“So how does this work?” I whisper. “Us sharing a baby?” I hide my face from him, needing space to think. “Do I… do I live here? In your fortress? Or do we shuttle the baby back and forth? Do I become your live-in nanny who also happens to be the biological mother, or do I…? I mean, what the hell Stefan, what are we gonna do?”
“Jesus, Olivia.” He runs his hand through his hair. “You’re not going to be a f*****g nanny.”
“Then what am I?”
“The mother. Our child’s mother.”
“But what does that mean to you?”
He looks genuinely confused. “It means you’re the mother.”
“Stefan—”
“A child needs their mother.” His jaw works. “I won’t take that away. Not from the baby. Not from you.”
The certainty in his voice makes my chest tight. “You really mean that.”
“I told you already: I don’t say thi
