All Chapters of The Baby He Never Chose: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Christmas Day ended quietly.After dinner, Mara bundled Lucas into his coat, but the little boy barely made it halfway down the street before sleep claimed him. His head drooped against Damien's shoulder, his arms hanging loosely around his neck."I think he's officially out," Mara whispered with a smile.Damien smiled back."He lasted longer than I expected.""He was determined.""He gets that from you."She laughed softly.Damien carried Lucas the rest of the way to the apartment.The little boy never stirred.Mara unlocked the door while Damien climbed the stairs carefully, holding him as though he were carrying something precious. In Lucas's room, he gently laid him on the bed, pulled the blanket over him, and watched as the child rolled onto his side, hugged his pillow, and slipped even deeper into sleep.Safe.Completely trusting.Damien lingered in the doorway for a moment before quietly closing the door behind him.Downstairs, Mara made tea.They sat together in the kitchen, t

Mara woke slowly, her eyes opening to a room that was still new to her.She wasn't confused. Those days had ended long ago, back when she'd first arrived in Calloway and every morning began with a few seconds of remembering where she was. Now she always knew.She lay still for a moment.Soft winter light filtered through the curtains, pale and grey, spilling across the room. The bedroom faced east. She'd never noticed before. She'd only ever seen this house in the evenings, on Saturdays, or during Christmas. Morning belonged to it in a completely different way.The whole house felt quieter.Not empty.Peaceful.The kind of silence that belonged to a place that was lived in, comfortable, and didn't need anyone to fill it.She turned her head.Damien was still asleep beside her.Even asleep, he was perfectly still. It reminded her so much of Lucas that it almost made her smile. She used to mistake that stillness for distance. Now she knew better. It wasn't coldness.It was simply who th

Priya arrived at the park carrying a notebook tucked under her arm.Lucas noticed it immediately.He stopped walking, his eyes moving from the notebook to Priya and back again."I brought it for the drainage channel," Priya said.Lucas slowly held up his own notebook."I have one too.""Good," she replied. "We can compare."He studied her for another second before giving a firm nod."Come on."Just like that, they were off toward the base camp.Nadia smiled."I think they've forgotten we're here.""I don't think we were ever the main event," Mara said.Damien was already waiting beside the weather station, crouched near the drainage channel. He looked up as they approached."The engineer has arrived," he announced gravely.Lucas straightened."This is Base Camp," he said proudly. "Weather station. Research facility."Priya nodded."I like the flag.""It tells us the wind."Lucas pointed to the shallow trench circling one side."This is the drainage channel."Priya crouched beside it,

Elaine came back in February.The second visit felt different from the first long before she stepped through the front door.The first time, Mara had chosen the park because it belonged to Lucas. It had been familiar ground, somewhere he felt safe. This time, she suggested the terrace.Not because it was her home.Not because it was Elaine's.Because it belonged to Damien, making it neutral enough for two women with unfinished history.She knew what she was inviting.Back in November, she'd told Elaine she wasn't ready for an apology.Now she was.---Damien took Lucas to the park just after lunch."I need an hour with her," Mara had said.He hadn't asked why.He'd simply nodded, helped Lucas into his coat, and left.That was one of the things he'd learned.Sometimes love meant knowing when silence was trust.---Elaine knocked exactly on time.She still carried herself with quiet elegance—the tailored coat, the neat hair, the composed smile. But there was something gentler about her

She told Lucas on a quiet Sunday morning.Not because she'd planned some perfect moment, but because it felt like the right one. That had always been her way with him. The important conversations happened while life carried on around them. Over breakfast. On walks. While drawing. Children, she'd learned, listened best when the truth wasn't wrapped in ceremony.Lucas sat at the kitchen table, tongue caught lightly between his teeth as he concentrated on a drawing.Today's subject was a thundercloud.Not just any cloud—a cumulonimbus. He and Priya had apparently spent most of Thursday discussing the correct shape of its anvil top, and he was now recreating it from memory with the seriousness of a scientist documenting a discovery.Mara watched him for a moment before speaking."I want to tell you something."He looked up immediately.Not anxious. Just attentive.Years of honest conversations had taught him that when his mother said she wanted to tell him something, it meant exactly that