Page 30 (1/1)

She painted such a clear and pretty picture I can see it perfectly inour child in her ar face as she runs around with our little one at the park, flour sed on her and our kids’ faces And for the first time in my life, I knoithout a shadow of a doubt what I want in my life

Her And her dreams They’re s

“Is that why you were so unhappy in yourht of her carrying another s forth

“Heavens no” She shakes her head, her hair tickling ive him an heir But you wanna know a secret?” she asks in a whisper, a little devilish gleam in her beautiful eyes, and she lifts an eyebrow and smirks conspiratorially

I can’t help but grin I love this new, playful side of her “I want to know all your secrets, piccolina”

She does a little dance with her shoulders as she singsongs, “I was on the piiill”

My own brow rises at that “You were on birth control? Why? How?”

She turns back on her side to faceher hands up to rest beneath her cheek “Fertility specialist I was lucky enough not to get pregnant the first couple of ot married, and he sent me to Dr Lizith Stein, because she and her husband are on The Ruin’s approved list As I iine you are, doctor” She practically purrsdoctor and patient in bed—soist A gynecologist—maybe A chiropractor—for sure But a cancer doctor—not so much

“You got birth control… fro the connections of how that would’ve taken place

She shrugs against ist She just specializes inbabies And I took a chance Desperate times called for desperate irl code—that she wouldn’t throw me under the bus and tell my husband I didn’t want to have his baby I told her whatin The Ruin herself, and she took pity onI have to pay a fortune for the lack of paper trail and to keep her mouth shut, but she is an ally, one of my only ones Hell, maybe the only one”

My brow furrows at this “Not anyer are you alone in this fucked-up world You have ht for you harder than I will”

Her face softens, and her eyes grow h the unshed tears “I’ toelse you could’ve done to prove how much you are on my side and actually… care about o This is all so fast and—”

“It’s nobetrothed to so someone just to solidify family business While I’ve never been in love before, I find the notion ofsomeone because of that e people pawns oftwo lives together in holyopenly like I never have with a woman before, or anyone for that matter

“Are you a religious ht doctors leaned more on the side of science than God”

Darling The way she said it… al, made my heart feel heavier inlike that before

“I’ious, more spiritual, I’d say I believe science proves God is real every day In my line of work, I see miracles happen, coe 4 cancers who suddenly go into re and all hope was lost Plus, there are quantum scientists out there who claim they can prove hu It’s so I choose to believe in, if not because I think it’s true, then because it hurts to think so like that doesn’t exist”

“What do youmy lips as I speak