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Chapter 196
publish date:
2026-10-04 08:57:47
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Ruin me, Gently Chapter 197
ISABELLE The next knock was different.Louder.Matt looked at the door.“That’s Sammie,” he said.He wasn’t wrong.She came through the door like she had been launched — two gift bags in one hand, a balloon situation in the other that immediately became everyone’s problem.Her eyes scanned the room.Matt. Bella. Lucia. Hugo. Sage.She crossed straight to the bassinet.Looked down.The pink blanket.She spun around.“I CALLED IT—”“Sammie.” Matt’s voice was low. Sharp.She looked at him.Then at Mia in the bassinet.She lowered her voice.“I called it,” she said. In a whisper that was still somehow too loud. “The predictions board. I said girl. I called it.”“You did call it,” Lucia confirmed.“I want it documented—”“Sammie.” Matt’s voice dropped. “She’s right there.”Sammie looked down at Mia.All the noise fell away completely.She dropped the gift bags on the nearest chair. The balloon floated up to the ceiling on its own.Her face changed.“Hi,” she said softly. “I’m your Auntie
Ruin me, Gently Chapter 196
CLAIREMy phone lit up on the bedside table.I had been awake for an hour already.I reached for the phone.One message.Matt.The baby is here.An address.I set the phone down.Picked it up again.Set it down.Stood up.Sat back down.“Thank you,” I said quietly. To the ceiling. To God. To every prayer I had ever sent up for my son in the years when I wasn’t sure they were landing anywhere.I was already moving toward the door.“SAMMIE.”……..SAMMIEI was in the middle of a very good dream.I don’t remember what it was about.What I remember is my name — loud, urgent, coming from somewhere that was definitely not inside the dream.One eye opened.Mom was in the doorway.Fully dressed. Phone in hand. Hair done. Looking at me like the world was ending and beginning simultaneously.“The baby is here,” she said.I sat up so fast the duvet went sideways.“WHAT—”“Get dressed.”“Is it a boy or a girl—”“We don’t know. Get dressed, Sammie.”I was already on my feet, heading to my walk-in.
Ruin me, Gently Chapter 195
ISABELLEMatt was beside me on the bed.His arm around my shoulders.Both of us looking at Mia in the bassinet.She was sleeping — that total committed sleep of someone who had just done something very hard and was resting accordingly.We weren’t talking.We didn’t need to.Just looking at her.A knock at the doorWe looked at each other.Matt pressed a kiss to my hair and got up.He crossed to the door and opened it.I watched his face as he stepped aside.Lucia.Both hands completely full — a large basket in one, two oversized gift bags in the other, pink and blue balloons tied to her wrist bobbing above her head. Her eyes were already full before she had fully stepped through the door.She stopped just inside.Looked at me on the bed.Then at the bassinet.She didn’t say anything.She set the basket down on the table nearby. The gift bags beside it. The balloons floating up toward the ceiling.Then she went straight to the bathroom.Matt shut the door quietly and came back to the b
Ruin me, Gently Chapter 194
SAGE We ate.We talked.At some point he set his fork down.“I owe you an apology,” he said.I looked at him.“Lately I’ve been lost,” he said. “Work has been a lot. More than usual. And I let it take over in a way that meant I wasn’t—” He stopped. “Present. With you.”I looked at my plate.“If work was that consuming,” I said carefully, “why did you still find time to text me?”He was quiet.I looked up.“Hugo,” I said. “If you were so busy — why did I still hear from you? Not often. But enough.”He held my gaze.“Because not texting you wasn’t an option I was willing to consider,” he said.“That’s not an apology,” I said. “That’s a deflection.”“I know,” he said. “I’m working up to it.”“Work faster.”He almost laughed.“I’m sorry,” he said. “For being inconsistent. For making you feel like you were on the outside of something I hadn’t been clear enough to invite you into properly.” He looked at me directly. “You deserved more clarity. Earlier than this.”I looked at him.“Okay,” I
Ruin me, Gently Chapter 193
SAGEMy hand came up.Went back down.I exhaled.It’s just breakfast, I thought. You go in. You eat. You leave. That’s it.I rubbed my palms together.Looked at the door.That is clearly not all this is.My hand came up again.Went back down.“This is ridiculous,” I said quietly.I gripped my bag tighter.Turned.The door opened.I stopped.Turned back.Hugo.Standing in his doorway in just his joggers — hair rough in a way that had absolutely no right to look the way it did, eyes finding me immediately, a smile arriving on his face that did things to my chest I was not prepared for.I had seen Hugo in suits. In dinner clothes. Dressed and groomed and entirely put together.I had never seen him like this.I swallowed.“Good morning,” he said.I opened my mouth.He stretched out his hand toward me.I stared at itHe stepped slightly forward.“Come in, Sage,” he said.My hands were slightly shaking when I put mine in his.Hugo didn’t comment. He just closed his fingers around mine and d
Ruin me, Gently Chapter 192
ISABELLEThe door opened quietly.Dr. Helene stepped in.She looked at Matt first — a brief nod. Then her eyes moved to me. Then down to Mia sleeping on my chest.She came to stand beside the bed.Something crossed her face.She smiled.“Congratulations,” she said genuinely. “Both of you.”Matt looked at her. “Thank you. For tonight.”“She’s perfect,” Dr. Helene said. Still looking at Mia.A beat of quiet.Then she looked at me. “She’ll need her first feed soon. Are you ready to try?”I looked at Matt.He looked at me.“Yes,” I said.………Nurse Sarah came in behind Dr. Helene — breastfeeding pillow in hand. She positioned it around my waist without fuss. Adjusted it. Showed me where to rest my arm.Then she looked at Matt.“She’ll need the gown adjusted,” She said simply.Matt was already moving.He came to my side — careful, steady, and helped ease the gown off my shoulder. No hesitation. No awkwardness.Dr. Helene crouched beside Mia.“We need to wake her gently,” she said.She strok
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