Chapter 296 - 311.

Months Later:

The first time Emilia heard Kylie scream, she stopped breathing.

The midwife had already explained that labour could be long, painful, unpredictable, and entirely unlike anything they could prepare for by reading books or watching videos.

Adrian had even downloaded three medical guides, which Emilia had promptly confiscated after catching him reading one at two in the morning.

Kylie was in good hands.

The doctors knew what they were doing.

Christian was with her.

Everything was as it should be.

And yet, when Kylie’s voice travelled through the delivery-room door, breaking into a strained, agonised sound that Emilia had never heard from her before, the world seemed to tilt beneath her feet.

"Oh, God."

She turned towards the door.

Adrian caught her hand before she could take a step. "Emilia."

"That was Kylie."

"I know."

"She sounded—"

Another cry came from inside.

Emilia’s face crumpled.

She moved before she could think, pressing herself against Adrian and burying her ear against his chest. Both hands curled into the front of his shirt, and she held him as though his heartbeat were the only steady thing left in the world.

Adrian went still for half a second. Then his arms closed around her.

One hand settled between her shoulder blades. The other came up to cradle the back of her head, his fingers slipping gently into her hair.

"Don’t let me hear that," she whispered.

He looked down at her.

"Her struggling. I can’t—" Emilia squeezed her eyes shut as another muffled cry came through the door. She immediately pressed her ear harder against his chest. "Adrian, I can’t listen to her like that."

His jaw tightened.

He could hear Kylie, too.

He could hear the encouragement from the medical staff, the instructions to breathe, the small, and the breathless pauses between her cries.

He could hear how hard she was working. And he could do absolutely nothing about it.

Kylie was giving birth to her child.

Christian was beside her. And the rest of them had to wait.

Emilia’s fingers tightened around his shirt. "I can’t do that."

Adrian looked at the top of her head.

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he lowered his chin until his lips touched her hair.

"We’re not doing that."

She lifted her face just enough to look at him.

His expression was so serious that, under different circumstances, she might have laughed.

"We’re not?" she whispered.

"No."

"Adrian."

"We can adopt or anything, but not that."

Her mouth fell open.

Despite herself, a tiny, incredulous laugh escaped her.

"You just said that like you were rejecting a business proposal."

"I am rejecting a business proposal."

"To whom?"

"Nature."

A shaky laugh slipped out of her.

He brushed his thumb beneath her eye, catching the tear that had escaped before she could stop it.

"I don’t want you to go through something that frightens you that much," he said quietly. "We don’t have to decide anything today. Or tomorrow. We don’t have to do anything just because other people expect us to."

Emilia stared at him. "You would really be happy adopting?"

"Yes."

Another cry came from the room.

Emilia immediately buried her face against his chest again.

Adrian’s smile disappeared.

His arms tightened around her. "All right," he murmured. "Don’t listen."

"How am I supposed to not listen? She’s practically on the other side of that door."

"Listen to me instead."

"What?"

"My heartbeat."

She went quiet.

He guided her head back into the hollow beneath his chin, one palm resting against the back of her skull.

"Can you hear it?"

She nodded against him.

"Good. Just stay here."

For several seconds, she did exactly that.

His heartbeat was steady beneath her ear.

Not because he wasn’t frightened.

He was.

He had known Kylie for years. He had watched her turn up to difficult situations with a joke on her lips and a bright smile that occasionally concealed more than she wanted anyone to know.

He had watched her love Christian.

He had watched Christian love her back.

And now, on the other side of a hospital door, she was doing something that required a kind of courage Adrian couldn’t imagine possessing himself.

He was frightened for her.

But Emilia was shaking in his arms, and he knew he couldn’t make the moment about his own fear.

So he held her.

He let her listen to his heartbeat.

And when she whispered, "I don’t understand how Christian is in there," Adrian rested his cheek against her hair.

"Because he loves her."

Emilia swallowed. "I love her, too."

"I know."

"I want to go in there."

"I know."

"I want to make it stop hurting."

His eyes closed briefly.

She held him tighter.

For a little while, neither of them spoke. Then Emilia lifted her head. "If we are ever to have children, I want to adopt."

Adrian looked at her. "All right."

"You might change your mind."

"I might change my mind about a great many things. I will not change it about this being your decision, too."

She searched his face.

He held her gaze.

"I love you," he said. "I want a family with you. I want a home full of your books, your terrible habit of leaving cups everywhere, and the sound of you laughing in the next room. I want to see you happy. If we adopt, we’ll adopt. If we decide we don’t want children, we’ll have a life together without them. If you ever change your mind, we can talk about it."

He brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek.

"But I will not stand here and make you feel as though you have to put your body through something you are afraid of to give me a life I want."

Emilia’s eyes filled again.

She gave his chest a weak little slap.

He caught her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"Besides," he added, "if we adopt, I can still teach our child how to negotiate."

Emilia sniffed. She laughed into his chest.

Adrian smiled down at her.

For the first time since arriving at the hospital, her shoulders relaxed. Then the door opened.

Both of them turned so quickly that the nurse standing in the doorway blinked.

"Mr. Sinclair’s family?"

Emilia immediately straightened.

"Yes. Is Kylie—"

"She’s doing well," the nurse assured her. "She’s working hard. Her husband is with her, and the baby is doing well, too."

Emilia’s hand flew to her mouth. "The baby?"

The nurse smiled.

"Yes. Still a little way to go, but everything is progressing."

Emilia exhaled so sharply that Adrian felt it against his side. "Thank you," she whispered.

The nurse nodded and returned to the room.

The door closed.

Emilia looked at Adrian.

He looked at her.

"Still adopting," she whispered.

"Absolutely."

She laughed, and he kissed her forehead.