“I wanted to get Gabbi from Marcus,” Cole said, and I was suddenly aware he’d been talking to me. “But he got all territorial!” He said that last with a fake pout.
I needed to tell him what I’d rehearsed with Elena, but I’d expected more time before I needed to. I didn’t expect him to pull the cute smiling card.
I grabbed the bottle and left the kitchen, shoving past him at the end of the counter, and I think he tried to catch my arm. I know he was talking to me, and I didn’t want that. I couldn’t even begin to explain what was in my head.
“I need space!” I snapped, the words coming out too loud, too sharp.
“Are you okay, Morgan?” Alex was there, right at my side, Marcus hovering, Cole confused.
“I need to go,” I shouted at them all, shook my head, anger flaring hot and misplaced. “I can’t keep doing this—standing here while you all look at me like I belong here. I don’t.” My voice broke on the last word, and I headed straight to my room and slammed the door, startling Gabbi, who was far from happy with her daddy holding her too tight.
The knock came less than a few moments later.
“Morgan?” It wasn’t Cole. It was Alex. “Can I come in?”
He waited for an answer, and I could tell him no, but fuck, I owed him an apology. I opened the door enough for him to slip through, and he pushed it almost shut behind him with his heel. He took in the room in one glance—me standing there with Gabbi clutched to my chest, her bottle forgotten on the dresser, my breathing still too fast.
“Can I help?” he asked.
I deflated, the fight draining from me so fast it made me lightheaded. “I’m being stupid,” I said. The words came out flat, exhausted. “I know I am.” I shifted Gabbi, easing my grip when she squirmed. “I want Cole to see me, and not just me and Gabbi, and I spoke to Elena, and I had all these pretty words to say to Cole, and then you were all there, and it was too much. I feel wrong. Like I’m stuck. Like if I don’t move on now, I never will,and Elena says that’s okay, that I’m on a bridge, but it’s a stupid bridge, and I want to get over it.” I took a breath as despair hit hard. “But I don’t even know what moving on is supposed to look like.”
Alex leaned back on the door, arms folded. He didn’t tell me I was overreacting. He just nodded once.
“That actually sounds healthy,” he said.
I blinked at him. “What?”
“Feeling like you want something for yourself and more than survival.” His voice was steady, certain. “That’s a good thing, Morgan. It means you’re not just coping anymore.” He came a little closer, careful not to crowd me. “And you don’t have to figure it all out tonight. Or alone.”
I let out a shaky breath. Gabbi sighed against me, warm and solid, her head tucked under my chin.
“Okay,” Alex said gently. “Here’s what we do. Come find me tomorrow, and we’ll talk. Not about forever—just about options. Places that make sense for you right now. People who can help. Courses, schemes, support that fits where you are now, not where you think you should be.” He met my eyes. “We’ll figure it out. Step-by-step.”
“That’s what Elena said.”
“She’s right.”
Something in my chest loosened at that. Not fixed. Not solved. Just… less tight. “Okay,” I echoed, quieter this time.
Alex gave a small smile. “Do you want to see Cole?”
“He’s still here?”
“Yep.”
I sighed. “I didn’t mean to lose control.”
“He knows.”
I was frustrated at how easily Alex told me that. “He shouldn’t have toknow, he shouldn’t be walking on eggshells, I should be more! I should bebetter!”
“How about I feed Gabbi, and you and Cole talk in the family space? It’s empty for an hour or two. You feel up to that?”
I nodded, and Alex stepped closer and held out his hands to Gabbi, who went willingly, smiling at Alex. He gestured for the bottle, and I passed that to him as well.
When the door opened, Cole was right outside, hands in his pockets, looking concerned. Our eyes met, and he seemed hopeful.
“Alex said we should talk in the family room.”
