Chapter 24

Our honeymoon didn’t look like the glossy photos in travel magazines. There was no grand five-star suite in the Maldives, no paparazzi, no schedule. Just a tiny cliffside cottage in the south of Italy, tucked between lemon groves and the sound of distant waves. It was simple – intimate – ours.

Parker had booked it without telling me, calling it “the kind of place where the world can’t find us.” And he was right. The moment we stepped through the ivy-covered gate, I felt the weight of the past slip away.

We spent the days exploring sun-drenched trails hand-in-hand, stealing kisses beneath the olive trees, and sharing gelato while barefoot on cobblestone streets. Nights were quieter – filled with soft laughter, wine under the stars, and the way his arms felt like safety wrapped around me.

“I wish we could stay here forever,” I whispered one night, curled against his chest.

“Then we’ll build something like this,” he murmured against my hair. “Anywhere. As long as you’re in it, it’s home.”

We made love like we were writing poetry – slow, reverent, and full of unspoken promises. I had never felt so cherished, so chosen. Every moment was a quiet reminder that love could be gentle… if you waited long enough to find the right hands.

It was just two weeks after we returned to London that I noticed something felt… off. It started with the smallest things. I couldn’t stomach coffee anymore, which was ironic since Parker brewed it every morning like a ritual. The smell turned my stomach. I brushed it off as stress or maybe a cold. But when I skipped my period, a small flicker of something lit in my chest – part nerves, part hope.

I didn’t tell Parker right away. I needed to know for myself.

The pregnancy test sat on the bathroom counter, flashing the word before I was even ready to look.

Pregnant.

I stood there for what felt like hours, my hands shaking. The woman in the mirror looked stunned, alive, scared, and then… quietly thrilled.

Parker found me sitting on the edge of the bed, test still clutched in my hand.

“Lindsey?” His brows furrowed in concern. “What’s wrong?”

I looked up, barely able to speak. “I think… we’re going to have a baby.”

The way his face changed – it wasn’t panic. It was awe. Like he had just been handed the universe in a whisper.

He knelt down, placing his hands gently on my legs. “Are you sure?”

I nodded.

Then his arms wrapped around me, pulling me in, forehead resting against mine. “You’ve already given me everything,” he said softly. “And now this… I don’t know what I did to deserve this life, but I swear I’ll protect it.”

Chapter 24 4:37 pm DDXX.

We held each other for a long time. And I knew – our story had just opened a brand-new chapter.

The delivery room was bright and cold, but everything else was a blur – except Parker’s hand holding mine and the scream I couldn’t believe came from me as our daughter took her first breath.

Then a cry. Strong, loud, alive.

“She’s here,” the nurse whispered, swaddling the tiny wriggling bundle and placing her against my chest. “She’s perfect.”

Tears streamed down my face before I even knew they’d started.

Parker was silent at first, just staring, utterly overwhelmed. Then he leaned down and kissed both our foreheads.

“You did it,” he murmured. “She’s beautiful, Lindsey, just like you.”

I traced her cheek with my fingertip, marveling at her tiny nose, her downy black hair, the warmth of her skin against mine. A little miracle born from love, not fear; from safety, not survival.

We named her Aurora. Light after darkness. A new dawn.

At home, the nursery was filled with soft creams and warm grays, stuffed animals lining the shelves, and tiny dresses folded in drawers I never thought I’d get to fill.

Our days became slower but sweeter. Parker would rock her gently while humming off-key lullabies, whispering stories into her ear that made me laugh from the doorway. Some nights, I’d wake to find him already awake, staring down at her with wonder in his eyes – like he still couldn’t believe she was real.

And when she smiled for the first time, it wasn’t just her face that lit up – it was our whole world.

We weren’t just healing anymore. We were whole. And for the first time in my life, I understood that happy endings weren’t something you stumbled into. They were something you fought for. And mine? Was right here – wrapped in tiny fingers, safe arms, and the kind of love that never left.

Aurora grew faster than I was ready for. One day, she was clinging to my finger with chubby fists, babbling nonsense and gurgling at sunlight. The next, she was toddling across our living room in oversized socks, declaring every stuffed bear “Mr. Toast.”

Her first word wasn’t “Mama” or “Dada,” it was “book.” Parker beamed with pride – of course, he’d been reading to her since she was in the womb. She had his eyes – amber with a mischievous sparkle – and my stubbornness. When she didn’t want to do something, not even chocolate bribery worked. But when she laughed, it was all her own; loud, unapologetic, full of life.

4:38 pm DDXX.

We spent rainy afternoons building pillow forts in the living room, Aurora nestled between us, giggling as Parker made up stories about brave princesses and dragons with tea obsessions.

Every birthday came like a blink – first cake smash, then finger painting parties, then her proud little voice declaring, “I’m four now. That’s a whole hand minus one!”

Each night, I kissed her forehead and whispered, “You’re my best thing.”

And she’d whisper back, “I know, Mama. I’m yours forever.”

Parker built her a wooden swing in the garden. Some evenings, I’d watch him push her higher, both of them laughing into the sky as the sunset bathed them in gold. And I’d think – this is the life I never knew I could have. Not perfect, but deeply, quietly magical. And every day, I woke up grateful that I stayed long enough to find it.