The silence in the master bedroom was deafening, heavy enough to suffocate. The soft glow of the crystal chandelier overhead caught the movement of the silk nightgown as it pooled at Emily’s feet. But Nathan wasn’t looking at the fabric. His eyes were wide, fixed on his new wife’s body, and his breath caught so sharply in his throat it physically pained him.
He had prepared himself for anything. He had braced his heart to see the physical toll of three pregnancies. He expected stretch marks, a softened belly, or the silver lines left behind by the miracle of birth. He had already resolved to kiss every single one of those marks, viewing them not as flaws, but as badges of honor, proof of a mother’s fierce survival.
But what he saw shook him to his absolute core.
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