Page 193 of Toxic

Just as he said that, there was a knock at the door, and a nurse brought my parents into the room.

My dad, overwhelmed with emotion, rushed right to the bed.

"Congratulations, Soren! Congratulations to the new parents! What a wonderful day for our family!"

He walked over to Soren to take a look at little Silver, his face glowing with admiration and joy.

Over the last few months, my parents have gotten to know Soren better and have built a solid foundation for a future friendship. Given Soren's introverted personality, it wasn’t easy or quick, but we were making progress! I believe this was largely due to my dad’s attitude. He was always very tactful, neverimposing, and always gave us space. With each passing month, Soren gradually opened up to him more and more, feeling free from any pressure. Now, I could confidently say that Soren trusted and genuinely liked my dad. In fact, it was Soren who suggested we buy a house closer to my parents' mansion. This was another great step in him warming up to being part of our big, and rather intense, family.

My father followed right behind Dad to the hospital room, but as soon as he saw me, he came over and gave me a warm hug.

"I'm so happy for you, son…"

Then, one by one, my brothers and their partners arrived, a real parade of congratulations and joy. Yes, there came even Storm, who changed a lot after he found his own, very cute True Mate. The river of people seemed endless, but Soren handled it well, even though he kept a protective hold on Silver the entire time, fiercely refusing to let anyone else hold him—except for my dad. He made an exception for him. Everyone else had to put on masks just to get close to our precious Silver.

But the biggest surprise came the next day.

Soren and I were lying on the hospital bed, with Silver nestled between us. We stared at his little face in mutual admiration, analyzing his cute features and predicting how he might look in the future. His little chin still had traces of milk from his recent feeding—a cute scene I couldn’t stop swooning over. Soren seemed so happy—so deeply happy, like I’d never seen before. It was as if a light radiated through his skin. From time to time, single tears would fall down his cheeks, and he was sniffling a lot.

"You know… when I had those miscarriages, it was like my soul was being sucked out of me. People say it's irrational and stupid to be sad about it, but I was. It tore me apart. You… literally saved this child."

His gray eyes looked up at me, and they weren’t stormy and cloudy anymore. They were silvery, like sunlight piercing through clouds.

I leaned in and kissed him gently. "We did it together, Soren."

Then he whispered, "Thanks for not letting me scare you away from my toxic ass…"

I smiled. "I always knew you weren't toxic, Soren. You were just… deeply hurt. But don't make me the hero of the day! We were meant to be from the start. All roads led to this, even through the darkest days."

My gaze drifted back to little Silver’s cute face. His dark eyebrows were so perfect, just like his dad's.

I looked at fatherhood with hope and optimism—even more robust now, having witnessed such a huge change in Soren over the last few months of the pregnancy. Anyone who might have once seen him as toxic would realize that side of him was long gone.

Every month, I saw more of the person I believe he was before Anton broke his heart. Interestingly, the always distant and guarded Soren had become such an affectionate cuddler! He wanted to cuddle for hours, holding hands like teenagers on a first date. He started telling me he loved me more often, and with more confidence, as the months passed. His behavior at home shifted too—he wasn’t leaving all the chores to me anymore. He stepped up, and we started splitting everything equally. Though, I still made sure to bring him breakfast in bed every morning!

At my suggestion, we went to a medical laboratory and took the ‘True Mates separation test’, which confirmed everything without a doubt. When Soren saw the results, he cried, holding the certificate in his hands. It was like something inside him finally thawed—a layer of fear and insecurity disappearedforever. Once he stopped worrying that I would leave him, like Anton did, he completely transformed. He bloomed, becoming more open, cheerful, optimistic, and incredibly caring. It was like he was a whole new person. He knew he could trust his feelings with me and invest in us, realizing I wasn’t going anywhere. We became a real team, and I believed that our future was going to be filled with love and harmony.

Just then, as I was deep in thought, there was an unexpected knock on the door. Since the visitors didn’t immediately enter, I got up from the bed and walked over to open the hospital room door.

As I did, I was stunned to see Finn and Liam standing there holding hands, looking somewhat shy.

We hadn’t had much contact with them over the last five months because Liam had changed jobs and was now at D-Project on the other side of town—closer to where Finn worked and lived. We knew they were together, of course, but not much beyond that, so I wasn’t prepared for what my eyes were seeing.

"Hey, we don’t want to disturb the new parents. We just wanted to congratulate you and wish you all the best," Finn said, almost apologetically.

It took me a moment to pick my jaw up from the floor because I noticed something I’d never expected. I looked down and focused on Liam's protruding belly.

"Uh… sure. Come in," I said, still sounding a bit dazed.

They quietly stepped into the room and looked over at Soren, whose expression mirrored mine perfectly. His mouth fell open as he stared at them, then his eyes locked on Liam’s belly as well.

"Liam?" he whispered in amazement.

"Well, this is a surprise," I muttered.

Liam smiled shyly.

"Well. Yes. I came here because…" he took a deep breath, "…we were friends for so long, Soren. Despite everything that happened, I missed that—our friendship. What we had. And I wanted to congratulate you on the birth of your baby."

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