He stepped closer.
Slowly.
The nurse lifted the baby from my chest, wrapped her more securely, and offered her to him.
Vanessa was laughing through tears.
“Hold her.”
Ethan took the baby.
And I watched my brother’s face change.
At first, I thought he was overwhelmed.
Then his eyes moved downward.
Toward the blanket.
He shifted the baby slightly.
Looked toward her lower back.
And all the color drained from his face.
“Ethan?”
Vanessa reached for the baby.
“Give her to me.”
He did not.
Instead, he stared at the child with an expression I had never seen on him before.
Not disgust.
