MasukSEREIAThe drive home was quiet, but not the heavy kind — the kind where neither of us needed to fill it. City lights blurred past the window, gold and red bleeding into each other, and I watched them without really seeing them. Valerian’s thumb kept tracing slow circles on my palm, and I didn't want him to stop.He cut the engine in the driveway. The mansion sat dark except for one light in the foyer — Gracie's doing. Liyana was already asleep upstairs. The house was, for the first time in longer than I could remember was entirely ours.He turned to look at me. "Ready?"I nodded because I couldn't trust my voice with anything more.He came around to my side, opened the door, took my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world, and led me up the steps. The door clicked shut behind us — soft, but final, the way doors sound when something is actually ending and something else is actually beginning.The foyer clock ticked into the silence. I listened for some sign of Liyana upst
SEREIAThe front door barely clicked shut before I heard the tornado coming.“Mommy! Mommy! He’s here!”Liyana hit the stairs at a dead sprint, purple dress swirling, rabbit dangling from one fist like she’d forgotten she was holding it. A week ago she could barely make it to the bathroom without stopping to catch her breath. Now she nearly took out the side table.I caught my coffee cup before it tipped and watched her launch herself at Valerian the second he stepped through the door, full body, no hesitation, like he might disappear if she didn’t get there fast enough.“Daddy!”He caught her mid-air with a grunt that turned into a laugh halfway through. “Easy — you’re going to knock me over.”“You’re too big to knock over!”“I was only gone two hours.”“That’s too long,” she said, face already mashed into his shoulder, and he just kissed the top of her head like that settled it.“I agree.”I stood in the doorway and didn’t say anything. Daddy. Like she’d been saying it her whole lif
SEREIAThe hospital room felt smaller than it had three weeks ago.. Maybe I was just ready to leave. The white walls. The beeping machines. The smell of antiseptic that clung to my clothes even after I changed. Liyana had been cleared for discharge that morning. Dr. Hayes said her counts were stable. Her body was accepting the marrow. She needed rest, good food and love."We can go home today " I told her excitedly.She was sitting up in bed her rabbit tucked under her arm her hair finally brushed. Color had returned to her cheeks. The dark circles under her eyes were fading."Home home?" she asked. She sounded curious."Home home " I replied with a smile.She looked at Valerian. He was standing by the window his hands in his pockets watching us."Is Daddy coming?" she asked.My chest tightened. She had been calling him that since she woke up. Every time. No hesitation. No awkwardness. Like she had always known.Valerian walked to the bed. Sat on the edge. "I'm coming, one " he said
SEREIAThree days went by slowly.I sat next to Liyana’s bed every morning every afternoon and every night. Valerian sat on the side of her bed. We did not talk much. There was nothing to say. We just sat there. Watched her breathe. We listened to the machines beeping. We saw the color coming back to her cheeks.I couldn’t stop thinking about the night Liyana was conceived. I remembered the rain, the street and the man who yelled at me. I remembered the bar and the whiskey. I remembered his hands on my waist and his mouth on my neck. It was one night. One stupid night.. Now we had a daughter.I looked at Valerian across Liyana’s bed. He was staring at her face. He did not know I was watching him. He did not know I was thinking about that night.I looked away as blush creeped up my cheeks.---On the third day Liyana’s fingers moved. I was holding her hand when it happened. It was a small movement. I thought I had imagined it. Then her eyes flittered open."Liyana?" My voice was roug
SEREIA"The doctor wants to see us. Now."Those words hit me hard.I was on my feet before I even realized it. My bag fell off my lap. Landed on the floor. I didn't bother picking it up. Valerian was already moving, grabbing his keys from the table and his coat from the hook by the door."Valerian what did the doctor say? What happened?" I asked."He didn't say " he replied."Then why does he need to see us?" I pressed."I don't know " he said.My hands were shaking. I couldn't feel my fingers. I bent down to grab my bag. I missed it at first but when I finally picked it up, my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.Valerian took my arm. Pulled me toward the door."We need to go. Now " he said.I didn't argue. My legs were moving. I didn't feel like I was in control.The front door slammed shut behind us. The night air was cold and bit at my cheeks and lungs. I hadn't grabbed a coat. I didn't care.Valerian opened the drivers door. I got into the passenger seat. The
SEREIAChapter 164I did not have an answer to give.Gracie stood beside me at the window. Her arms were. Her face was pale. The press was lined up along the fence. Camera’s were pointed through the bars and faces were pressed against the gaps."Why are they here?" Gracie had asked earlier but I wasn’t sure on what to tell her.I looked at Valerian and he looked right back at me.Gracie’s eyes moved between Valerian and me. "What? What is it?" she asked.I took a breath. My chest felt tight. My hands were cold."Gracie there is something you need to know " I whisperedHer face went tighter. "What happened? Is Liyana okay?" she asked me."Liyana is fine. This is not about Liyana’s health " I said to Gracie."Then what?" Gracie asked me.I looked at Valerian again. Valerian nodded at me."The DNA test " I said to Gracie. "The one the court ordered " I told Gracie.Gracies hand went to her chest. "What about it?""Lucas is not the father " I answered.Gracie blinked. "What do you mean Lu
SEREIAThe house was in our chaos. Liyana was running through the hallway screaming about her lost hair clip while Gracie chased after her murmuring about children and their weird attachments.In the middle of the chaos, Sarah lounged beside me looking relaxed as ever while she watched the madness
SEREIA“No… no… no…”The word slipped out from my lips as I started at the pregnancy strip on the counter, two red lines, positive.I was pregnant with a baby.This can’t be real.This is impossible.I only had sex with Lucas few days before our anniversary, he came home drunk and horny and like th
SEREIAIt’s like my body had forgotten how to work, because I stood still my hands on the door handle, staring at the man in front of me.My chest felt like it was being squeezed and I suddenly forgot how to breathe. The man at the door didn’t move either he just started at me his face stoic and vo
SEREIAThe first thing I noticed when I walked into the kitchen this morning was the noise. It wasn't just the soft clatter of pots and pans. This was one was loud and busy, I could hear the oil sizzling, lids clanging infact I would have sworn I could heard the oven humming.That's how busy the ki







