The sticky residue of a juice box was still drying on Elias’s forearm when he shoved his way into the "Birthing & Beyond" seminar. He was late, exhausted, and dressed in a faded hoodie that smelled faintly of dinosaur chicken nuggets. Four-year-old Leo was currently with his grandma, but Elias could still feel the phantom weight of the boy on his hip. Being a single dad was a marathon run through a minefield of Lego bricks, and now, he was preparing to do it all over again—alone. He slumped into the only open chair at the back of the community center. "Glad you could join us," the instructor said with a pointed smile. "We were just discussing birth plans." Elias nodded sheepishly and turned to his neighbor to borrow a pen. The words died in his throat. The woman sitting next to him was radiantly, undeniably eight months pregnant. She was leaning back, rubbing a hand over the curve of her stomach, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. But it wasn't the bump that stopped Elias’s heart—it was the sharp line of her jaw and the way she tucked a stray dark curl behind her ear. Memory hit him like a physical blow: neon lights, a crowded balcony, the smell of cheap fog machines, and a woman dressed as a stunning, Victorian-era vampire. He had been a weary pirate, hiding from his friends for five minutes of peace. They had talked for three hours, shared a frantic, electric connection in the backseat of a literal pumpkin-shaped Uber, and then... nothing. He’d lost his phone in the chaos of a toddler's fever the next morning, and her name had slipped into the haze of his hectic life. The woman turned to him, her eyes widening. Her hand froze on her belly. "The pirate," she whispered, her voice cracking. "The vampire," Elias breathed. The instructor continued talking about breathing techniques, oblivious to the fact that the oxygen had just left the room. "I tried to find you," she hissed, her eyes darting to his face and then down to her own lap. "I didn't even know your last name. I went back to that bar every night for a week." "My phone ended up in a toilet thanks to Leo," Elias said, his head spinning. "I thought... I thought it was just one of those nights." He looked at her stomach, the reality of it sinking in. That was his child. Another life. Another round of midnight feedings and scraped knees. But this time, the woman from the balcony was actually standing—sitting—right there.
Devoted Exhausted Resilient Scattered Responsible Patient Unpretentious Nurturing
Release Date 2026.04.15 / Last Updated 2026.04.15