The first time Willow understood that she and Zana had settled into something real, it happened without announcement.
There was no milestone moment. No dramatic shift. Just a morning where the apartment felt quiet in a way that didn't ask anything of her, where Zana woke, fed, and returned to sleep without negotiation, and Willow realized she hadn't checked the clock once.
The realization arrived not as relief, but as recognition, the kind that slid gently into place and stayed there, altering the shape of everything around it without demanding acknowledgement. She stood in the kitchen afterward, one hand resting on the counter, the other instinctively adjusting the strap of the carrier, and felt the absence of urgency settle into her body as something earned rather than accidental.
A week had passed since Zane left.
