Chapter 48
forty-eight
LUCY
We haven’t told Isla about the baby yet.
Not because we don’t want to, and not because we’re afraid.
It’s just that there’s something we need to get through first. This part—the messy middle, meeting with Emily—where the past still echoes a little too loudly, where old wounds haven’t fully healed, and the future feels like a door we can’t step through until we’ve cleared the mess behind it.
Today is part of that.
We’re about to sit across from the woman who left the little girl I love like she’s my own together. I need her to see me. Not as a threat. Not as someone filling space until she decides to come back. But as someone who’s here for good. For Isla. For all of it.
We’re meeting at my café. The familiar scent of cinnamon and fresh coffee greets me the second Aidan and I step inside. This place has always been a comfort, and today, I’m leaning on it more than ever.
Emily’s already here, seated at the far end of the room. She doesn’t offer a smile. Doesn’t wave. Just watches us with a guarded stillness.
“Thanks for meeting us,” I say quietly as we take the seats across from her.
She shrugs. “Figured it was a matter of time.”
Aidan shifts beside me, his arm resting on the back of my chair. He clears his throat, glancing at me briefly. I give the slightest nod, letting him know I’m here, but I’ll follow his lead.
“We want to make sure there’s a plan we all understand, so Isla has consistency, security, and…love from all of us, without unnecessary conflict.”
Emily shifts in her seat, arms crossing over her chest, but I notice the faint softening in her jaw. She’s listening, and that’s what matters.
“I know you want to be more involved,” Aidan continues, leaning forward, “and that’s been going…better. I don’t want to keep Isla from you, but there must be boundaries and rules we all respect. If we can’t do that, we’re failing her.”
Aidan straightens in his chair, his voice firm. “We need to get something formal in place. Visitation schedules, communication protocols, everything in writing. I’m happy to have lawyers draft it so there’s no confusion down the line.”
Emily’s eyes narrow, and her arms tighten across her chest. “Lawyers? You think I’d…what, sign something?”
“It’s not about keeping you out. It’s about making sure we’re all accountable. No surprises or misunderstandings.”
She bristles, jaw set. Deep down, she has to know he’s right…
Right?
Emily’s mouth opens, then closes. She doesn’t quite meet either of our eyes.
“I understand this is hard,” I chime in, keeping my voice gentle. “But I really do think it’s necessary.”
“For Isla’s sake,” Aidan adds.
Emily’s gaze finally settles on me, her eyes traveling down to where my hand rests protectively over my bump. Realization dawns on her.
“So that’s why we’re really here,” she says quietly. “The family’s expanding, and you want to make sure I don’t mess it up.”
Aidan tenses beside me, but I place my hand on his knee under the table. I can handle this part.
“Emily,” I say, leaning forward slightly. “This isn’t about replacing anyone. This is about creating stability for a little girl who deserves support from her family.”
“And what if I don’t like the terms? What if I want more time with her?”
“Then we’ll all discuss it together, right?” I say, turning my attention to Aidan who returns my question with a nod.
Emily’s fingers drum against the table. “You’re being awfully polite for someone who’s probably got a hundred horrible things to say about me.”
I offer a faint smile. “I think you already know all the worst things I could say, but I’m not here to throw stones. I’m here because I love your daughter.”
That gets her. I can see it—a breath she forgets to take, a tremor at the corner of her mouth that she bites back with a roll of her shoulder.
“You’re not what I expected,” she mutters.
I keep my voice soft. “Neither are you.”
There’s a beat of cautious silence between us, as if we’re both standing in a room with a floor that might cave in at any moment.
For the first time since she showed up in our lives, I see the cracks in her bravado. The fatigue behind her eyes. The guilt she’s been hiding.
“You really think we can come out of this without hating each other?” she asks, her voice quiet.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I’m willing to try.”
Emily looks away, her fingers toying with the paper sleeve of her coffee cup.
“I don’t know what the right thing is here, but if you’re going to be in her life again, we need to figure out how to do that without tearing each other down,” I continue. “She’s five. She watches everything. She hears everything. She feels everything.”
“I know,” Emily mutters. “I’m not after anything, you know. It probably looks really bad—showing up, getting defensive.”
Neither Aidan nor I say anything, letting her gather her thoughts.
“It was…the dynamic,” she admits, shrugging one shoulder. “Walking into your house and seeing how domestic everything is. How easy Aidan is with you. How loved Isla is.”
She winces, like even saying it aloud stings. “I don’t know where I fit, or if I do.”
My heart twists a little for this woman sitting across from me who’s trying to claw her way back into something she left behind.
“I can’t pretend to know what that feels like,” I say. “I do know what it’s like to walk into a life and wonder if you’re allowed to stay, though. So…maybe we can all try to make space for each other.”
Emily offers the smallest, wryest smile. “You’re really…kind. It’s annoying.”
Aidan chuckles beside me. “Aye,” he says. “Kind, and apparently impossible to argue with.”
“I get that a lot.”
There’s a beat, and something shifts. A tiny, imperceptible click between us that loosens her shoulders, draws a small breathy chuckle from her lips.
Her gaze drops to my stomach. “So…you’re pregnant?”
I glance down instinctively, hand smoothing over the gentle swell beneath my sweater. “Mm. Yep. Not planned.”
She laughs. Really laughs this time, the sound awkward and bright and a little bit stunned, like she forgot she still had it in her.
“What are you having?” she asks.
“We don’t know yet. We were going to wait a little longer before telling Isla…which is why I wanted to talk to you first. Make sure we were all on the same page.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
Emily swallows hard and nods. “Thank you.”
Her unexpected gratitude definitely isn’t something I was prepared for but it’s welcome, nonetheless.
“I’d still like to have something formal in place,” Aidan says, his voice gentle but firm. “For everyone’s sake.”
Emily turns her attention to Aidan. “That’s fair. I can…work with that.”
The tension in Aidan’s shoulders eases, and I feel his hand warm against my back. We’re getting somewhere. Progress.