9.3

Melius’ POV

The first time I left Kat’s room, Lina had been waiting for me. Our son had been sleeping wrapped in the swaddle around her body. I gave her a chaste kiss. Then kissed my son on the forehead. Lina smiled at me. “What are you doing?”

I knew she hated it when I called her our daughter. The hope that it was just a part of postpartum kept me going. It was dumb to think that. “I was just with Kat.”

The moment I mentioned her name, Lina scoffed. Her face contorted with anger. I knew she would bellow something which would wake Linus. I cut her off before she could say anything. “We should talk in our room. Why not put Linus down in his crib?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Fine. But if he wakes up, the conversation is over.”

Lina went into the nursery and I into our bedroom. Plopping down on the bed, I scrubbed my face. This wasn’t the woman I married. After Kataya was born, she wasn’t like this. I wanted to rationalize why she’d been acting this way. I needed to rationalize it. We’d be