[EVE]
Cole.
His name entered my mind like a storm.
He would find out eventually. Somehow. Someone would tell him.
And what then?
Would he fight for it? Would he demand rights? Would he ask to be a father?
Would I let him?
The thought scared me—not because I didn't think he could be a good father. But because I didn't know what it would do to me.
Seeing him again. Hearing his voice. Feeling everything I'd buried rise to the surface with the force of a tidal wave.
I'd worked so hard to let go. And now . . . he was a part of me again. In the most irreversible way.
I turned onto my side, pulling the blanket up to my chin, breathing slowly. I could feel the shift inside me, like the world had tilted just slightly.
I was going to be a mother.
And for once, I didn't need anyone else to tell me what to do. I didn't need Cole. I didn't need validation. I didn't even need forgiveness for the pieces of me that still missed him in the quiet.
