SHADE POV -
The moment Aria walked away from me, everything shifted. She didn't say anything. Just turned toward the hall like she already knew what had to be done, like something had clicked into place.
I stayed standing in that dusty old room, the one we'd stumbled into when I needed to ask the question that wouldn't leave my head. The one about raising Corey and Haze as twins. It sounded insane to me until I said it out loud. Then, it started sounding like a plan. One that could actually work.
I knew I was putting Aria in a difficult position. Asking her to raise a child that might not be hers or mine by blood while the world watched and judged. She hadn't pushed back. Not once. Not when I first said it, and not now. She seemed more sure of this than I was.
Even if she needed time
