Mara
Three Months Later
I woke up aching from head to toe, again. The weight of being two weeks from my due date was no joke. Every bone felt like it was negotiating a truce with gravity, and I’d lost count of how many times I visited the bathroom each night. Still, I pushed myself up from the bed.
Lucian was already on the couch, laptop open, eyes locked in that laser-focused way he got when he was deep into something. He looked calm, handsome, completely unaware of how hard it was to simply exist in this very pregnant body.
First things first: the bathroom. Nature wasn’t waiting for anyone.
I returned to the room a few minutes later, freshly relieved, teeth brushed, and a little more human. Lucian was still working.
“Good morning, darling,” he said, finally looking up with a warm s
