"Ain't a thing like fair, Lisa. C'mon, sis, you knew that." Definitely a lesson they had both learned very early on. But this was different, he knew that. He wasn't pushing her to just get over it already. "You'll go on. You haven't needed me in a very long time."

He lifted his hand to preemptively cut off any protest. "I ain't saying you don't care for me. I ain't even saying I wasn't there for you." At least he'd tried. How well he'd done was debatable. "But you'll be fine. You're strong."

With his hand against her face again, he gently tilts her head back a little, leaning their foreheads together. "Stronger and smarter than I've ever been."