How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Jarrod glanced sideways at her. "Are you planning to suffocate yourself? Relax a little."

Elodie swallowed hard. "Who does your daughter take after? She's probably past the awkward phase now, right? I never learned how to hold a baby, Jarrod, my heart is about to jump out of my chest."

She started rambling, as she always did when nervous.

Jarrod watched her, then turned his head and covered his mouth, trying to hide a laugh.

"So if she isn't cute, you'll just send her back?"

Elodie shot him a glare. "What, you think this is like returning groceries at the supermarket?"

He just grinned, taking his time. "You must be out of your mind. With genes like ours—especially mine-how could my daughter not be adorable?"

She wanted to snap back, but words failed her.

He wasn't exactly wrong.

And so they bantered, back and forth, the whole way there.

Half an hour later, Elodie found herself in a secluded neighborhood of upscale villas. The area was deserted, and the roads were tricky to navigate.

pressed tight, and she wasn't sure if it was the

around her, pulling her close as they

Elodie felt like she'd stepped into another world-a place straight out of a science fiction movie, gleaming with high-tech equipment and bustling people. She couldn't even begin

white coats approached them-likely the team in charge here. One of them looked from her to Jarrod. "Mr. Silverstein,

hand as

And then-

the far end, inside a special incubator, Elodie caught

her imaginings over the months crystallized into reality in that

living, breathing child-right

barely registered Jarrod letting go of

a tiny girl lay

pale, her eyelashes long and delicate. Even as an infant, her nose

of Elodie's forearm-but clearly healthy,

glass, as if she could reach through and

that single, overwhelming moment, tears broke free, streaming

of connection-a bond deeper than words-rooted itself inside her, filling her with an uncontrollable urge to

Tears kept falling, unstoppable.

about so much, loved so fiercely, was safe and sound, cared for and growing

beside her, bending down so his eyes