Page 34 of Soaring and Steadfast

“The nurses told you to sleep when you could,” Trophy chided tenderly.

“He’s right,” Lila added. “You’ve been through a lot, and it takes time for your body to heal. Plus, you are now feeding the baby.”

“Do you want to hold her?” Stephanie asked, her voice thick with emotion. Her gaze held Lila’s, searching, offering. “I won’t make you, but she’s so sweet and so good...”

Lila’s heart pounded as Stephanie’s words settled between them, laden with an unspoken understanding. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’d love to,” she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Trophy was already lifting the baby out of the bassinet before she could take another breath. Beside her, Louis gently touched her arm, guiding her toward the small couch.

“Here,” he murmured, his presence solid, unwavering. She sank down, grateful for the support. Her legs felt weak, her body betraying the storm of emotions swirling inside her. Trophy moved with careful precision, placing the warm, sleeping infant in her arms. The moment Angel’s tiny weight settled against her, Lila shattered.

Her breath hitched.

She had held her child once. Just once. Her son had been no bigger than a small banana, fragile, impossibly small—a fleeting presence that had broken her in ways she never thought she could heal from. But this baby? This baby was different. She was plump, full of life, a quiet sigh escaping her tiny lips as she smacked them in her sleep.

A sharp ache bloomed in Lila’s chest, stealing her breath. Her arms instinctively tightened around the baby as if she could absorb all that warmth, all that innocence.

A sudden, steadying presence grounded her—Louis. His arm wrapped securely around her back, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder. The heat of him seeped into her, a tether to the present when she felt like she might unravel.

She turned her head slightly, meeting his gaze. Hazel eyes locked onto hers, darkened with intensity, understanding, and something else. Something that made her pulse trip over itself.

“She’s so beautiful,” Lila breathed, her voice trembling. Louis’s lips parted, and when he spoke, his voice was soft, reverent.

“More than anything I’ve ever seen in the world.”

But he wasn’t talking about the baby. She knew it. Felt it in the way his fingers barely grazed her arm, in the way he didn’t care who heard. His words cracked something open inside her, slipping past every wall she had built, every reason she had given herself not to hope.

The words fell from her lips before she could stop them. “I want one...”

Her voice was so quiet, so fragile, she wasn’t sure she had spoken aloud. But Louis heard her. She saw the way his expression shifted, how his hand curled slightly, as if holding himself back.

“I’d give you one,” he mouthed back, his lips forming the words she wasn’t sure she was brave enough to fully embrace.

The air between them thickened, charged with the weight of their unspoken truths. They had bared their souls in the most unexpected moment, and now there was no turning back. Lila could feel her heart pounding, each beat a resounding echo of possibility, of longing, of fear.

She cradled Angel closer, savoring the baby’s warmth, the soft scent of new life that stirred something primal and aching inside her. This was everything she had lost. Everything she thought she could never have again. And yet, sitting here, withLouis steady beside her, his eyes never leaving hers, she dared to dream.

A throat cleared, breaking the fragile moment.

“Do you want to hold her?” Lila found herself asking, forcing lightness into her voice, though her hands trembled as she turned toward Louis.

Trophy cleared his throat again, shifting awkwardly. He had noticed. They weren’t subtle.

Louis’s gaze remained locked onto hers, his voice rough with emotion. “More than anything.”

Lila smiled then, understanding blooming between them. “The baby, silly.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Of course,” he chuckled. “I was talking about the baby.”

“Sure you were.”

She carefully shifted, feeling Louis’s arms brush against hers as they leaned close, passing the sleeping infant between them. Their movements were slow, deliberate, almost reverent.

Louis cradled the baby against his chest, his large hands cradling her so gently it made Lila’s throat tighten. Then, he did something that sent her entire world spinning. He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to the infant’s forehead.

Lila barely held in a gasp. And if she had melted before, now she was utterly undone. It was such a simple gesture, and yet it was everything.

“Oh, Lila...” His voice was hushed, filled with something raw and aching. He looked at her, eyes soft, unguarded. “She’s really something, isn’t she?”

---