“Colonel,” the soldier said, his voice carrying across the frozen driveway. “The team is ready, ma’am. We move on your order.” Behind me, I heard my mother’s coffee cup meet the counter too hard. Sebastian’s car keys stopped spinning. My father’s newspaper slid from his hands entirely. The word Colonel hung in the cold air like a verdict none of them had seen coming.

I straightened, the baby still shifting beneath my ribs, and returned the salute with the ease of fourteen years of practice. Adrienne stepped forward, her silk robe suddenly absurd against the row of dark vehicles. “What is this?” she demanded, her voice thin. I turned to face the family that had ordered me into a garage, and I finally let them see the person they had never bothered to know.