Chapter 7The first night home with our son passed in a haze of pain, exhaustion, and something far more dangerous than either.Clara moved through the nursery with quiet efficiency. She changed the baby, swaddled him, and settled him into the crib as if she had done it a thousand times. Every soft coo she made, every gentle bounce of her arms, scraped against something raw inside me. I lay in the large bed Lucien had moved into the nursery suite, body aching from the birth, and watched her with an ache I could not name.Jealousy.Insecurity.Fear.Was I already being replaced?Lucien stayed close. He never left the room for more than a few minutes. When the baby cried, he was the one who lifted him first, carefully supporting the tiny head, before reluctantly passing him to Clara for feeding or changing. When I winced from the residual pain, his hand found mine without hesitation. Yet every time Clara took the baby from me, that hollow feeling returned.Sometime after midnight, when
Last Updated : 2026-08-19 Read more