Ariyah's POV
Mira's Cottage - Night
The baby won't stop moving.
I lie awake in the darkness, my hand resting on my swollen belly, feeling the restless kicks and turns beneath my skin. It's like the child knows something I don't. Like it can sense what's waiting outside in the shadows.
"You feel it too, don't you?" I whisper.
A small foot presses against my palm, and I smile despite the fear coiling in my chest. Seven months. Seven months since the rejection. Seven months since my world fell apart and then reformed into something new. Something I never expected.
This child.
This impossible, miraculous child.
"I was so broken when I found out about you," I tell the baby softly. "I thought my life was over. I thought I had nothing left to live for."
Another kick. Stronger this time.
