Semua Bab Reborn to Ruin Him: Bab 71 - Bab 77

“Turn slowly. I want to see the whole thing.”Victoria stood on the small pedestal in the bridal shop, Sofia already dabbing at her eyes despite having seen the dress twice before, and I sat in the plush chair beside her, my own eyes misting as Victoria turned in the simple, elegant ivory gown we’d chosen weeks earlier.“You look incredible,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “Absolutely incredible.”“I still can’t believe this is actually happening,” Victoria said, studying her reflection with something like disbelief. “A year ago I was someone entirely different. I don’t think that version of me could have imagined standing here.”“That version of you doesn’t exist anymore,” Sofia said softly, standing to adjust the small train pooling around Victoria’s feet. “This is who you actually are, underneath everything that circumstance and fear once made you.”The seamstress made a few final adjustments, pinning small alterations along the waistline, and I watched Victoria’s expression

“This is even more beautiful than you described.”Diane stood in the doorway of the nursery, the soft yellow walls and hand-painted ocean mural catching the afternoon light streaming through the window, her eyes already misting as she took it all in.“Xavier painted the mural himself,” I said, watching her study every careful detail. “Took him weeks, working evenings after I’d gone to bed.”“He always did love the ocean,” Diane said softly, running her fingers gently along the crib’s edge. “Even as a small boy, before everything happened with his father. I used to have to drag him out of the bathtub, convinced he could hold his breath long enough to become a fish.”I laughed, warmth blooming through my chest at the small, tender image of Xavier as a child, something I rarely got to glimpse given how carefully guarded his early memories usually stayed.“Tell me more,” I said gently. “About him, as a boy. I don’t think I know nearly enough of those stories.”Diane’s expression softened

“Let’s talk through exactly what you’re hoping for, when the time comes.”Dr. Patel settled into her chair across from us, a folder open on her desk, and I felt Xavier’s hand find mine automatically, steady despite the nerves fluttering through my own chest.“I want to try for a natural birth,” I said, having thought through this carefully over the past several weeks. “But I want to stay flexible if complications arise. I’ve learned this past year that rigid plans rarely survive contact with reality.”Dr. Patel smiled, something approving in her expression. “That’s precisely the right attitude to bring into this. Flexibility serves you far better than rigid expectations, especially with a first birth.”“What about pain management?” Xavier asked, his voice carrying the same careful thoroughness he brought to every important conversation.“We can discuss options at the time, depending on how things progress,” Dr. Patel said. “Epidural, if you want it. Natural methods if you’d prefer to

“Something feels different tonight. I can’t quite explain it.”I sat on the edge of our bed, one hand pressed against my stomach, thirty-six weeks along now and increasingly attuned to every small shift my body made these past few weeks.Xavier looked up from the book he’d been reading, immediate attention sharpening his expression. “Different how?”“Tighter, maybe,” I said, trying to articulate the sensation properly. “Not painful, exactly. Just noticeable in a way it hasn’t been before.”“Braxton Hicks, probably,” Xavier said, though I noticed him marking his page carefully, setting the book aside entirely. “Dr. Patel mentioned those might start increasing around now.”“Probably,” I agreed, though something in my gut whispered otherwise, an instinct I’d learned to trust through an entire year of navigating uncertainty.We settled into bed, Xavier’s hand resting protectively against my stomach as we drifted toward sleep, and I woke sometime past midnight to a sensation unlike anythin