“Help!” I called weakly. “Please… I think… I think the babies are coming…”
Footsteps echoed somewhere outside.
Tessa walked in.
Her eyes swept over me, my shaking body, my hands gripping my stomach, the sweat already drooling across my forehead.
She didn’t rush forward.
Didn’t panic.
She simply closed the door behind her and leaned against it like she had expected this moment all along.
“Tessa…” I breathed. “It hurts… something’s wrong… please call Lucien… call a doctor…”
She tilted her head slightly, watching me like an observer studying an experiment.
“He’s not here,” she said calmly. “He left earlier.”
My chest tightened.
“Where?” I asked, voice cracking as another contraction slammed into me. I bent forward, crying out, nails digging into my thighs.
She shrugged lightly.
“
