Cedar\u2019s POV<\/p>\n
I stood at the bottom of my apartment building, staring up at the familiar chipped brick and weathered fire escape. The emotional whiplash of the evening had left me drained. It was only when I reached for my keys that a realization hit me with startling force.<\/p>\n
Oliver. The little boy was still in my apartment, probably wondering where I\u2019d gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh god,\u201d I whispered, hastily wiping away the remnants of tears from my cheeks. I hadn\u2019t told him I\u2019d be out late. What kind of person forgets about a child in their care?<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath, forcing my expression into something resembling normalcy. The last thing that boy needed was to see me fall apart. I climbed the four flights quickly, my heels echoing in the stairwell, and unlocked my door with shaking hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver?\u201d I called softly as I stepped inside.<\/p>\n
The sight that greeted me was unexpected. Instead of chaos, my small apartment was immaculate\u2014neater than when I\u2019d left it this morning. The throw pillows were arranged with geometric precision on the sofa, and magazines were stacked neatly on the coffee table. And there, perched on the edge of the couch watching cartoons with the volume turned low, was Oliver.<\/p>\n
When he saw me, his entire face lit up. He scrambled off the sofa and ran toward me, arms outstretched, colliding with my legs in a fierce hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re home!\u201d he exclaimed, his voice muffled against my skirt. \u201cI was starting to worry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knelt down to his level, searching his face. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry I didn\u2019t call. I should have let you know I\u2019d be late.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shrugged with a maturity that continued to surprise me. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. I ate dinner and cleaned up a little. I didn\u2019t know when you\u2019d be back, but I wanted everything to look nice.\u201d He pointed toward the kitchen. \u201cThere\u2019s food for you on the table. I covered it with another plate to keep it warm.\u201d<\/p>\n
I followed his gesture and saw a plate waiting on my small dining table, meticulously set with a fork and knife on a folded paper towel. Something twisted in my chest\u2014a feeling so unfamiliar it took me a moment to recognize it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were worried about me?\u201d I asked, unable to keep the wonder from my voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. \u201cI didn\u2019t have your phone number, so I just watched TV and waited.\u201d His small hand found mine. \u201cAre you hungry? I can heat it up more if it\u2019s cold now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t remember the last time someone had waited for me to come home. In the Wright household, my comings and goings had never warranted attention unless I was late for an obligation. The simple act of being expected, being missed, created a warmth that spread through my chest, temporarily displacing the night\u2019s earlier hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be nice,\u201d I managed, my voice catching slightly.<\/p>\n
I watched as Oliver moved with purpose to the kitchen, dragging a step stool to the microwave. His little hands worked with careful determination and pressed buttons. The domesticity of the moment struck me\u2014this child I\u2019d known for just two days, creating a sense of home I\u2019d never quite experienced.<\/p>\n
While the microwave hummed, Oliver chatted about his day\u2014how he\u2019d explored the bookshelf, discovered my design magazines, and attempted to organize my colored pencils by the spectrum. I sat at the table, nodding and responding, but part of me remained caught in wonderment at the strangeness of it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere you go,\u201d he announced proudly, setting the reheated plate before me. He climbed onto the chair opposite, resting his chin in his hands to watch me eat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you going to have some?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He shook his head. \u201cI already ate. But I\u2019ll keep you company.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he did, filling the silence with innocent observations about my apartment, asking questions about my work, and occasionally stealing a green bean from my plate with a mischievous grin. By the time dinner was finished, the weight of the evening had lightened considerably.<\/p>\n
Bath time followed, with Oliver splashing happily while I washed his hair, careful not to get soap in his eyes. As I helped him into his borrowed t-shirt\u2014one of mine that hung to his knees\u2014I was struck by how natural this felt, as if we\u2019d been doing this routine for years rather than days.<\/p>\n
Reading him a bedtime story, I watched his eyelids grow heavy, his small body curled trustingly against mine on the sofa bed I\u2019d prepared. When his breathing finally evened into sleep, I gently extricated myself and stood watching him.<\/p>\n
In sleep, the resemblance between us seemed even more pronounced\u2014the same wave in our hair, the curve of our cheeks. If he truly were my son, how would that be possible? I\u2019d never been pregnant, never given birth. Yet something about him called to a part of me I hadn\u2019t known existed.<\/p>\n
I tucked the blanket more securely around his shoulders, my fingers lingering on the soft cotton. How strange that this child\u2014this little stranger who had appeared so suddenly in my life\u2014had created the first sense of being truly needed that I could remember. With the Wrights, I was valuable for what I could provide. With Oliver, I was simply wanted.<\/p>\n
As I dimmed the lights and retreated to my own bedroom, a bittersweet thought followed me: what if he really could be mine? What if this accidental family we were playing at could somehow be real?<\/p>\n
But that was impossible. Wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 7 Chapter 7 Cedar\u2019s POV I stood […]<\/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":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30406","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=30406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}