LILY
Nine months.
Nine months of carrying a life inside me, a life that began in the darkest corner of my past but somehow became the brightest thing I had.
Nine months of waking up every morning expecting fear to fill my lungs, and instead finding something else there. Something warm, and steady.
Hope.
It still felt strange sometimes, this quiet peace that had crept into my life, almost shyly, like it wasn’t sure it was allowed to stay.
And maybe I wasn’t sure either.
Not at first.
But day by day, week by week, appointment by appointment… it stayed.
Emma made sure of that.
From the moment I whispered that I wanted to keep the baby, she decided without asking, without hesitation that she was going to be beside me every step of the way.
And she was.
Every doctor’s visit.
Eve
