Chapter 210 - Two Hundred and Ten
Chapter Two Hundred and Ten
Alicia’s POV
Three months into married life and I found myself sitting in the garden, watching Lia sleep in her bassinet beside me, feeling something I couldn’t quite name.
Not unhappiness. I could never call it that. But there was a restlessness gnawing at me, a quiet dissatisfaction that had been growing for weeks and that I couldn’t seem to shake no matter how many times I told myself I had everything I’d ever wanted.
And I did have everything. A husband who loved me so completely it sometimes took my breath away. A daughter who was perfect in every possible way. A family who had welcomed us with open arms. Safety and security and peace after years of having none of those things.
So why did I feel like something was missing?
Lia stirred in her sleep, making the tiny sighing sound that meant she’d be awake soon. She was four months old now, growing so fast I could hardly believe it. This morning she’d smiled at me for the first time. Not the reflexive smiles she’d made before, the ones the pediatrician said were just gas or random muscle movements. This had been a real smile, her eyes focusing on my face, her mouth curving up as if she recognized me and was happy to see me.
I’d cried. Called Malachi immediately even though he’d been in the middle of a video conference with Maurice about the security consulting business he was building. Made him come see, needed him to witness this moment with me.
He’d dropped everything. Come running. Leaned over the bassinet and made silly faces until Lia looked at him and smiled again, that same beautiful recognition lighting up her tiny features.
"She smiled at me," he’d said, his voice filled with such wonder it made my heart ache. He’d turned to me with tears in his eyes, this man who’d spent most of his life being hard and cold, and added, "Our daughter smiled at me. She knows who I am."