Ethan’s grip tightened around the baby, feeling the fragile warmth against his chest. Lina’s shoulders shook as she choked back sobs, her face hidden but the tremor of grief unmistakable. The room was heavy with the scent of antiseptic and flowers—a faint, melancholic perfume of finality.
He swallowed, forcing himself to speak, his voice steadier than he felt. “Lina… I’m here. We’re here. You don’t have to do this alone.”
She lifted her tear-streaked face, eyes red but resolute, searching his. “I—I didn’t know how to tell you,” she whispered. “I thought he was gone… I thought I had to handle it alone.”
Ethan shook his head gently, smoothing her hair back. “You never have to handle anything alone. Not ever. We have each other—and her,” he said, nodding to their daughter, snug in his arms.
The old man’s chest rose and fell faintly, silent now, but the room seemed to breathe differently. Grief and love mingled, heavy yet real, and Ethan realized that in this moment, the fractures of secrets and fears could begin to mend, together.
Ethan exhaled slowly, the pieces clicking together but the weight of her confession still pressing in. He let the silence stretch, giving her room to breathe and himself a moment to absorb the truth.
“You thought you had to carry it all alone,” he murmured finally, voice low, careful. “Lina… you didn’t. You never had to. Not ever.”
Her hands trembled as she reached for him, and he took them gently, holding on as if anchoring both of them in the storm of emotions. “I… I was scared,” she whispered. “Scared you’d hate me for hiding it. Scared for him… for us.”
Ethan tightened his hold around their daughter, feeling her tiny fingers curl around his thumb. “We’re a family,” he said firmly. “All of us. No matter what’s in the past. We face it together.”
Lina’s shoulders sagged, a trembling breath of relief escaping her lips. The room was heavy with grief for the father she had loved, yet it also hummed with something fragile and unbreakable—the bond of the family they had built, and the new life they held in their arms.