Chapter 56 Quiet Plans

• C
• The morning sun filtered in through the sheer white curtains, casting a golden halo over the bed where Emma and Lucas lay entwined. For once, the house was quiet. No cries from the baby monitor. No clinking bottles or rustling diapers. Just the sound of their slow, shared breaths.
• Emma stirred first, her hand absently tracing circles on Lucas’s chest. His heartbeat was steady beneath her touch, grounding her like it always did. She smiled against his skin, eyes still closed, not quite ready to let the night slip away.