Damian
We were all still standing there outside the restaurant. The city hummed around us, cars passing, conversations trailing by, laughter spilling out of open doors. But for me, the world had narrowed to one conversation, and every word Ivy said felt like it had been sharpened to pierce through me. She answered Madeleine’s questions with poise. Graceful, practiced, even as her hand kept drifting toward her belly in the most unconscious, protective way. She didn’t stutter. She didn’t falter.
And that killed me.
Because she was calm. Collected. Like, I didn’t matter anymore. Like this, the child didn’t matter to me. But it did. It mattered so much that I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. Josh hovered close to her, his hand resting gently on the small of her back. My stomach twisted at t
