Burning Candles.
Diana’s POV
I stayed awake long after the candles burned out.
Cameron slept curled beside me on the narrow hospital bed, one arm wrapped protectively over my waist, his hand still resting lightly on our son’s back. The baby slept between us small and warm and impossibly still. His tiny breaths tickled the curve of my collarbone.
But I couldn’t close my eyes.
Not because I was afraid.
But because I couldn’t believe he was real.
I watched his chest rise and fall again and again and felt something in me shift with each breath.
Not just awe.
Not just love.
Something deeper.
Something like… redemption.
I remembered the moment I first knew I was pregnant. How terrified I was. How I’d stared at the test alone, aching, knowing the world wasn’t safe, that I wasn’t safe
