Between broken breaths, she repeated the same plea over and over.
“Please… let my baby be okay… please…”
At exactly 3:17 in the afternoon, the baby was born.
The sound of his cry filled the room—strong, sharp, alive.
Emily collapsed back against the pillow, tears streaming down her face, deeper and more overwhelming than anything she had felt before. This wasn’t the same pain she felt when Ethan left.
This was something else.
Relief.
Love.
Fear turning into something real and breathing.
“Is he okay?” she asked again and again.
A nurse smiled gently as she wrapped the baby in a soft white blanket.
