Chapter 16
Two months later, the baby arrived.
James waited outside.
That was Emily’s decision.
Marco found him pacing the hospital corridor with the same pink teddy bear tucked awkwardly under one arm.
“You look ridiculous,” Marco said.
James did not disagree.
Hours later, the door opened and Emily called for him.
He entered slowly.
Ryan was not there.
Linda was not there.
The room was quiet except for the tiny sounds of a newborn sleeping against Emily’s chest.
James stopped beside the bed.
For once, he did not reach.
Emily noticed.
“You can hold the baby.”
His expression changed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Only then did he move.
The child disappeared almost completely against his chest.
James looked down for a long time.
Emily watched him.
“Dad.”
He looked up.
“No councils.”
He nodded.
“No talk about heirs.”
Another nod.
“No deciding what this baby means for Bennett.”
James looked back at the tiny face.
“Agreed.”
Emily smiled.
That answer would once have been impossible for him.
Not because he did not love her.
Because he had confused protecting family with defining family.
Later, when the baby woke, Emily reached for the pink teddy bear.
She placed it beside the bassinet.
James recognized the symbolism but did not comment.
That too was new.
The gift had begun as something dropped in horror on a bedroom floor.
Now it sat beside a child born into a room where no one was using love as leverage.
Before James left, Emily stopped him.
“I want to stay at the penthouse.”
He nodded.
“And I want the locked room changed.”
“What into?”
She looked toward the baby.
“A nursery extension.”
James smiled.
“Door?”
May you like
Emily smiled back.
“Gone.”
