Sydney and her mom were always a duo. Two peas in a pod. The kind where every friend who came over ended up wanting to stay, wanting to be near Briar, wanting whatever it was that existed in that house. I watched it from close up before I was fully inside it. I admired it the way you admire something you recognize as rare before you have words for what makes it that way. Eighteen years later, my bond with Briar is its own thing. Not a reflection of Sydney’s. Something that belongs entirely to us. My father-in-law comes home late some nights and finds the three of us in their bed. And every time, I think — this is what it looks like to be let all the way in. I didn’t marry into this family. I grew into it. And they made room for me without anyone having to ask. 🤍 #motherinlaw #inlaws #richinlove #marryyourbestfriend #familygoals