Chapter Seventeen
Claire
“We’re doing what now?” I asked, feigning suspiciousness.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.
This was Alexander. The way he looked at me hitched a breath in my chest.
As we stood in the last rays of sunlight, surrounded by vibrant hues of purple and gold, I thought about how I had spent so long questioning.
But there was nothing uncertain in his gaze, nothing calculated or hidden as it met mine, pulling me closer to him and to the life we could have.
This was happening.
“Going on vacation,” he said.
“Don’t you have work?” I couldn’t help but tease him.
He shrugged, looking laid back and impossibly handsome.
“Everybody needs a vacation from time to time.”
“Ugh, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes.
I loved the new Alexander, the man he was around me only.
Gone was the ice, the distance, he was unapologetically himself, and I loved that.
We were on a plane within an hour.
He brought me to a place I had once dreamed of visiting.
A place I’d mentioned in passing.
It had been a quiet comment, tossed out like spare change, lost among all the uncertainty of our beginnings.
I hadn’t expected him to remember.
I hadn’t expected him to care.
But here we were. And it took everything inside me not to drown in the emotions swirling through my chest, not to collapse under the weight of something I wanted too much to name.
Was this real? Was this him?
Was this the us I’d almost stopped hoping for?
As we stepped off the plane, I was stunned by the beauty – and cleanliness - of Osaka International Airport.
We were on our way to Kyoto, and I couldn’t wait to visit historic temples, serene gardens, and of course, to play amongst the petals of cherry blossoms.
“I want to renew our vows… if you’ll have me.”
I stood there, breath caught and unsure, listening to the low, sure grind of his voice as he said, “Not for a contract. Not for anyone else. Just for us.” And I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t stop the wild rush of my heart.
He sounded different.
He sounded like every dream I’d never dared let myself believe.
And that scared me. That thrilled me.
I looked at him, searching for a hint of doubt, a hint of the cold, controlling man I’d first thought I’d married.
But there was none. Just warmth.
Just sincerity. Just a promise he’d been proving every day, that he’d love me the way I deserved to be loved.
I dragged in a breath.
“Of course, I want to renew our vows.” I loved the man.
There was no denying that.
And he’d been proving he loved me too, in ways that were far deeper than words.
Breakfasts in bed, thoughtful gifts, helping me learn piano, he just knew me in a way no one ever had before.
His hand was warm as he reached for mine, warmth that traveled through me, igniting a spark of hope that I had no way to extinguish.
It was just us now, just the two of us against everything we’d ever been too afraid to face.
The truth of that made my pulse race.
Made me trust that this time, I wouldn’t be left with nothing but heartbreak.
“I love you,” he said, pulling me into a kiss.
With that, we began our walk to the vehicle he’d hired to take us to Kyoto.
“Did you already pick a place?” I asked.
He glanced at me, putting a finger to his lips.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Hours later, after getting to our hotel and settling in, we found ourselves in a beautiful garden.
The soft rustle of leaves carried through the incredible space, blending with the quiet murmur of the stream winding its way over smooth stones.
Lanterns flickered as dusk settled, their glow casting golden light across the ancient wooden bridge where I stood, waiting.
Alexander faced me, his expression unreadable for a fleeting moment—until his eyes softened, filled with the kind of love that had shaped every step we’d taken together since he confessed in front of my family.
I hadn’t expected this to feel so different from our wedding.
That had been something else, a contract, something that bound us at the expense of someone else.
Someone no longer in our lives.
But this—this was something deeper, something beautiful and real.
He took my hands, warm, steady.
“I never thought I could love you more than I did the day you pulled me into a hug when I needed it most, or the time you helped me back down at a difficult family dinner, or any other of the times you supported me in little ways that meant everything,” he said, his voice low, reverent.
“But I do. Every day, I do.”
Tears gathered, but I didn’t blink them away.
“You saved me,” I whispered.
He grinned and I couldn’t hold back.
“Not with money, not in some grand way. Not in ways anyone could see. But in the quiet moments—the ones that could have broken me. You were there. And I love you more for it.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
No grand gestures this time, no flourished words.
Just us.
Just love.
And in this sacred, fleeting moment, beneath the cherry blossoms that swayed in the evening breeze, I knew one thing with absolute certainty—
I would choose him again.
Always.
The next morning, I stared at the calendar app on my phone, my pulse thudding in my ears.
Late.
Not by much.
Just a handful of days.
But enough that my stomach knotted up tight, my mind racing through possibilities.
I pressed the heel of my hand against my forehead, forcing myself to breathe.
Maybe it was the travel throwing off my cycle.
Stress. Diet. Anything.
Or maybe it wasn’t.
The thought sent a rush of heat through me, equal parts excitement and terror.
Alexander was still asleep, something I didn’t want to interrupt with speculation.
Why get him all worked up if I was wrong?
I needed confirmation.
I needed a test.
And that meant stepping out into Kyoto, into streets I hadn’t wandered alone yet among people whose language I didn’t speak.
The convenience store near the hotel was bright, stocked with everything from neatly packaged bento boxes to stationary.
I hovered near the shelves, scanning the unfamiliar labels, heart pounding.
Where were they?
A kind voice said something I didn’t understand.
I turned, blinking at the older woman beside me.
She wore a soft green blouse, her expression kind but curious.
“I—uh—” The words tangled in my throat.
I scrambled for a polite way to ask for something so personal, my translation app failing me completely.
She tilted her head, then looked down at my hands, at the way my fingers trembled just slightly against my phone.
And somehow, she understood.
She gave a gentle nod, then gestured for me to follow.
Another woman, slightly younger, joined her, murmuring something before reaching for a pink-and-white box and holding it out to me with a knowing smile.
I exhaled.
“Thank you,” I whispered, bowing slightly as I took it.
Gratitude swelled in my chest, unexpected and overwhelming.
Their smiles lingered, warm, reassuring, before they waved me off like I was a daughter they’d just helped find her way home.
Home.
The thought made my chest ache.
I hurried back to the hotel, gripping the bag tightly, my pulse thrumming.
The hallway felt too long, too empty as I slipped into our room.
He was still sleeping as I went in.
Thankfully, the directions were also in English, and I followed them exactly.
I tried not to look for three minutes, but I couldn’t help myself.
And I watched the liquid sweep across the little window, and there was no doubt.
The plus sign. Clear.
Definite. Real.
My hands trembled as I held it, as I watched everything I’d known spiral and shift into something different, something bigger.
Was I ready for this?
I stood in the doorway, my breath shallow, my hands shaking.
The world had shifted beneath me, and I had no idea how I was on my feet.
Leaving the bathroom, I crept toward him.
Alexander lay in the dim light, the soft rise and fall of his chest steady.
I hesitated, my fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt.
This wasn’t how I meant to tell him.
Not half-breathless, not shaken, not in the early dawn hours.
But I couldn’t hold it in.
I moved closer, pressing a hand to his shoulder, gentle at first—then firmer as my urgency took over.
“Alexander.” My voice barely carried through the quiet.
He stirred but didn’t wake.
I swallowed hard. “Alexander,” I whispered again, this time more forceful.
His brow furrowed before his eyes blinked open, hazy with sleep.
“Claire?” His voice was rough, his hand reaching instinctively for mine.
“What’s wrong?”
I didn’t know how to say it.
I hadn’t rehearsed this moment.
I hadn’t prepared for it.
“I—” The words tangled in my throat, twisting around the shock still thrumming through me.
He sat up now, fully alert, concern sharpening his gaze.
“Tell me.”
A breath.
A heartbeat. The moment before everything changed.
“I’m pregnant.”
His face went blank, as if he’d never considered this possibility – funny, given the fact that the first time we’d been intimate, we hadn’t used protection – then his grip tightened around my fingers, comforting and sweet.
And then—slowly, cautiously, like stepping into something too sacred to disturb—he exhaled.
“Claire,” he whispered, awe breaking through the edges of his voice.
And just like that, everything that had felt too big, too overwhelming, and terror washed through me.
“I don’t know how to- I don’t- can we-?”
His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close, and for the first time since the realization hit me—I let myself breathe.
“We’re going to be just fine.”
And I believed him.
“Claire,” he said, the word warm and filled with love.
“We’re having a baby.”
The excitement in his voice, the happiness that radiated from him, wrapped around me and filled the corners of my heart that I hadn’t even known were empty.
He held me like he’d never let go, like he was already holding more than just me, and it made me laugh, made me cry, made me know that this was right.
“I love you,” he said, pulling back to look at me, to let me see how real it all was, how real he was.
The precious future we were creating felt solid in his arms, felt unbreakable in his embrace.
I hadn’t expected to feel this way.
There was a life inside me growing in me, a new life I’d never imagined but already loved.
And Alexander? He was exactly what I wanted, hoped for, and needed.
When I was scared, he lent me strength.
When I was unsure, he put me at ease.
And when I needed love, he was there.
I didn’t doubt him. Not one bit.
We were going to be a family.
The thought made me truly happy.
I felt Alexander’s steady grip at my waist, holding me like he’d never let go.
And I believed that too.
“There’s just one thing,” I said, my voice softer than I intended.
I held my breath to steady myself.
His body tensed—just slightly—but enough for me to feel it.
And then, just as quickly, a release.
He trusted me.
“And what’s that?” he asked, his voice low, steady.
His lips brushed my temple, lingering, then pressed against my hair.
There was no way I’d let him off that easy.
Nope, I wanted to make him sweat.
And I’m pretty sure I owed him a few of those uncomfortable moments.
But never to hurt him.
I glanced up, catching the anticipation in his eyes, the way he searched my face as if bracing for something serious, something life-altering.
I bit back a grin.
“You get to be the one to call your mom and tell her.”
For a heartbeat, he didn’t move.
Then—slowly, incredulously—a chuckle rumbled in his chest, breaking through the tension like sunlight after a storm.
Relief spread through me, warm and certain.
And just like that, everything was right in the world.