Chapter 145

** Paige’s POV ** The house feels alive again this morning. Soft laughter drifts from the living room along with the low hum of conversation. Jaxon is curled up on the couch, a blanket tucked around him, his cheeks flushed from coughing, but his fever has gone. Ryder sits beside him, his hand absently stroking Jaxon’s hair as they watch cartoons. Every now and then, Ryder checks his temperature, making sure the fever isn’t returning. He barely left Jaxon’s side for the first night; he watched over him the way I remember doing when he got his first virus as a baby. It’s beautiful, the way he protects our son, steady, patient, instinctive, but it also hurts a little to know that couldn’t be there for all the times in the past six years. I linger in the doorway for a moment, watching them. Everything in me aches with love. Behind me, sunlight spills through the kitchen windows in a warm pool. I move toward it quietly, needing to feel it on my face, needing a moment to breathe, to give Ryd