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“You were broken too” I’m not sure why I just said that, but Brooke never talks about her pain Yet I know she loved her mother as much as her father did

At first she doesn’t say anything and I regretto know the answers too Brooke sucks in a little bit of air and breathes it out slowly Her eyes open and she stares across the room almost blankly “I broke quietly and unobtrusively”

I immediately draw the conclusion “So your dad wouldn’t see it You didn’t want the extra burden on him”

Once again Brooke twists her neck to look at th for our family for my entire life The provider and the protector If for oneto do it despite hoas feeling inside”

My hands stopon her body as we hold our eyes locked on to each other Profound respect wells up inside of irl who could be such a rock at times I wonder how tired Brookeher th As she kept a spine of steel and her wounds inside

“Lay your head back down,” I murmur as I nod toward her arms crossed beneath her face

She only blinks once, but co her eyes as I resu her a few stories about training ca and so She’s not into hockey on a deep level, so it’s the perfect type of inforht now I continue to rub her back, going softer and softer inmy voice low and level as I tell her about the drills we did last week

Forecheck drills

D-zone coverage

Wall work

Puck protection

It takes no ti deeply, sound asleep as I’d intended

I slide off the bed and head into the bathroo Brooke’s toothbrush and don’t give a second thought to using it, brushing my teeth quickly with her mint-flavored toothpaste

Flipping out lights as Ito be no way to get her under the covers without waking her up So I strip down to rab the comforter off the other bed