Page 109 of Seduced By Contract

In that way of his—a little cold, a little silent—Doctor Athanasios seemed optimistic to me.

Mom said I could go first, and as I slowly open the door, I try to remember what the doctor instructed: Don't force memories. Try to control your emotions. Don't cry.

I'm very tense because telling a pregnant woman to control her emotions is the same as telling a cow to fly. Impossible.

When I step into her line of sight, however, it's Brooklyn who cries. "Madison."

"Do you remember me?"

"I remember everything. Thank you for taking care of my children."

"How do you know I’ve been doing that?"

"I listened to you all these months." She speaks slowly, the words seeming to scratch her throat. "I know you're pregnant with twins and got married."

I stand by the bed, dying to hug her but thinking about what the doctor said.

"Come here." She raises her skinny hand.

"They don't want me to make you emotional."

"The doctor, right?"

"Yes, he is Greek like my Zeus. Bossy by nature."

"That's because until now they didn't know the Foster girls."

I wipe away a tear and finally hug her. "Yes, Brooklyn. They didn't know the Foster girls. We are unbreakable."

A month and a half later

“I can't wait for her to come home,” I say.

"According to Athanasios, perhaps in two weeks she can be discharged, even if she'll have to continue with her treatment."

A week after she woke up, we took the twins to see her. I practiced with them all day, showing them photos and videos of Brooklyn, but although at home they said “mommy”, when they came face-to-face with her, they didn't.

Soraya was friendlier than Silas, but I think it's normal to be weirded out, and my sister didn't seem upset.

She's already speaking a little better, but she still has to continue seeing a speech therapist, as well as a physiotherapist. She can take short walks, but she lost a lot of muscle mass, so she still spends more time lying down or sitting than standing up.

Strangely, since she woke up, the person she talks to the least is the doctor, who watches her like a hawk, even though he tries to hide it.

I think it's too soon, after the hell she's been through, for her to even think about being interested in someone. She is confused and, to my sadness, very scared. She wanted to know details ofwhat happened to the men who killed the father of her children and shot her. I told them what I knew: that at least the shooters had been arrested. Zeus told me that he continues to investigate, but to be honest, I just want to forget that nightmare, and I hope that one day my sister can overcome the past too.

"Want a massage?" my husband asks, taking my legs and placing them on his lap, as he knows that my feet are increasingly swollen.

"Always. Spoil me as much as you want. It makes me want to be pregnant all the time just to be treated like a queen."

"You are my queen, whether you are pregnant or not." He pulls me onto his lap, even though I'm sitting on my side, and bites my earlobe. "But if you want to get pregnant twice in a row, I can arrange that, Mrs. Kostanidis.”

Madison

EPILOGUE 1

Dimitra and Angeliki birth day

Months later

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