I froze, my breath catching. It would’ve been so easy to touch him. To cup his cheek and sink into the promise he was offering while half-asleep. But trust wasn’t rebuilt in the quiet vulnerability of the middle of the night.
Instead of touching him, I let my fingers trail down the edge of the blanket once before stepping back.
Ethan’s eyes drifted closed again, the blanket rising and falling gently with his breathing. I stood there for a long moment, watching him sleep and feeling something shift inside me. Then I turned and padded back toward the blue guest room, carrying that quiet flicker of hope with me back to bed.
18
ETHAN
The past few weeks blurred together in therapy sessions, tentative touches in the kitchen, and the slow rebuilding of trust…until the day we heard our baby’s heartbeat.
I’d never been in so many doctors’ offices in my life. Couples therapy twice a week. My own solo sessions, as recommended by the psychologist. But today was different. It was the first real milestone of our child’s life.
The nurse called her name a few minutes before our appointment, and I followed Callie down the hall. Inside the exam room, she climbed onto the table while I took the chair in the corner. The nurse checked her vitals and left so my wife could change into an exam gown.
She didn’t ask me to step out, so I tried not to stare while she changed, but she was beautiful, even vulnerable like this. The gown didn’t cover nearly enough to keep my mind from wandering. I had to shift in my seat to hide my hard-on when Dr. Hennessey rolled a machine into the room.
“Good morning.” The doctor pulled over her stool. “So, we’re doing a dating ultrasound today. Early stage, so I’ll be using a transvaginal probe. Completely normal.”
Callie nodded, her hands clenched in her lap before she shifted positions. My heart hammered harder than it had during any board presentation in my life. The machine beeped softly. And then there was a tiny rhythmic flash on the screen.
My breath left me in a broken rush. I hadn’t expected to hear anything, but a faint, rapid whooshing filled the room, subtle but unmistakable.
Our baby’s heartbeat.
Callie’s hand shot out blindly. I caught it without thinking, our fingers intertwining with the ease of old muscle memory. Her eyes flooded instantly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Mine blurred too, and I didn’t bother hiding it.
“There it is,” Dr. Hennessey murmured. “A strong early heartbeat. Everything looks exactly as it should.”
I didn’t know how to breathe. I’d forgotten how to speak. All I knew was that for a moment, I wasn’t a man trying to fix what he’d broken. I was a father.
I leaned just close enough that my whisper was meant for both of them. “I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting you. Every milestone. I’ll be here. For both of you.”
Callie didn’t reply, but she didn’t let go of my hand. It felt like more forgiveness than I deserved.
Our baby’s heartbeat stayed with me long after we left the clinic. It echoed in my head during the drive to work. While I reviewed financial briefs. When I spoke with my therapist later that morning.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that tiny flicker on the screen and felt Callie’s fingers tightening around mine. Which was the only reason I made it through the board meeting that afternoon without throwing up from nerves.
Langford Tech’s biggest conference room hummed with the low murmur of board members settling into their seats. I normally commanded this room without effort. Today, mypalms leaked sweat and my heart felt like I’d just run a marathon.
Gage sat to my right as he opened the meeting. He was one of the few who knew about my decision. With his divorce decree freshly inked and his own life in upheaval, I’d been surprised by how supportive he’d been. Until he reminded me we were friends first, boss and employee second.
When he turned the discussion over to me and I stood, twelve pairs of eyes landed on me. These were the people who trusted me with billions of dollars. And had never once seen me falter.
They were about to.
My voice was rougher than usual as I started, “Before we begin, I need to address something personally.”
A few brows lifted and phones lowered. The CFO of Langford Tech stepping off script drew attention. But Gage had reminded me that for as big as Westbridge was, it was still a small, Connecticut town when it came to gossip. Especially in our social circle.
Although I hadn’t told anyone other than my therapist and best friend about Callie walking out on me or her being pregnant, my mother had been making the rounds to spread her poison about my wife. I couldn’t let her false narrative stand.
“My family is my priority. I lost sight of that, and it nearly cost me the most important thing in my life.”
Someone shifted in their chair, but the room otherwise remained silent. I forced myself to continue.
“I’m restructuring the financial division. Expanding the leadership beneath me. Effective immediately, I’ll be delegating a significant portion of day-to-day oversight so I can step back from some responsibilities.”
