The weight that had been pressing on my heart finally lifted. I breathed freely, feeling an unprecedented lightness.
I raised an eyebrow at Kayden, mouthing back.
"Didn't you say you'd give me time?"
Kayden pulled Kai closer, smiling even more brazenly, like announcing some victory.
"But I cheat."
Chapter Nineteen
Layla
The morning sun spilled across the apartment steps, turning the puddles into pools of molten gold.
I stood in the doorway, watching Kayden load four suitcases into the trunk. Deep blue luggage—three large, one small. Everything Kai and I owned from our seven years in Baltimore.
"That's it?" Kayden closed the trunk and walked over.
"Yeah." I held Kai, his eyelids drooping with sleep, little head resting on my shoulder. "Everything else was rented furniture. Nothing to bring."
"Mommy..." Kai mumbled drowsily. "Teddy bear..."
"It's packed." I patted his back. "In the suitcase."
Kayden reached out. "Here, let me take him."
I hesitated.
Last night at the hospital, after everything that happened, we'd somehow naturally become... something. But now it was daylight. The morning sun made everything painfully clear, and the awkwardness crept back in.
"He's heavy," Kayden said. "Your shoulder's still injured."
"I can—"
"Layla." His voice was soft. "Let me help you."
Let me help you.
Something in my defenses loosened.
"Okay."
I passed Kai to him.
Kayden took him carefully, like handling something fragile. Kai nuzzled against him, found a comfortable position, and kept sleeping.
"Let's go." Kayden headed toward the car.
I followed, watching his back as he carried Kai.
That image...
A tall man with a small child in his arms, morning light washing over them—like any ordinary father and son.
Was this... what family looked like?
Kayden opened the back door and gently settled Kai into the car seat—one he'd somehow installed this morning. He buckled the safety belt, made sure Kai was secure, then closed the door.
