06/24/2025
MY AU.TISTIC BROTHER NEVER SPOKE, BUT THEN HE DID SOMETHING THAT MADE ME CRY I'd only been in the shower for ten minutes. The baby had just arrived, and I thought I had enough time to wash my hair before the next meltdown. My husband had gone out to buy groceries, and my brother, Keane, was in the living room, in the same spot as always, headphones on, silently playing his matching app, like he does every afternoon. Keane doesn't talk much. He hasn't since we were kids. He's kind, predictable, sweet in his quiet way. He lives with us now. When we offered it, he just nodded. I wasn't sure how it would work, to be honest, but we got it done. Anyway, halfway through shampooing, I heard the baby cry. That high-pitched, annoying wail, the one that means I'm not okay. My stomach sank. I rushed to rinse, my heart pounding, soap still in my ears. But then… silence. Absolute silence. I threw on a towel and ran into the hallway, almost expecting chaos. Instead, I froze. Keane was sitting on the couch—my couch—with the baby curled up on his chest like a sleeping muffin. One arm held him close, the other gently stroked his back, just like me. And lying on Keane's lap, purring like she owned the place, was our cat, Mango. The three of them looked like they'd done this a hundred times. The baby was unconscious. Not a tear left. Keane didn't look at me. He didn't need to. And I swear I forgot to breathe. Then Keane whispered something, for the first time in a long time: 👇 (Continue reading in the first comment) 👇
