Chapter 716
Gwen’s POV
Florentia sunlight had that quality that made everything feel possible for a few hours.
Like the city was offering me a truce.
A small window where nothing was urgent, nothing was a headline, nothing was a courtroom.
I held Nick’s hand on the way to the hospital parking lot and felt his palm relax in mine.
Not completely.
He wasn’t a man who ever relaxed completely.
But enough for me to know the news had landed like water on dry ground.
A girl. I repeated the word in my head the way you test expensive fabric.
Carefully.
Afraid to tear it.
“You’re smiling,” he said as he opened the car door.
“I’m trying not to cry again,” I replied, my voice carrying that light honesty that only shows up when you’re too tired to perform.
He touched the back of my neck for a second.
A quick, protective gesture.
the driver’s seat and went quiet,
celebrate the
He stored things.
every joy had to
Weighed.Accepted. I waited.
his time, because I knew that beneath that calm was a
have a little sister,”
I smiled.
have an obsessed
out a breath that was half laugh,
“I’m already obsessed,”
tightened my fingers
“Want to buy a few things?” I suggested, like I was
He turned to look at
“Today?”
“Today,” I confirmed.
I stopped, because I didn’t need to name
They were everywhere.
to do something normal.Something for a couple who’s about to become parents.” Nick was
Then he nodded slowly.
like he
“A layette,” I repeated, and felt the joy
Small.
Insistent.
a shopping district where I usually
the lighting is curated, the fabrics look softer just
existed in that place naturally.I grew up in environments where
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