The question hung between us, a reminder of the scars we both carried. I hesitated, my heart pounding with conflicting emotions. “Yes,” I said finally, quietly. “Yes, I would have wanted to know. To be there for you, for… our child.”

The words felt foreign yet strangely right. A child. Our child. The thought was terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.

Claire seemed to soften, the hardness in her eyes melting into something vulnerable. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I was scared. I’m still scared.”