Chapter 449: No Second Chances

The moment felt like something I might wake up from at any second — the kind of good that sits just at the edge of believable, that keeps making you check. I stood over the babies’ bed watching them, close enough to feel the warmth rising off their small bodies, close enough to catch that soft, milky scent that I hadn’t been able to reach for months. They giggled when I leaned in, two pairs of eyes finding my face with the uncomplicated delight of people who haven’t yet learned to expect disappointment. Everything felt like it was finally, carefully settling into place.

Lewis’s hand came to rest on my shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

I came back to myself and looked up at him — tall and steady beside me, exactly the way he had always been, the fixed point everything else arranged itself around. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against him, letting the solidity of him be something I was allowed to feel again. "Lewis, it feels like a dream. I’m really back."

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