เข้าสู่ระบบ~ Mara ~ By the time Dinner is served, it feels too small for everything sitting at the table. The plates are full. But no one is eating. My mother keeps adjusting her fork like it’s slightly out of place. My father hasn’t touched his food at all. He’s watching Cole without pretending not to. Cole sits across from them, relaxed in a way that isn’t actually relaxed. Lily swings her legs under the chair beside me, humming softly, completely unaware she’s the only one breathing normally in this room. I clear my throat. “I wanted to tell you something,” I say, my voice steady even though my chest feels tight. My mother looks at me first. “What is it?” I glance down at my hands for a second. Then I say it. “I’m pregnant.” Silence. My mother blinks once. My father leans back slowly in his chair. Lily stops humming. “You’re what?” my mother asks, her voice quieter now. “Pregnant,” I repeat, lifting my head. Her eyes move quickly to my stomach. Then
~ Lily ~ The house feels smaller. I don’t know why. It’s the same. Same couch. Same table. Same spot where my sock got lost that one time. But it feels different. Like when you wear your shoes for too long and they start to feel tight even though they still fit. I sit on the floor with my colouring book, but I’m not really colouring. I’m just… moving the crayon. “Mama,” I say, looking up at her. She’s in the kitchen again. She’s always in the kitchen now. “Yeah, baby?” she answers, but she doesn’t look at me right away. “Are we moving?” I ask. She pauses. Just a little. Then she turns. “Why would you ask that?” she says, her voice soft. I shrug. “It feels like it.” She studies me. Like I said something important. “I don’t know yet,” she admits, walking closer. “Why? Do you want to?” I think about it. Then shake my head. “Maybe.” She smiles a little. I look down at my drawing again. Then back up
~ Cole ~ I hear their car before I see it. Gravel crunches outside. Mara told me they are the kind of people who pull up like they belong anywhere. I stand by the window with my arms folded, watching through the slit in the curtain. “Are you going to stare them into submission,” Mara asks quietly from behind me, “or actually open the door?” I glance back at her. She’s pretending to be calm, but she’s not. Her hands are clasped too tightly. “I’m waiting,” I tell her, my voice steady. “For what?” she asks, frowning slightly. “For them to decide how they’re walking in.” She exhales softly, shaking her head. “That’s not how normal people think, Cole.” “Yeah,” I mutter, turning back to the window. “I’ve been told.” The car door opens, then another. I watch closely. Her father steps out first with straight posture and controlled movements. He looks like the kind of man who believes control equals respect. Her mother follows. She looks softer, but her eyes are already scann
Mara ~ I found out my parents are coming the same way everything else in my life seems to happen lately. Quietly. Unexpectedly. Right when I feel like I finally have a little control again. My phone buzzes while I’m folding laundry. Lily’s clothes first. Always Lily’s. Small shirts. Soft fabric. Things that still smell like home. I don’t rush to check it. I should have. I wipe my hands on my leggings, pick up the phone, and read the message once. Then again. Then a third time, slower. We’ll be in town this weekend. We want to see you and Lily. No question. No asking. They just… decided. My chest tightens a little. Not panic. Not fear. Something more complicated. Old. The kind of feeling that doesn’t leave even when you grow up and build your own life. “Mama?” Lily’s voice comes from the doorway. I look up. She’s holding one sock. Just one. “Where’s the other one?” she asks. I blink, pulling myself out of my head. “What?” “The other sock,” she repeats, walking
~ Cole ~ The gate opens before I even stop the bike. Like it already decided I belong here. I don’t. Not yet. I cut the engine and sit there for a second, looking at the house through the bars as they slide open fully. Big clean, no noise from the street, no people watching, no one knowing who’s coming in or out. It feels wrong and right at the same time. “You coming in or just judging it from out there?” the agent calls, standing by the front steps with a polite smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. I step off the bike slowly, my boots crunching on the gravel. “Just making sure it’s real,” I answer, pulling off my gloves and tucking them into my belt. He laughs lightly, like I made a joke. I didn’t. “It’s very real,” he says, gesturing toward the grand entryway of the house. “Four bedrooms. Private security system. Gated access. No shared walls. Very… exclusive.” Exclusive. That’s one word for it. Isolated is another. I walk past him without saying anything, my boots hitti
~ Mara ~ I'm tired and my back is killing me this baby better hurry up, what's strange is that this pregnancy makes me notice everything: the fridge humming, Lily’s pencil scratching against paper in the living room, and my own breathing, a little more erratic than it should be. I stand in the kitchen staring at the sink like I forgot why I walked in here. Again. It’s happening more lately little gaps where my body is here but my mind just drifts off, Pregnancy I tell myself. Just pregnancy. I press my hand lightly against my stomach. Still small but getting larger. “Mama?” Lily’s voice pulls me back. I turn toward the living room to answer her. “Yes?” “This doesn’t make sense,” she says, squinting at her workbook with a pencil tucked behind her ear. I walk over slowly, lowering myself beside her on the couch. “What doesn’t make sense?” “This question,” she says, pointing at the page. “It says ‘explain your answer’ but I already wrote the answer.” I glance at the ne
Mara The space beside me was cold when I woke up. Not just empty. Cleared. I lay still for a moment, eyes open, breathing shallow, taking inventory of what was missing before I let myself register what remained. The sheet was folded back on his side. The pillow gone. Even the faint weight i
Mara The ride was quiet. Not awkward. Not heavy with forced conversation. Just quiet in the way that made my thoughts louder than the engine beneath us. Cole didn’t touch me more than necessary. His hand stayed steady at my waist, firm enough to keep me balanced, distant enough to r
Cole I woke before she did. Habit. The room was still dark,and quiet that my body refused to sleep.My body knew exactly where I was before my mind caught up, every muscle aware of her presence beside me, the warmth she’d left pressed into the sheets like an imprint I wasn’t supposed to stud
Mara The first call from his lawyer comes at 9:03 a.m. I answer before it rings twice. “Ms Collins, we’d like to discuss your… living situation.” Living situation. That’s what they’re calling it. Not love. Not support. Not safety. I grip the edge of the table. “My daughter liv







