It Must Be Your Faith

John 3:18

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth." - John 3:18

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The resemblance between Mia and Madison took Zach's breath away. His knees crumbled. Startled, Cammie quickly leaned his weight on her to keep him standing. Madison blinked up at him in confusion while Noah's arm tightened around her.

    "Mia?" Zach said as his eye welled with tears. Madison's eyes lit up with recognition and she took a step out of Noah's embrace. "No, my name is Madi, but Mia was your sister right? Mom told me about her. Do you have a picture of her?" Zach shook his head and chuckled darkly. "Of course you're not her. Mia's dead. You just.. look eerily similar to her. It's uncanny." Zach pulls out his phone and scrolls through his pictures before extending out his hand. "Here. This is Mia. She was six when she died from cancer." Madison took another step forward and reached for his phone. Madison studied the picture. Tears welled in her eyes as she took in their similarities.

    Mia and Madison both had Catherine's crystal blue eyes and dark brown, red hair. "She looks just like me." Madi whispered in complete awe. "She even had a dimple on her right cheek like I do." If Mia had lived to reach the age ten this how Zach imagined how she'd look like. Noah's curiosity was spiked and he leaned over her shoulder to see. "Woah. If I didn't know better I'd say that's you. Mom, do you have a picture of when Madi was six to compare?" "Of course. I'll be right back." Natalie straightened up and left the room. She came back rather quickly and handed a framed photo to Zach. "This is Madi at her sixth birthday party." Zach carefully took the frame and stared at the photo. Zach's shoulders started to shake as he ran his finger down the image.

    Wordlessly, Noah and Madi stood on either side of Zach and together they put the pictures side by side. Cammie silently took a few steps back and let the siblings have their moment. Natalie's hands were shaking so hard it was difficult to miss. Cammie gave her an encouraging smile and reached for her hand. Silently giving her support.

    Zach, Noah, and Madi laughed at the stories shared, rolled their eyes at their foolishness, and cried for all the moments missed. They sat down for hours catching up on all the missed years. Natalie and Cammie were enjoying a cup of tea in the room next door. "Cammie, how could I have been so blind? Madi's my daughter. I'm supposed to protect her and I failed her." Natalie said defeated. "Natalie, you didn't know. This may sound terrible, but if he got away with it once, then he figured he could get away with it again. Catherine was so scared of him. She lived in constant fear that he was going to come back and kill her and Zach. She was so scared of him that she treated Zach like he was the ban of her existence. She was so scared of him that she became an alcoholic because it was the only way she could relieve her pain." Natalie's grip on her cup tightened as Cammie said each statement. "I'm not telling you this to scare you, but to open your eyes. This man's a monster and he has no problem with going to extreme measures to get what he wants. Who knows what kind of threats he made to Madi to keep her quiet."

    "He told me no one was going to believe me. That everyone would brush me off, just like they did to Catherine." Startled Cammie and Natalie looked to the doorway where Madi stood, Zach and Noah standing behind her. "I know every gruesome detail of his... obsession with Catherine. He showed me photos, told me stories, and he laughed at her pain, at her helplessness. The same kind of helplessness he inspired in me." Madi came closer and sat in in chair opposite of Cammie, beside her mom. Zach and Noah followed suit. "Zach, I know what you are, you know. You're not just our uncle. You're our half brother. The product of our sister Catherine's rape. You didn't need to lie to us to keep us safe. I've always known what kind of monster he was and now, the world will too." Madi looked up and made eye contact with everyone. Silently, they all linked hands and together they bowed their heads and prayed.