancy—how would Lina adjust? Would she feel forgotten? But there she was, beaming. Whispering soft “shh” sounds. Rocking just slightly. Everything seemed perfect. Then, she leaned forward. Her face nearly touching her newborn sister’s. And she whispered, “Now I have someone.” I smiled through tears. “Someone to what, baby?” She didn’t look up. Still watching the baby, still swaying. “To keep the secrets with,” she whispered. I felt a chill crawl up my spine. “Secrets?” I asked, trying to sound calm. She finally looked up at me then—eyes wide, too knowing, too old. She nodded slowly, her voice clear now. “Like the ones I don’t tell Daddy.” And before I could speak, before I could push the panic down or reach for her tiny hand, she leaned in again and whispered something else. Something that made the heart monitor skip a beat. Something that made the nurse in the doorway freeze. She said— (Continued in the first —what Lina revealed next changed everything I believed about our home…)
