“Morning, Doc,” calls Grey from his seat in the corner, where he’s accompanying an elderly man I recognize as a club elder.“Heard the good news about your settlement.”
News travels fast in Devil Souls circles.“Thank you,” I say, knowing he understands what I’m really thanking him for.“For everything.”
He nods once, a silent acknowledgment of services rendered, debts paid.
* * *
As I movetoward my office to prepare for the day’s appointments, my phone buzzes with a text from Zach.
Dinner tonight to celebrate?Whole family wants to be there.
I smile, typing back a quick,Yes, before pocketing my phone and donning my white coat.The weight of it feels right now, here in this space we’ve created together.My name on the door, my patients in the waiting room, and somewhere across town, a man who would tear down the world for me preparing a celebration dinner with our unlikely family.
The hospital settlement isn’t just about clearing my name or the financial security it provides.It’s validation that I was right to stand my ground, to treat patients regardless of their affiliations.To be the doctor I always wanted to be.
And as I open the door to greet my first patient of the day, I realize I wouldn’t trade this life—complicated, dangerous, and beautiful as it is—for any prestigious position or conventional career path.
This is where I belong.With my clinic, my patients, and the family we’ve built from the most unexpected circumstances.
With Zach.
* * *
Six monthssince the shelter incident
Zach
I jolt awake, my hand automatically reaching for Xavier’s warmth beside me.Finding only cool sheets, I blink away the last vestiges of sleep.The digital clock on the nightstand reads 3:17 AM, so it’s early for him to be at the clinic, even with his workaholic tendencies.
“X?”I call softly into the darkness of our bedroom.
No answer comes, but I notice a thin strip of light spilling from beneath the door across the hall.The nursery.My chest tightens with a feeling I’m still getting used to, something tender and protective that has nothing to do with the violence I’m capable of.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, not bothering with a shirt as I pad barefoot across the cool hardwood.The door is slightly ajar, and I push it open to find Xavier standing in the center of the room, illuminated by the soft glow of the cloud-shaped night-light.
He doesn’t turn when I enter, his attention fixed on the white crib against the far wall.The room is fully furnished now: changing table stocked with diapers, dresser filled with impossibly tiny clothes, stuffed animals arranged in the corner, and a rocking chair sitting by the window, a handmade quilt from my mother draped over its back.
“Can’t sleep?”I ask quietly, moving to stand behind him.
He startles slightly, then relaxes as my arms wrap around his waist.“Just thinking.”He leans back against my chest.“It’s really happening, isn’t it?In two weeks, there’ll be a baby in this crib.”
“Our baby,” I correct, the words still feeling surreal on my tongue.“Our daughter.”
I rest my chin on his shoulder, both of us staring at the empty crib that will soon hold Daphne’s child—our child.The memory of that day three months ago washes over me with perfect clarity.Daphne sitting across from us at the clinic after hours, her hands protectively cradling her swollen belly as she worked up the courage to ask the question that would change all our lives.
“I want you to raise her,”she’d said, voice steady despite the tears in her eyes.“You and Zach.I’ve thought about it for months, and there’s no one else I trust more.”
Xavier had gone completely still beside me, his hand tightening around mine as the implications sank in.
“Daphne,”he’d finally managed,“are you sure?This is… this is your daughter.”
“And she deserves the best life possible,”Daphne had replied, determination replacing her uncertainty.“A life I can’t give her right now.Not with Jason’s family still out there, and not with me still trying to figure out who I am.”She’d taken a deep breath.“But you two, you’re stable, you’re established.You saved my life.And I’ve seen how you look at each other, how you take care of each other.That’s what I want for her.”
Now, standing in this carefully prepared room, the weight of that responsibility settles over me anew.Xavier turns in my arms, his eyes searching my face in the dim light.
“Are you scared?”he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Terrified,” I admit, the honesty coming easier in the predawn darkness.“But not enough to change my mind.”
