Chapter 9
“Recovering.” She repeated, raising an eyebrow at me. “And you? What are you doing, Damon? Are you helping her? Supporting her? Or are you just standing by, blaming her for everything? I saw how you looked at her and I saw how she was looking at you. What are you doing to help her out, Damon?”
“I didn’t ask for this,” I said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t ask to be tied to her. And now there’s a child, a child I didn’t plan for. You can’t just expect me to accept that so easily.”
“That child is your blood. Whether or not you planned for her, she’s here now. And Sienna, as much as you may resent her, is the
one who carried her and nearly died doing so.” Mom said, snapping Godfrey
“She’s pushing Isla away,” I said, my frustration boiling over “She won’t even hold her, Mother. She’s rejecting her. She won’t even be able to feed her as her milk won’t be enough.”
“Of course she is,” Evelyn said, her tone softening slightly. “She’s overwhelmed. Hurt. Do you think she wanted any of this? Do you think she wanted to be dragged back here, judged and cornered? And of course, how do you expect her milk to be enough
when she’s weak? She nearly died, Damon.”
“She had a choice,” I snapped. “She could have let the baby go. She wouldn’t have been dealing with all of that.”
“And so did you,” Evelyn shot back, her voice rising for the first time. “You rejected her, Damon. You treated her like she was nothing, and now you’re angry that she’s not acting the way you want her to? That’s not how this works. That’s not how life
works.”
I clenched my fists, her words hitting harder than I wanted to admit.
“Sienna needs time, Damon. And so do you. But don’t make the mistake of abandoning that little girl. Isla is innocent in all of this. She didn’t ask to be born into this chaos, but she’s here now. And she needs her parents.” She said, taking a step closer to
- me.
“Parents?” I scoffed “You think Sienna’s capable of being a mother right now? Do you really believe that she would ever have
been able to be a mother?”
d so are
“She is stronger than you think,” Evelyn said firmly. “And you. But you need to decide whether you’re going to be the kind of man your daughter deserves, or if you’re going to let this destroy you.”
-wad already gone to si
The infirmary was quiet when I returned. Most of the Those who were in charge for the night stood by the incubator or were out tending to the other patients.
I approached Isla’s incubator, my chest tightening as I looked down at her. She was so small, her tiny fingers curled into fists. For
a moment, I allowed myself to feel something other than anger, something fragile and terrifying.
“We got her to get her milk. She’s resting right now.” One of the nurses said, her voice low as she spoke.
+15 Bonus
I didn’t respond as my eyes were fixed on her, her small body as she lay inside that incubator. My hand hovered over the incubator, hesitating before I finally rested it on the glass. Even the idea of accepting her seemed absurd to me.
“You didn’t ask for this either,” I murmured.
The nurse said nothing, quietly stepping away to give me space.
For a moment, it was just me and Isla, the weight of the future pressing heavily on my shoulders. I didn’t know how to fix this, but one thing was certain, walking away wasn’t an option.
“I promise you I will not walk away from you. Not as long as I’m breathing, little one…
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