تسجيل الدخول*Will* I glance at my watch for the third time in five minutes, my heart racing. Brandy is late, and the last thing I need is for this meeting to start without her. The room is filled with my colleagues, their chatter and the clinking of coffee cups rising and falling like the tide, but all I can think about is what could go wrong without her there to help. I rub the back of my neck, feeling the weight of expectations pressing down on me. The door swings open, and I turn, half-expecting to see Brandy rushing in, flustered but ready to take her seat. Instead, it’s Kiera… my Kiera…striding confidently into the room, a folder tucked under her arm. She flashes me a smile that instantly calms the storm brewing in my chest. “Hey,” she whispers as she slides into the chair next to me, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Brandy is out of commission. I’m here to save the day.” I blink, momentarily stunned. “What’s going on?” I whisper back, leaning closer. “Where’s Frida?” “Don’t worry.
*Kiera* "Okay, now stir, stir,” I chant, holding the bowl while Frida moves the whisk in a jerky pattern. “Keep stirring. Tight circles, remember?” “Here, like this,” says Will, trying to reach in and take over, one of the few bad habits I have discovered him to have.. I playfully slap his hand away. “Babe, she can do it. Just give her a sec.” Frida furiously churns the eggs into the top inch of cinnamon roll mixture, an excited smile on her face. “Am I doing it?” “Dig deeper,” I say on a laugh. “You gotta mix the whoooole bowl.” We’ve finally made it to the last day of her wearing the arm cast. The break look great, so she gets the cast off first thing tomorrow. To celebrate, we’re baking some cinnamon rolls as a gift for Tina. Frida stands at the counter on her kitchen stool. She’s perfected the art of balancing on one foot, keeping the weight off her healing leg. That cast will be on for another week, maybe two, then that will come off too. Will checks the time
*Kiera There’s a tremor that goes through him. It’s a vulnerability from what he is asking. He’s been so careful with me, always letting me set the pace, but this is the one thing he’s been hesitant about. I feel how much he wants me, feel it pressed against my core, but there’s always been a wall up. I never pushed it, but now he is asking me to break it down. I have never wanted anything more. “Are you sure, Will?” “Yes. I need you. Please.” Those words are a benediction. I lean in and kiss him deeply, my tongue slipping into his mouth. He sighs against my lips, the sound pure relief. His hands slide under my shirt to the small of my back, holding me tight. His tongue tangles with mine. This is no longer a negotiation. This is a promise. He is trusting me. He is giving himself to me. And I will take such good care of him. My hands down his chest. His muscles are tense, straining against the thin cotton of his shirt. My fingers find the hem and I tug upwards. He breaks our kiss
*Will* “I’m not mad,” I assure her, one hand on her thigh. Kiera raises a dark brow. “You’re not?” I shake my head, smiling with relief. “No, I’m glad.” It’s not as if I didn’t know. Anyone can see the way they are together… laughing and singing and making jokes. In those moments of play, she reminds me the most of Vera. They’re so different in personality in all other respects. But loving Frida brings out the best in both of them. Kiera is just the sort of joyous, fun-loving parent Frida deserves. I’ve been finding my own way into parenting, shifting from being the uncle she only saw on video calls and holidays to being a daily fixture in her life. Ours is a quieter kind of love, the love of stillness. Arms to hold her, words of comfort to share. She goes to Kiera when she wants to laugh and play. She comes to me when she’s tired, when she’s sad and grieving, when she needs the world to stop spinning quite so fast. Both kinds of love are worthwhile. And Frida deserve
*Will*“What is wrong?” I can i stantly see it on her face and in her eye as she approaches me, something is bothering her.Kiera lets out a small sigh, “it’s our wedding.”I blink, I somehow did not see this coming, “our wedding how?”“By keeping everything quiet and rushing like we did, I denied my family a lot. I hurt them, Will. I think I’m really only just now realizing how much I hurt them. Something Frida said tonight opened the wound fresh.”“What did she say?”She brushes her hand down my arm again. “She said Vera promised her she could be the flower girl at your wedding.”I go still, my heart clenching tight. The picture is so easy to paint in my mind. I can all but hear Vera’s voice saying the words, followed by Frida’s little cheer of excitement. “Frida would have made an excellent flower girl.”“Yeah, I feel bad,” she goes on. “We really messed up that part, I think. My family has said how much they wished they could have been there. I wish we could make it up to all of t
*Kiera*“Did you have fun today, min lille mermaid?” I tuck Frida into bed with her stuffed animals, and she nods, her eyes bleary with fatigue.Will and I washed the rainbow tiger stripes from our faces as soon as we got home, but Frida cried when Will told her she had to wash off her glittery unicorn. With a gentle nudge from me, he relented. Our new deal is that Frida can wear her face paint to bed tonight, and we’ll wash it off in the morning. Also in the morning, she has to eat two eggs and take her vitamins without complaining. It feels like an even trade.“Are you leaving?” she murmurs.“I don’t have to. I can sit right here while you fall asleep. Want me to sing ‘Part of Your World’ again?”Her mouth turns down into that little pout I’ve come to love so much. She reaches for Teddy the Bear, wrapping her casted arm around him. “They said you’re leaving.”I’m distracted, fluffing her pillows. “Who said what, honey?”“A mommy. At the apples. She said you’re leaving.” She swallows
*Kiera*I can feel the weight of Will’s confession settling into the small space of the car. His words echo in my mind, wrapping around my heart like a vice. I want to reach out and touch him, to let him know that he’s not alone in this, but I can’t shake the feeling that any move I make could shat
*Will*The engine roars to life, and I’m grateful for the sound to fill the silence between us. I keep my gaze fixed on the road, the streetlights flickering past like the thoughts racing through my mind. Kiera’s voice lingers, echoing in my ears. She wanted me to kiss her. Hell, I wanted to kiss h
*Kiera*I wait, breathless, as that electric moment stretches out between us. The air is thick with unspoken words, and all I want is for him to close the distance. But instead, nothing happens. My heart races, a wild drum echoing in my ears, and I realize I want him to kiss me. I want it so desper
*Kiera*I blink at Will, trying to make sense of what he just said… then the weight of his words settles over me like a heavy blanket. “Will, stop this,” I say, forcing my voice steady. “I was the one who suggested marriage. I wasn’t coerced, forced or anything else. I want you to trust that I can







