Chapter 404

The night was still. William stayed curled up in her scent for a long time, barely moving. The room carried a faint, sweet fragrance—undeniably from their two kids. Yet here they were, like strangers. He couldn’t help but wonder—if he'd made it to Alderwen back then, would everything have turned out different? At least then, he would've been there... wouldn’t have missed their birth, or all the little things along the way. But what hurt most wasn’t that. It was missing Chloe. The slow, quiet kind of love they could’ve had. That night, William didn’t leave. Chloe took the guest room, leaving the main bedroom to him and the kids. He didn’t even dare take the bed—just settled on the couch for the night. Not that he could sleep. He kept sneaking peeks at the kids, one at a time, still not getting enough of them. Eventually, he couldn't help himself—picked Autumn up and pulled him into his arms. The little guy, all warm and sweet-smelling, just kept sleeping soundly against him. As dawn cre