Alexander hesitated, looking down at me with a wary expression. But to my surprise, after considering for a moment, he nodded. “Alright. Since it was partially my Beta’s fault you missed your interview, I’ll give you another chance.”


    “Thank you.” I puffed my chest out and went to walk past him, heading straight for the nursery.


    “Where are you going?” Alexander called after me.


    I froze at the base of the stairway, cheeks reddening as it hit me–I wasn’t supposed to know where the nursery was. I wasn’t supposed to know anything about the house that had been my home for six years.


    Forcing a smile, I turned back to Alexander. “I’m sorry. I assumed the nursery was on the second floor.”


    Alexander blinked in confusion. “Well, it is, but…” His shoulders deted with a sigh, and for a second, I almost thought I could see the faintest flicker of amusement in his tired green eyes. <b>“</b>Nevermind. Right this way.”


    I let Alexander lead me upstairs and down the hall, where I knew the nursery was. The door was already cracked open when we approached. My heart thudded as the soft sounds of a luby ying on a speaker


    -the very speaker I’d picked out, which had a spinning feature that cast shapes of stars and moons across the walls to the tempo of the music–emanated from within.


    I wanted to run straight to my son and hold him in my arms so desperately. But I restrained myself, focusing instead on making a good impression.


    “He’s just in here,” Alexander said, his hand resting on the doorknob. “I’ll give you five minutes. After that, I’m taking him back.”


    Five minutes. For all I knew, this could be the one and only time I would ever get to hold my son. The thought shot through me like a knife stabbing directly into my heart, but I maintained my cool smile on


    the outside.


    “Of course. I can have him soundly asleep by then.”


    Alexander once again looked disbelieving, but swung the door open and gestured for me to enter. The moment I stepped into the nursery, I felt something inside of me crack. It had only been a week since I’dst set foot in here, but it felt so… different. Like stepping into a life that wasn’t my own anymore.


    And I supposed, in a way, it was. I had built this nursery with my husband, intending to wee a child into our lives. Things had been different then. I had been different–quite literally.


    Now, the little boy that was currently fussing in his crib would never get to know me as his mother. Only


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    his nanny. If I even got the job.


    Lucien was swaddled in the crib Alexander had built as I approached, little feet and hands straining against the soft blue fabric. His tiny face was scrunched up and red with frustration, and he was letting <b>out </b>little hups that weren’t quite cries<b>–</b>more like croaks.


    “Has he lost his voice?” I asked, ncing at Alexander over my shoulder. <fn2ff3> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on Find_Novel(.</fn2ff3>


    Alexander ran a hand through his hair, mussing the red locks further, and nodded. “He cries so much, plus the oxygen tubes dry out his sinuses. The doctor gave me drops for his throat, but he spits them out.


    “Can I see them?<b>” </b>


    Alexander hesitated once more, then reached into his pocket and withdrew a small vial of medicinal drops for lubricating the throat. I took it and set it aside before gently reaching for Lucien.


    My hands shook as I took my son into my arms for the very first time.


    He was tiny, So, so tiny. Like a baby bird in my embrace, wiggling ufortably beneath my touch.


    “There, there,” I whispered low enough so only he could hear, holding him close and inhaling his sweet newborn scent for the first time. “It’s alright. Mama’s got you.”


    Slowly, I began to rock Lucien in my arms. The motion came naturally as I held him against my chest, like I’d done this a million times before. Without even thinking, I began to hum along to the tune of the luby ying on the speaker, adding a few notes here or there as a flourish.


    It didn’t take long for Lucien to calm down. His breathing, oncebored and raw from crying, began to even out. He stopped his thrashing and even opened his eyes to look up at me.


    Those eyes stole my breath away.


    One was green. The other blue.


    As if he had taken one of each of ours.