Chapter 62

Emma woke up at 3 AM with her stomach churning. She barely made it to the bathroom before morning sickness hit full force.

“Emma?” Alek’s sleepy voice called from the bedroom. “You okay?”

“Just something I ate,” she lied, splashing cold water on her face. “Go back to sleep.”

But when she returned to bed, Alek was sitting up, studying her in the dim light.

“You’ve been off all week,” he said quietly. “What’s going on?”

Emma’s heart hammered. Tell him about the baby. Just say it. But the words stuck in her throat.

“I’m stressed about the Toronto thing,” she said instead. It wasn’t completely a lie.

Alek pulled her close. “We don’t have to decide anything tonight.”

If only it were that simple. Emma lay awake for hours, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach, thinking about the impossible choices ahead.

The next morning brought chaos. Charlotte spilled orange juice all over herself, Frankie had a diaper blowout, and Emma’s assist