Se connecterHi everyoneee! ✨ Thank you so much for supporting this little brainchild of mine. It honestly means the world to me to have you all here on this journey, and I’m so excited to share this story with you. Now I’ve been thinking… what should our community be called? 👀 And most importantly: Are you Team Dave, Team Marcus, or Team Lydia? 👀 Please feel free to drop your comments, reviews, theories, and suggestions. I’d absolutely love to hear from you all! Thank you again for all the love and support. With love, Mirage sha 🤍
Lydia POVMarcus shook his head immediately.“Lydia. Kids get sick.”“But tomorrow is their birthday.”“And tomorrow can still happen.”I looked down at my hands.“What if I have to cancel everything?”“You won’t.”“You don’t know that.”“No,” he admitted softly. “But I know you. And I know those kids are loved enough to survive one rough day.”The silence after that felt softer somehow.Less suffocating.Marcus stayed far longer than I expected him to.Not in an intrusive way.Not in that dramatic “I am here to save you” type of way either.He simply stayed.Marcus leaned back slightly on the couch and said casually, “Do you know Eli once told me octopuses are probably secretly running the government?”I blinked.“What?”“He was very serious about it too,” Marcus continued with a straight face. “He said humans underestimate sea creatures because they cannot pay taxes.”A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.A small one.Weak.But still a laugh.Marcus pointed immediately. “There.
Lydia POV“ELI!”The scream tore out of me before I even realized I was shouting.I dropped beside him instantly.My hands were shaking so badly I could barely think straight.“Eli. Eli!”Nothing.Oh my God.Oh my God.My nanny rushed into the dining room immediately.“Ma’am?”“Call someone!” I shouted frantically. “Call— wait no—”I grabbed my phone.My fingers were shaking so badly I could not even unlock it properly.Emergency line.Doctor.Anything.I kept pressing wrong numbers.My breathing became uneven instantly.“No no no no…”I turned him over carefully, panicking harder because why was he not responding properly?I started opening his shirt immediately.Touching his face.Holding him.Trying CPR even though logically I knew he was breathing.My brain had completely left reality at that point.I was crying without even noticing.“Eli baby, wake up. Wake up for Mommy.”Then suddenly Ava appeared beside me.Calm.Too calm for a six year old.“Mom,” she whispered shakily, takin
Lydia POVJust like I predicted the night before, something indeed happened on the day before their big six.Something I never expected.Motherhood had this strange way of humbling you immediately after confidence. The moment you started thinking maybe you finally had things under control, life would laugh softly in your face and remind you that children were fragile little humans before they were your happiness.That morning, I woke up excited.Excited enough that I had gone to bed smiling the previous night.One day to six.The final countdown gift.I had spent almost two weeks planning it because I wanted the last gift before their birthday to mean something deeper than excitement. Something that would stay with them years from now when they were older and life became less soft.A few nights ago, while researching child emotional development because apparently motherhood had turned me into a part time psychologist, I stumbled across several studies discussing emotional security in
Lydia POVAnd suddenly I was no longer just a tired mother emotionally surviving birthday week.I was back in strategy mode.“What are you currently doing for visibility?”She blinked and said“…Nothing consistent.”I nodded immediately.“Okay. That’s your first problem.”Then I started breaking it down for her properly.“You need emotional branding before product branding,” I explained, pulling her Instagram page up on my phone. “Right now your page looks pretty, but it doesn’t feel personal enough.”She leaned forward immediately.“What do you mean?”“People buy stories before products now,” I told her. “You built this company from your room at seventeen. Why is that not your entire internet personality?”Her eyes widened slightly.“Oh.”“You need founder content. Process videos. Customer reactions. Packaging clips. Behind the scenes chaos. Let people emotionally attach themselves to your growth.”She stared at me like I had unlocked government secrets.Then I continued.“You also n
Lydia’s POVThe countdown was no longer abstract anymore.It felt real now.Four days to six had already happened, and somehow the closer we got to their birthday, the more emotional I became over the smallest things. I called the twins downstairs that evening after work, pretending to sound casual about it even though I was ridiculously excited.Ava appeared first, suspicious immediately.Eli came running behind her like a tiny overenthusiastic politician arriving for a campaign rally.“Wait,” Ava said slowly, narrowing her eyes at the table. “You got us another gift?”I looked offended instantly.“She thinks I would forget.”Eli gasped dramatically.“Mom would never.”“Exactly,” I said proudly. “Thank you, Eli. Finally someone respects me in this house.”Ava ignored both of us completely as her eyes landed on the two boxes sitting neatly on the dining table.Then she blinked.“Oh.”The excitement on her face softened into something quieter.Curiosity.I loved that expression on her.
Lydia POV Then Eli immediately after. “We are ready” I stepped out of the bathroom slowly, still holding my towel. “Okayy,” I answered. Instant chaos. Eli physically jumped. Ava clapped once like she had personally been waiting for this moment her entire life. “The designer is coming?” Ava asked suspiciously. “Yes.” Eli narrowed his eyes immediately. “Is she nice?” “I do not know,” I admitted honestly. “But she is professional.” Ava nodded seriously. “That is acceptable.” I sighed deeply. Children. The rest of the morning disappeared embarrassingly fast. Breakfast negotiations. Outfit changes. Eli insisting he looked “more creatively prepared” in mismatched socks. Ava trying to brush her own hair and somehow making herself look like she had survived a small electrical accident. By noon, the house already felt charged with anticipation. Then the doorbell rang. And honestly? I immediately knew from the sound alone that this was not an ordinary person arriving. Some







