Aurélie POV
Delphine lay asleep beside me in the double bed. I’d managed to drift off earlier, only to wake around five. Now it was six, and for the past hour I’d done nothing but watch her.
The gentle rise and fall of her chest. The soft flutter of her eyelids as she dreamed. The way her arms curled tightly around her bunny teddy it all made my heart ache in the sweetest, most painful way. I promised myself that once Dominique was home, I would watch him sleep too. I would memorise every breath, every tiny movement, as if committing him to my soul.
My body, however, refused peace. Stress sat coiled beneath my skin, my heart racing as if it didn’t know how to slow anymore. The need to have him back in my arms was suffocating, triggering panic attacks I barely managed to contain only bec
