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CHAPTER 158: May

Author: Mystique

publish date: 2026-07-13 16:02:01

POV: Selene Castellano

May arrived, warm and assured.

She had finally stopped fighting the fatigue. It wasn’t that she had surrendered, but rather that Avalon had said something three weeks ago that she’d been chewing on incessantly ever since. “What do you want Elena to see?” It was the question that had kept her up at night. She wanted Elena to see someone who knew when to stop. And so, she’d stopped going into the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She’d delegated her responsibilities at the foundation to Amara, James, and Nadia, who had joined them two weeks after they resigned from their posts in London. "You're terrifying," Nadia had exclaimed on her first day. "Why?" Selene had asked. "Because you looked at me for two hours, decided I was worth uprooting my life for, and didn’t flinch when you threw it all away. What if you'd been wrong?" "I wasn't," Selene had responded. "You didn't know that." "I knew," Selene had assured her. "You spoke of Darius like he was a person." "Right," Nadia had murmured. "Okay," and had turned to go find Amara.

On a warm May afternoon, free from work, Selene made a visit to Dr. Ruth’s office at UCSF. Not for any physical ailment.

It was more a general check-in, a conversational appointment that had become a regular fixture, a friendship cemented through unusual circumstances.

Tea was already brewing between them as the afternoon sun filtered into the office. "Twenty-six weeks," Dr. Ruth observed. Selene nodded.

"She's very active and has an opinion on everything."

"All Pierces do, apparently," Dr. Ruth replied with a twinkle in her eye. "She's a Castellano Pierce," Selene stated with a smile.

"Then she has opinions on everything, she’s right about half of them, wrong about the other half, and absolutely convinced of both," Dr. Ruth mused. Selene laughed.

"That's an accurate assessment for both sides," she admitted.

"How are you feeling?"

Dr. Ruth inquired gently.

"Truly."

"Scared," Selene confessed.

"Happy.

Both."

"Still both?"

"Always both," Selene confirmed. "I've stopped expecting it to become solely one or the other." Dr.

Ruth offered her a soft smile.

"That's growth."

"Expensive growth," Selene added wryly. "It took a year and a half, roughly." "The real kind often does," Dr.

Ruth replied.

"The cheap, quick-growth kind never takes."

The question that had been gnawing at her for weeks spilled out. "When Elena is born," Selene began, her voice quiet, "when she's here and tangible in a room with us. What do I do with the 'other' Elena?"

Dr.

Ruth paused, her gaze steady.

"You've been thinking about this?"

Selene confirmed. "Every day since it became real."

"Help me understand specifically what you're afraid of," Dr.

Ruth prompted, guiding her. "I’m afraid that when I look at her, I'll be overcome with grief. That the name will complicate things.

That she’ll somehow feel she’s carrying something that isn’t truly hers." "She is carrying something," Dr. Ruth stated firmly.

"A name given with purpose.

A name that honors the fact that someone before her existed and mattered deeply. That’s not a burden, Selene.

It’s a gift."

"What if she doesn’t see it as a gift?"

Selene asked.

"When she’s old enough to understand it fully, you’ll tell her the story, and she’ll decide for herself what it means to her. Children have a knack for that." Dr.

Ruth’s expression softened. "Your job isn’t to shield her from the name; it’s to provide her with enough love and security so that it feels like an inheritance, not a weight." Selene studied her cup of tea.

"You’re really good at this."

"I've had a fair amount of practice," Dr. Ruth replied with a gentle smile. "I've been having versions of this same conversation for thirty years. How do I embrace what's new without betraying what's lost.

That’s always the question."

"And the answer is," Selene murmured. "You don't betray it. You carry it forward.

That's what you're already doing."

She shared the conversation with Avalon that evening over dinner. "Dr. Ruth said the name is an inheritance, not a weight," she said.

"She's right," Avalon agreed.

"I know she's right," Selene replied. "I just needed to hear it from someone else." "You could have asked me," he suggested, his voice calm. "I needed someone outside of it," Selene explained.

"Someone who was there.

Someone who held her."

She looked at him, searching his eyes. "Some things have to come from a particular place."

He considered this for a moment. "Okay," he said finally.

"I understand."

"You're not offended?"

she ventured.

"Why would I be offended?"

"Maybe because I sought out someone else." "You went to the right person," he assured her.

She looked at him across the table, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Sequencing feelings," she said. "I'm not sequencing this one," he stated.

"I'm simply correct."

She jabbed at him with her fork. He smiled. Elena kicked inside her.

Selene placed a hand on her belly.

"She agrees with me," she said. "She has no idea what we're talking about," he countered. "She agrees with me anyway," Selene insisted. "She's a Castellano Pierce.

It's in the nature."

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