A question caught me by surprise-3

Until that point, I hadn’t fully appreciated the damage I had done to my
sister. I had no idea how to make it right. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
know…”

Jennifer laughed, a choked unnatural laugh. “Of course you didn’t know.
How could you know?” She closed her eyes, massaging her temples. “Our
whole lives, we’ve only had each other,” she explained quietly. “But that
was ok, because we always had each other, and I never, even on the worst
day of my life, ever felt alone. But now…it’s like you’re leaving me
behind.”

“I never meant for that to happen,” I said solemnly. I was desperate to
explain, to make her see that this was the only way. “But don’t you think
it’s time we started living our own lives? Don’t you want to get married,
start a f****y, all that? How are we supposed to move forward if we’re
attached at the hip?

“Is that what you really want?” Good question. I hadn’t thought to ask
it.