“You sign fluently,” I said, my voice trembling more than I intended.

He shrugged, glancing at Lucy, who was still wrapped around her mother. “When she was born deaf, her dad made all of us learn. Said if we were his brothers, we were her uncles. Didn’t matter the bloodline. Family isn’t just blood—it’s who shows up.”

I swallowed hard, realizing how quickly I had judged him when I first saw that leather vest.

“I’ll never forget what I saw today,” I admitted.

He gave me a half-smile, faint but real. “Neither will I.”