Chapter 156\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The leaves were beginning to change colors, and the morning air carried a pleasant chill. It was fal,l and the twins seemed to love it. I took them for walks whenever I could, letting them nap in the stroller under the filtered sunlight while I breathed in pine and damp earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had been three weeks since I\u2019d returned to Moonstone. Three weeks of pretending that the ache in my chest was fading. Some days, it almost felt true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then Rae arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I spotted her through the window before I heard the knock-bright red hair catching the light like a warning flare, suitcase in one hand, a grin that said she\u2019d come to stay whether I wanted her to or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened the door before she could knock again. \u201cRae?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprise,\u201d she said, though it didn\u2019t sound like one. \u201cI hope you have coffee. That trip was brutal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked, half laughing, half crying as I hugged her tight. The smell of her shampoo, floral and sweet, hit me with a wave of familiarity that made my throat ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re here,\u201d I said when I finally stepped back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere else would I be?\u201d she asked simply, brushing past me into the apartment. \u201cYou vanish in the middle of the night, don\u2019t answer messages, and then I hear whispers that you\u2019re in Moonstone again. Of course, I came.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d I tried weakly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae gave me a look. \u201cYou look like you haven\u2019t slept in a year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what babies do to people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMm-hmm,\u201d she said, unconvinced, before crossing to the playpen where August and Ian were gurgling in unison. \u201cWell, look at you two. Twice as cute as I imagined. Oh, Ellie, they\u2019re perfect! I can never get over it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice softened as she leaned over them, letting them grasp at her fingers. They rewarded her immediately with smiles. It was easy to forget how open Rae was with people, how she could win over anyone in minutes-including babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey like you,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course they do,\u201d she teased. \u201cI\u2019m charming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed, really laughed, for the first time in days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By that evening, she\u2019d already taken over the kitchen, filling it with the smell of saut\u00e9ed herbs and something buttery. The twins had fallen asleep in their swings, and for a while it felt almost normal-two friends cooking, sharing space, pretending things were simple for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d she said, stirring a pot on the stove, \u201care we going to talk about the nightmares or pretend you\u2019re not having them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze. \u201cWho told you that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCassian,\u201d she said easily. \u201cApparently, you mentioned something to Alaric. He was worried.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you and Cassian start talking behind my back?\u201d I asked crossing my arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s your brother and I\u2019m your best friend, of course we gossip aout you,\u201d she replied. \u201cNow stop deflecting and tell me about the nightmares.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed. \u201cThey\u2019re not nightmares exactly. Just\u2026 strange dreams.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGoddess stuff?\u201d she asked, not mocking, just curious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 156\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d I admitted. \u201cIt feels like she\u2019s trying to tell me something. I just don\u2019t know what.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae hummed, tasting the sauce before setting the spoon down. \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know much about divine intervention, but I do know that overthinking it won\u2019t help. Eat. Sleep. Let whatever\u2019s trying to find you, find you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to believe it could be that simple, but the idea of being idl and waiting to see what came was terrifying to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I returned to work at the hospital the next day, Rae stayed behind to help with the twins. It was strange at first-leaving them with someone else-but when I came home that evening to the sound of laughter, all my tension melted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Cassian, both of the in Cassian\u2019s lap, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, while Ian was asleep\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stopped in the doorway, smiling. \u201cLooks like you had a full day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
surrounded by toys and baby blankets. August was perched against Rae\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian looked up, a grin tugging at his mouth. \u201cThey\u2019re tougher than they look. I think August\u2019s wolf is already coming out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rae laughed, light and musical. \u201cHe drooled on you. That doesn\u2019t make him a warrior.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cassian arched an eyebrow. \u201cWe all start somewhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their banter filled the room easily, the kind of playful rhythm that made me feel at ease. Cassian was calmer these days, less intense, and I realized that Rae brought something out in him, a levity he\u2019d been missing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 156 Chapter 156\u00a0 Ellie POV\u00a0 The leaves were beginning to change colors, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}