“Nat, that’s amazing.”
The baby kicks hard, right beneath my ribs, like she’s celebrating too. I press my palm there, feeling her move, and a watery laugh escapes me.
“I was so scared, Jake. I thought she was going to tell me I wasn’t committed enough or that I’d lied to her or?—”
“But she didn’t. You’re okay. You did it.”
I grab a few pieces of toilet paper, dabbing at my eyes even though more tears just keep coming. Happy tears this time. Relieved tears.
“She said I can have both,” I whisper. “Career and baby. That I’m allowed to have both.”
“You are. You deserve both.”
I close my eyes, leaning against the stall door. The relief I feel is overwhelming. Somewhere deep down I didn’t believe I could have it all. But Rebecca believes it. And Jake believes it.
Maybe I can start believing it too.
The baby kicks again, stronger this time, and I laugh through my tears. “She’s kicking so much. Like she knows everything’s going to be okay.”
“She knows her mom’s a badass.”
“Okay,” I say, as my throat tightens. “I need to get back to the writers’ room.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tonight?”
“Yeah.Definitely.”
“I’m really proud of you, Nat.”
The words settle warm in my chest. “Thank you. For everything.”
After we hang up, I clean myself up in the mirror. My eyes are red and my makeup is smudged, but I don’t care. I fix what I can and head to the writers’ room.
When I walk in, everyone looks up. The energy in the room shifts slightly, and I realize they must have heard I was meeting with Rebecca this morning.
“Hey,” Bernard says carefully. “You good?”
“Yeah. I’m good.”
Rebecca walks in behind me, coffee in hand. “Okay, people. Let’s get to work. We have an episode to write.”
And just like that, we’re back to normal. Breaking stories, pitching jokes, building the world ofSpellbound.
Around lunchtime, we break for the catered spread that’s been set up in the corner. I’m loading my plate with more food than I’ve eaten in weeks when Priya appears beside me.
“So,” she says quietly, “I take it the meeting went well?”
I glance at her. “How did you?—”
“Rebecca called me in on Friday. Wanted to talk through production timeline adjustments.” She grabs a sandwich. “Said we might be pushing our start date to accommodate a team member’s maternity leave. Didn’t take a genius to figure out who.”
Heat floods my face. “Oh.”
“If you want my take?” Priya leans closer, her voice warm. “I think it’s badass that you’re doing this while pregnant. Like, actual superherolevels of badass.”
I smile despite myself. “Thank you.”
On the drive home, I let myself feel it. All of it. The relief, the gratitude, the overwhelming sense that maybe, just maybe, things are going to be okay.
