Winning Back His Ex's Wife's Broken Heart by Hayley

Richard

pov.

The morning was off to a slow start, but I didn't mind. Sarah looked like she needed the extra few minutes in bed.

I watched her for a moment, her hand resting on her growing belly, her hair messy from sleep. It hit me again, like it had been hitting me every day for months now: I was going to be a dad. "Richard," she mumbled, her eyes barely open. "Don't stare. It's creepy."

I chuckled, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "It's not staring, it's admiring. Totally different."

She groaned, throwing the blanket over her head. "Go admire the coffee machine."

She wasn't wrong. We had a hospital pre-registration appointment later, and I figured a cup of coffee might help me face the mountain of paperwork that probably awaited us.

The hospital was about as inviting as hospitals could be-sterile, bright, and slightly intimidating.

We sat in a small office, and a nurse handed us a clipboard full of forms. I took one look at the stack and whistled.

"Looks like they want my entire life story," I joked, flipping through the pages. "I'm surprised they didn't ask what I had for breakfast in 1997."

Sarah shot me a look that said, Behave, but the corner of her mouth twitched. "Just fill it out, Richard."

I tried to focus, but the questions felt overwhelming. Name, address, emergency contacts, insurance information-it all seemed so official, so adult.

"Do you think they'll still let us take the baby home if I accidentally spell something wrong?" I muttered, scribbling my signature.

"Richard," she said, this time full-on smiling, "you're not getting out of this with sarcasm. Keep writing."

voice was soft, though, and I could

at her.

eyes. "Just feels... real. Like, really

it hit me how close we were to this baby actually being here. It wasn't some far-off idea anymore.

nurse smiled and gave us a little folder with hospital info

frame it, our first official parenting paperwork. Sarah

stopped by a small takeout place to grab dinner while Sarah rested at home. The place smelled amazing, and I found myself lingering near the counter, scrolling

see Greg, an old friend, grinning at me. He looked a little older, a little rounder, but still the

shook his hand, genuinely glad to see him. "Man, it's

against the counter. "Married, three kids

braver than me. We're just gearing up for our first,

the kind of belly laugh that made everyone around smile. "Oh, man, you're in

with peanut butter, how

eyes. "Because if you don't, you'll cry, and nobody's got time

was weirdly comforting, hearing his stories. Parenting wasn't going to be perfect,

maybe that was okay.

Just remember: no one knows

from the lamp beside her. She looked up when I came in, her face lighting up at

it," I

container.

ate in comfortable silence for a while, the sounds of forks scraping against plastic the only noise in the

while. She'd been quiet since the hospital, and I could tell

chewing thoughtfully. "Just thinking. Today made it feel... close,