LOGINMy eyes move around the room one last time, lingering on the crib, the tiny details I had so carefully put together, and I realize that I’ll have to change it. When she comes back, this room won’t work anymore. I’ll prepare something that fits a loved little girl and I will wait however long it take
After a while, I push myself up from the couch, restless and unsettled. Sitting there isn’t helping. If anything, it’s only making the thoughts louder. Making it harder to ignore them. I need to move, so I push myself up from the couch and start heading toward my room, but I don’t make it far befo
Lilly keeps glancing at me from the corner of her eye, like she’s trying to figure out if I’m okay without actually asking. Eventually, she gives in. “You good?” she asks, her voice softer than usual. I let out a slow breath, staring out the window as the city passes by in a blur. “It’s a lot
I don’t need Aunt Harper to tell me who the baby is. I already know. “He looks just like me,” I say without thinking. Lilly leans in. “Fuck, you two are practically twins.” “Language, Lilly,” Aunt Harper smiles softly. “But you’re right, and if I’d just opened this years back, we would have kno
“Obviously,” I reply, trying and failing not to smile. “I’m the wise one, period.” She rolls her eyes and continues driving. I glance back at her. “Do you have any idea what Aunt Harper wants to talk about?” “Nope,” she says easily. “But I have pretty good idea.” “Mind sharing?” “Can’t do,”
Just as I’m about to leave, my phone buzzes in my hand. I glance down, expecting it to be Aunt Harper, but instead, Lilly’s name flashes across the screen, followed by a text message. [I’m outside.] I frown slightly, surprised because I wasn’t expecting her to come all the way here. I thought we
I remember the last time he gave me hope. It was after we joined Uni. Chloe had broken up with him for reasons known only to her. He’d shown up at my apartment one evening, looking like the world had broken him. I was so startled to see him there—Noah Woods, standing on my doorstep with red eyes and
Uncle Gabe nods slowly, his usual gruffness giving way to something gentler. “You blink, and they’re adults. Responsible ones, too.” He clears his throat. “Though one of them still has a knack for causing heart attacks every once in a while.”Dad chuckles, but Uncle Gabe turns his piercing grey gaze
When the timer on the oven beeps, Nova squeals, dropping her rag. “They’re ready!”She rushes to the oven, standing on her toes. I pull out the tray carefully, the scent of sugar and vanilla filling the air.“They look perfect,” I tell her, setting them down.Nolan immediately reaches for one, but I
I stay frozen in place, my body refusing to move, my mind caught somewhere between the Director’s call and the flood of memories I just unleashed.Closing my eyes, I draw in a long breath, then another, repeating the action until it anchors me to the present.There’s nothing to be afraid of, I tell







