“Yes,” Sylvie said immediately.
I looked at her.
No hesitation. No strategy. Just yes.
I nodded. “Yes.”
Dr. Kim tapped her tablet. “There is one thing we need to discuss. During intake, Ms. Vexley mentioned concerns about privacy. Given your public profiles, we’ve restricted access to this room. However, someone did call the front desk earlier asking whether Ms. Vexley had delivered.”
Sylvie stiffened.
“Who?” I asked.
“They didn’t give a name,” Dr. Kim said. “The desk didn’t confirm anything.”
“Was it a woman?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have security review it.”
My grip tightened around Mara.
Sylvie saw it. “Adrian.”
I heard the warning in her voice. Not because she was afraid of me, but because she knew me. She knew how quickly I could become all edges when I sensed a threat.
“I’m not going to storm through the hospital,” I said.
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You thought it.”
“I remembered it.”
The honesty between us was uncomfortable. It had been easier when we only traded polished anger.
Dr. Kim cleared her throat gently. “For tonight, the priority is rest. There will be paperwork in the morning.”
“Paternity paperwork?” I asked.
Sylvie’s eyes flashed. “Adrian.”
“I’m asking a practical question.”
“No,” Dr. Kim said evenly. “Birth certificates, discharge planning, pediatric care. Legal matters can wait unless both parents choose otherwise.”
Both parents.
The phrase moved through me with quiet force.
After the doctor left, Nurse Torres returned with a bassinet. She helped Sylvie settle Elise, then guided me as I laid Mara beside her sister. The babies turned slightly toward each other, as if some invisible thread still joined them from before the world had arrived.
I stood over them, unable to move.
“You should sit,” Sylvie said.
“I’m fine.”
“Dr. Kim just told me that being fine is not the same as recovering. I think it applies broadly.”
Despite everything, a small laugh escaped me.
It surprised us both.
For a moment, Sylvie smiled.
Then her eyes filled with tears so quickly she turned her face away.