Nadia's POV
I woke before Julian.
That didn't happen often. He was constitutionally early, up before six most days with the quiet efficiency of someone who'd decided morning was worth being present for. I lay in the dark and listened to him breathing, looked at the ceiling, and felt the particular quality of a Sunday that had nothing in it.
No calls. No deadlines. No travel.
Just the apartment and the three of us.
I stayed in bed for twenty minutes because I could. Julian was up by seven.
I heard him in the nursery, the low voice he used with Elise in the mornings, explaining the day in terms she was assembling into meaning. She had twelve words now. She used them with the precision of someone who understood that language was a tool and tools should be used correctly.
I came downsta
