Tears slipped silently from the corners of her eyes.
Demian did not know what to say.
For the first time, words truly abandoned him.
He knew only one thing no matter how tangled his life was, how complicated his bond with Ivanka, or how vast his pride he had just nearly lost Valerie.
And now…
he knew he would not survive losing that child as well.
Demian stood at the side of the bed, looking down at Valerie as she lay weak and exhausted. His expression remained hard as it always was. There was no wide smile, no sudden embrace, no tender words people usually expected from a man who had just received such news.
Yet beneath his silence, something moved slowly… and powerfully.
He was pleased.
The feeling came without permission, beyond his control. Not an overflowing joy, but a deep, heavy, grounding satisfaction as if something he had long desired had finally become real.
Pregnant.
Six weeks.
