Evaline:
When I woke up, it wasn't just the warmth of my son pressed close to my chest that greeted me. There was another familiar heat - steady, grounding, and achingly gentle - coming from the other side of the bed.
For a moment, I thought I was still dreaming, lost somewhere between the tenderness of the past and the aching emptiness of the present. But when I blinked my eyes open, the soft golden hue of a lamp light told me otherwise.
Oscar lay on Lioren's other side, one arm draped loosely over our son, his hand resting right on top of mine. His breathing was slow, even, and peaceful... something I hadn't seen from him in days.
The exhaustion carved into his handsome face was still there, faint shadows under his eyes and a faint frown that never quite disappeared. But right now, he looked... calm. For the first time since Draven's collapse, he looked like he had managed to find a brief moment of peace.
