Olivia“Olivia, what are you doing?”The sound of Nathan’s voice suddenly coming from behind me startled me out of my reverie. I quickly turned with Elliot still in my arms to see Nathan standing in the doorway, still in his jacket. He looked worried.“Elliot woke up during his nap and started crying,” I said. “So I came in here to check on him.”Nathan sighed… “Olivia…” he muttered with exasperation as he rushed over to me. He quickly took Elliot out of my arms without warning, causing even Elliot to startle and begin to whine from being pulled away from his mother so suddenly.“What’s the issue?” I asked. “I was fine.”Nathan simply shook his head, bouncing Elliot to soothe him back to sleep. “Olivia, you’re on bed rest, he said.” He placed Elliot back down in his crib once his cries had subsided again and then took my hand and began leading me back to the bedroom. “You can’t be up.”“What was I supposed to do?” I asked as I followed him. “I couldn’t just let him keep crying until y
OliviaI yawned and flipped to the next page of the catalog. With the magazine in one hand and a marker in the other, I periodically circled items that we still needed for Alvin’s nursery; a mobile, some baskets for the changing station, a rug, curtains.With the date for the c-section just a few days away now, we were currently on crunch time with Alvin’s nursery. We had decided to convert one of the spare bedrooms downstairs, but it was only halfway done.“I just wish we had more time,” I said under my breath as I looked through the catalog.“Me, too.” Nathan met my gaze in the vanity mirror as he combed out his damp hair. He was fresh out of the shower, his bare muscles glistening with water droplets. A towel hung loosely around his hips, revealing the very top of his groin in the mirror. “But I’m sure little Alvin won’t mind if we’re still putting on some finishing touches when he arrives.”I smirked a bit and flipped to the next page. “He is the one who decided to come almost fou
Nathan“Nathan, I need to speak with you in private. Now.”Dan stood in front of me on the porch, a manila envelope tucked under his arm. I wasn’t expecting him to stop by, and we didn’t have another association meeting scheduled for the next two weeks.“Dan,” I said, still a bit too shocked to let him in. “What brings you here?”He held up the envelope. “Can we speak in your study?”“Uh—yes, sorry,” I said, stepping aside to let him in.When he stepped into the foyer, he paused for a moment, looking around. I closed the door behind him and then led him over to my study—a small, cozy room situated toward the back of the house, with a large bay window overlooking the ocean.Once we were alone, I turned and shuffled some papers around on my desk. I had been messy lately, what with being so busy taking care of Olivia and the twins.My desk was covered in paperwork and open books, with a coffee cup that had dark brown drips down the side, staining the paper underneath it.“I must admit, I
OliviaI shouldn’t have tried to get up and listen. I shouldn’t have followed the sound of the raised voices downstairs. I should have stayed in bed, where maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t have happened…Bright lights flashed all around me. I felt myself being loaded into a vehicle—the back of an ambulance. More flashing, voices, the sound of radios.Everything went intermittently black over the next stretch of time, however long or short that stretch of time even was. I recalled snippets of conversation, but I wouldn’t discern where or even when they came, like drops of rain plopping onto a window.“Her blood pressure’s dropping.”“Elevate her feet.”“We’ll have to induce…”“What if…”“Stay awake, Mrs. Ford. You have to stay awake.”“Liv, I’m right here. Don’t leave me.”I had felt myself fading, but that last voice was like a buoy in a storm, as if I was lost out at sea during a hurricane. I latched onto it, held on like hell and didn’t let go. If that was all I could do, then I wou
OliviaThe room was silent; no voices, no cries, not even the beeping of the machines could be heard through the rushing of blood in my ears.My baby was silent. He should have been crying, he should have been thrashing at the sudden onset of the cold and noisy world, but he wasn’t. There was just… nothing.“Nathan?” I whispered, craning my neck to look up at my husband. “Nathan, where is he?”Nathan didn’t answer; or rather, it seemed as though he couldn’t answer, as he stood frozen to his spot. His grip was like iron around my hand, and the rest of his body was as still as a statue.He didn’t even blink as he stared up ahead. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he was really frozen in time.Slowly, I turned my head toward the curtain that was raised. I couldn’t see an
NathanI held the door open for Olivia as we stepped into the funeral home. She almost seemed to float past me with a faraway look on her face, and could only seem to mumble out a faint “Thank you” as she walked past.This was how things had been for the past three days. It felt as though both of us were moving in a fog, or maybe even a thick mud, ever since that delivery room had been filled with the sound of silence rather than the hearty cries of our son.Alvin.The name felt like a curse now. First our dear friend, and now our baby.Over the past few days, I had begun to wonder if Jenifer’s hex was the culprit, or perhaps the final nail had been struck in the proverbial—and now literal—coffin when we had chosen that name.But deep down, I knew that it was just another stroke of bad luck. Another moment of pure chance. Another drop of miser
OliviaThe room seemed to swirl around me as I stood there, a drink glass firmly clutched in my iron grip. I had my other hand resting over my belly; it was so easy to forget that I was no longer pregnant with my belly still slightly swollen.And maybe, if I just closed my eyes for a moment, I could still feel the heartbeat within…“Liv?”A soft voice caught my attention, and my eyes snapped open to see that Angela was standing in front of me now. Her eyes, still puffy and red-rimmed, were filled with sorrow and sympathy. Seeing her was a relief, although I hated seeing my friends cry.“Hey,” was all I could manage.Angela then nodded her head toward my glass. “Need a refill?”I followed her gaze down to my glass, which was, in fact, empty. I hadn’t realized it, but I had somehow managed to
OliviaI threw myself down onto my pillow to muffle my sobs. The funeral guests still milled about below me on the first floor of the villa, but I just couldn’t stay down there for any longer. I had to get away. I had to be alone, at least for a little while.As I laid there, the anger I felt toward Dan only compounded. I knew that it was misplaced—of course it wasn’t really his faultthat my baby had died—but I couldn’t help it. Seeing him in my home, on the day of my infant son’s funeral, with that awful look in his eyes…It just made me so furious.I wasn’t alone for long, however, when the soft sound of the door creaking open caught my attention. A moment later, I felt the bed compress beside me. A familiar scent overwhelmed me—Nathan. I didn’t even need to lift my head to know that he was there.Witho
OliviaI gripped the edges of the podium, my knuckles whitening from the strain as I stared out over the sea of faces. All eyes were trained squarely on me, awaiting my words. But I was frozen.A tremor of nausea wormed its way up my throat as I stared out at them. What was I thinking—how could I have ever agreed to this? Speaking to crowds had never been my forte; that was Nathan’s arena, not mine. I was just the woman behind the scenes, the young mom who had never gone to college, the one who had been handed her job by her husband…Suddenly, a flicker of motion off to the side caught my eye—Nathan, standing just at the edge of the stage with his arms folded across his chest. Even from this distance, I could feel the weight of his steady gaze, that piercing Alpha stare that always seemed to see straight into the depths of my soul.He must have sensed my faltering because, slowly, deliberately, he offered me the faintest of smiles and a single, reassuring nod.And just like that, the
Olivia I looped my arm through Nathan’s as we stepped down from the podium, the applause from the crowd and the flashing of cameras having finally subsided after what felt like an eternity. “It’s over,” Nathan beamed, giving my arm a squeeze. “That wasn’t so bad.” I couldn’t help but grin back at him. “No, it wasn’t. You were great up there.” And he really had been great; the press conference had been an overwhelming success—any lingering doubts or trepidation we had harbored before had been utterly blown away by the sheer force of the crowd’s enthusiastic response. For so long, it had felt like we were fighting this battle alone, like the victims who had suffered under Dan’s horrific operation were little more than nameless, faceless casualties. But today, we had finally given them a voice. Their stories had reached the masses, had resonated and struck a chord with everyone who watched. Nathan had handled all of the questions that were thrown his way with poise and ease
OliviaI rapped my knuckles lightly on the door to Nathan’s office. A moment later, his voice called out, “Come in.”Stepping into the room, I placed my hands on my hips upon seeing the scene in front of me: Nathan was standing in front of the mirror, his shirt still untucked and his tie loosened. His desk was a mess of papers and folders, and it was clear that he had been checking over his notes last-minute before the press conference.
OliviaI wiped a bead of sweat from my brow, slowly turning to survey the progress that had been made in the park. The banners we had hung were a bold purple color, signifying our support of the women who had been affected by the trafficking ring.I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I looked at our progress. With the press conference today, followed by a festival to help raise funds for the shelter we were building, the park was bustling with activity as our pack members worked hard
NathanI leaned back in my chair with a weary sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in a futile attempt to stave off the encroaching headache. Spread out on my desk was an array of file folders, legal pads scrawled with notes, and printed transcripts—a minefield of information that would need to be carefully navigated on the day of the upcoming press conference.It had been two weeks since Dan and Montgomery’s bodies were found in the confinement pit, and it had been a dizzyin
OliviaMy hands shook uncontrollably as I stepped up to the edge of the pit, clutching the metal grating until my knuckles turned white. A thick, cloying stench wafted up from the darkness below—the unmistakable reek of death and decay.Despite the waves of nausea already roiling in my gut, I leaned forward for a closer look.
OliviaThe air coming through the open windows smelled like the fresh sea breeze as we made our way from room to room, touring every nook and cranny of the newly completed cottage. It was perfect—cozy and quaint, while still boasting all the modern amenities one could want. But more than that, it was a sanctuary, a haven.A fresh start.
OliviaThe sound of power tools outside streamed in through the window while I folded the laundry, a distant backdrop to my swirling thoughts. I had grown used to the sound, and actually kind of enjoyed it. It was a reminder that life went on, that our family was growing.It had been a couple of weeks since I had made the decision to take a temporary leave from work in order to really focus on my family—on rebuilding that long-severed bond with my mother—and I was glad I did.
NathanI couldn’t stop the rage from simmering just beneath the surface as I made my way through the darkened forest toward the confinement pit. No one knew I was here—I was coming under the cover of night, my hair and face concealed by a hood.But I had to come. I couldn’t stop thinking about Dan and Montgomery, and I needed to see them.