My Daughter Babysat His Secret Son

Every single weekend, Tyler made a grand show of his devotion. Rain or shine, he would take our five-year-old daughter, Sadie, out for the entire day so I could, as he put it, "have some well-deserved me-time." Every Saturday evening, Sadie would burst through the front door, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and tell me the same thing: "Daddy and I played house all day!" But today was different. The moment she stepped inside, her little knees buckled. She collapsed onto the entryway rug, her small shoulders slumping. "My arms ache so much, Mommy," she whimpered, her lower lip trembling. "My legs hurt, too." I knelt beside her, unzipping her light pink jacket. "What’s wrong, sweetheart? Did you run around too much at the park?" "We didn't go to the park," she whispered, burying her face in my collarbone. "Remember before, when Aunt Chelsea’s belly was really big? She got to be the baby back then. Daddy and I had to take care of her. It was so much fun. But now... now there's a real baby brother." My hands froze on her zipper. "A baby brother?" "Yeah. He's the baby now, so I have to play the mommy. I have to feed him his bottle and change his sticky diapers. I had to carry him and rock him to sleep for hours and hours today because he wouldn't stop crying. My arms felt like they were going to fall off." She looked up at me, her big brown eyes swimming with unshed tears. "And when the baby cried, Aunt Chelsea screamed at me. Daddy got really mad, too. He smacked my hand and made me stand in the corner facing the wall for the rest of the afternoon..." A cold, violent shudder ripped through my spine, starting at my fingertips and pooling deep in my stomach. I pulled Sadie into my chest, holding her so tightly I was afraid I’d crush her. I bit down on my lip until I tasted copper, desperate to swallow the scream rising in my throat. I wanted to tear Tyler apart. I wanted to burn his life to the ground. But I forced myself to breathe. I waited. I played the quie