For 25 Years, She Called Me “Aunt” — Until the Truth Came Out

And I reminded myself, gently but firmly, that this child was never meant to be mine in the traditional sense.

When Bella was born, I held her for a brief, suspended moment. She was warm and impossibly small. Then I placed her into her mother’s waiting arms.

I became “Auntie.”

For twenty-five years, that was my role.

The aunt who showed up early to decorate for birthdays. The aunt who sat in the front row at dance recitals. The aunt who sent handwritten notes before big exams and never forgot a graduation.

It was never a performance. It was simply the shape love had taken.

Bella grew into a thoughtful, curious young woman. She had her mother’s steadiness and her father’s humor. I never questioned the arrangement. It worked because it was built on trust and gratitude and an unspoken understanding that what we had done was extraordinary but not secret.

Or so I thought.