Lahat ng Kabanata ng Lawfully Wedded Nanny (BWWM): Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

The door clicked softly behind the doctor as he stepped out, leaving Monet to slowly exhale the breath she’d been holding. Carter was asleep now, small chest rising in steady, exhausted waves. His arm was wrapped and resting on pillows, the worst behind him.Monet brushed her fingers along his hair one last time, whispering, “I’m right outside,” before stepping into the hallway.She nearly collided with Juliet.Juliet froze. Not out of disdain this time—something more fragile. Something she hadn’t expected to feel.The hallway hummed with the quiet beeps of machines. Nurses passed. Floors squeaked. But for a few seconds, they stood there, two women carrying the same shaking relief.Monet was the first to straighten. “He’s okay,” she said softly. “He’s resting.”Juliet nodded, jaw tight. “Good.”Silence pooled between them—thick, heavy, waiting for one of them to crack it open.Monet looked down, fingers twisting together. “Juliet… I’m sorry. For everything that happened today. I don’t

Carter finally drifted into a heavy, pain-medicated sleep. The harsh fluorescent lights above dimmed as the nurse adjusted the settings and murmured that she’d be right outside.Monet remained in the chair beside the bed long after the nurse had gone.Her fingers stroked Carter’s uninjured hand, slow and rhythmic, as though if she kept touching him, her presence would keep the fracture from ever hurting again.Richard stood at the doorway, watching her.Watching the way her shoulders trembled even though she kept her head bowed.Watching the way she breathed, her exhales stuttered a little, trying not to fall apart.He didn’t speak.Not because he didn’t know what to say.But because he was afraid his voice would break.After a long moment, Monet whispered without lifting her head, “You should go out and see Meredith. She’s worried.”Richard stepped into the room fully. “She’s with Juliet and Harvey, she's safe.”Monet nodded, but her fingers didn’t stop tracing circles on Carter’s ha

The house was dark when they returned.Not empty just dim, softened by the orange glow of the foyer lamp Delores always left on when she went home for the day. Meredith went straight upstairs.Carter, doped up on pain medication, was slumped against Richard’s shoulders, his cast tucked carefully between them. Richard carried him up without a word.Monet stood in the entryway long after the door shut behind them.Her body was here…But her mind was still in the hospital hallway.Still hearing the doctor’s voice.Still feeling the old ache behind her ribs.Still trying not to fall apart after having her infertility stamped into permanence again.She dragged in a shaky breath and followed them up.The hallway light was on. A soft trail of shadows stretched under Richard’s bedroom door the master bedroom she’d only ever seen from the outside, always respectfully avoiding, because it still felt like Hannah’s.Except tonight, something felt wrong.Or different.Or both.Richard stepped out

Monet woke before the sun.For a moment—just a breath—she forgot where she was. Then the ceiling was familiar again, the sheets smelled faintly of lavender and something warm and masculine, and the room felt… bigger. Too big. Too empty.Then everything from the day before crashed back into her chest. The call from Juliet. His deep cries when the nurses and doctors attended to him. The relief on his face at the sight of Monet. The doctor’s gentle voice in the hallway yesterday.The quiet walk to the car. And Richard… standing in the middle of the master bedroom, the air heavy with grief, from clearing out the last of Hannah’s things with a tenderness that made Monet’s throat burn.She slowly sat up, hugging her knees. The house was too quiet. Not the usual morning quiet, this one had weight, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.Somewhere down the hall, a floorboard creaked.A soft clatter followed-the kind made by someone trying too hard not to make noise

Carter was the first to find her.Monet had just started whisking eggs when she heard the soft shuffle of feet behind her—small, dragging steps she knew instantly. She turned.Carter stood in the doorway, his cast resting against his chest in a blue sling too big for him. His curls were smashed to one side, sleep-heavy, his face soft with that vulnerable morning openness children have before the day teaches them to hide anything.The moment he saw her, he smiled.Not wide.Not excited.But relieved.Like waking from a nightmare and discovering the world was still safe.“Mommy Mo,” he whispered.Monet didn’t hesitate.She crouched down, opening her arms, and Carter crossed the kitchen in a wobbling half-run, burying his face in her shoulder.She held him tightly, her palm sliding up and down his back with instinctive tenderness. “Hey, baby,” she murmured. “Did you sleep well?”He nodded against her neck, then pulled back just enough to inspect her face with grave seriousness.“You stay