Todos los capítulos de The Baby Clause: Capítulo 71 - Capítulo 76

He knocked on Rosa's door at exactly ten the next morning, precisely when he'd said he would, which felt, somehow, like its own small answer before we'd even said a word to each other.Rosa let him in, offering a quick, appraising look that seemed to satisfy whatever she was checking for, before grabbing her bag and announcing she had "extremely important bakery business" to attend to, leaving the two of us alone in the small, familiar apartment.He looked tired, more than I remembered, exhaustion carved into features that had only recently started recovering their color after the shooting. He stood near the door, hands in his pockets, not crowding the space between us, waiting for me to set the pace."Sit," I said, gesturing to the lumpy couch. "Please."He sat. I settled into the armchair across from him, needing the distance, needing to see his whole face clearly while we did this."I've had three days to think," I said. "I want to tell you what I need. Not what I think you want to

The courthouse felt smaller than I expected, plain and unremarkable in a way that struck me as strange, given how enormous the events that led here had felt while they were happening. I'd braced myself for something grander, something that matched the scale of everything we'd survived to arrive at this single, ordinary morning, but the hallway outside the courtroom looked like any government building anywhere, fluorescent lights and scuffed linoleum and a bored security guard checking bags at the door.Detective Ferris met us before we went in, updating us briefly on what to expect. "Plea deal fell through," she said. "Her lawyer pushed for it initially, but she ultimately declined to accept responsibility in exchange for reduced time. Chose to let the sentencing hearing run its full course instead.""Why would she do that," I asked, genuinely puzzled."Hard to say for certain," Ferris said. "Sometimes people want the record to reflect the full truth, even when it costs them more. Som

The hospital room filled quickly once we arrived, nurses moving with the same brisk, practiced efficiency I remembered from the night of the shooting, though this time the urgency felt entirely different, charged with anticipation instead of terror."You're already at four centimeters," the nurse said, checking the monitor readout with a satisfied nod. "Moving fast for a first labor. Dr. Hayden's on her way.""Fast is good?" I asked, breathless through the tail end of a contraction that had left me gripping the bed rail hard enough to ache."Fast is good," she confirmed. "Though it also means less time to get comfortable with the pain before it ramps up further. I'll get you started on some breathing techniques if you haven't practiced enough already.""We practiced," Damian said, from his position beside the bed, one hand already claimed firmly in mine. "Extensively. Including a memorable session involving hip circles I still haven't fully recovered from witnessing.""You weren't eve