The apartment was finally still. The triplets, after their long day out, had collapsed into sleep without much fuss—Amara hugging her blanket tightly, Lila sprawled like a starfish, and Elias curled around his beloved plush bunny as if guarding it.
Leon stood by the nursery door a moment longer than usual, watching their little chests rise and fall. Aria slipped in beside him, resting her head against his shoulder.
"They look so peaceful," she whispered.
He nodded, closing the door softly before guiding her toward their bedroom. For once, neither of them collapsed from exhaustion the moment they sat down. Instead, they lingered—Aria curling her legs beneath her as Leon leaned back against the headboard, one arm stretched lazily across her shoulders.
The night outside was quiet, only the occasional hum of the city filtering in through the balcony glass.
Aria traced idle circles against his shirt. "Today felt… good," she said softly. "Like we finally stole some time just for us."
Leon tilted his head toward her, his expression softer than she was used to seeing. "That's because I made sure of it." He caught her hand in his, stilling her fingers. "I don't want to look back one day and realize I missed these years because I was buried in work."
Her lips curved into a small smile. "You're already doing more than I ever imagined you would. The way you care for them, the way you…" She hesitated, her eyes meeting his. "The way you care for me."
For a moment, Leon said nothing, simply brushing his thumb across her knuckles. Then his voice, low and deliberate, broke the silence.
"When I said earlier—about having another one someday—I wasn't just joking."
Aria blinked at him, warmth rushing into her cheeks. "Leon…"
He smiled faintly, as if reading her flustered thoughts. "Not now. Not tomorrow. But when the time is right, I'd like that. I'd like more of this—" he gestured vaguely toward the nursery, toward the life they had built together—"more of us."
Her throat tightened, but in the gentlest way. For so long, she had lived believing she was just a piece of property, something to be bought and controlled. Yet here he was, speaking of choice and of future and of her as his partner.
She leaned closer, pressing her forehead to his chest. "You make it sound so simple."
"That's because it is," Leon replied without hesitation, his arm tightening around her. "You, me, and them. Everything else can wait."
For a while they stayed like that, the quiet of the night wrapping around them. Leon hummed under his breath—an echo of the lullabies he sometimes sang to Elias—and Aria felt a warmth spread through her chest that no words could capture.
Before sleep claimed them, she lifted her head and looked at him again, eyes shining. "Then… when the time is right, I'd like that too."
Leon kissed her temple, sealing the promise with the quiet certainty of a man who had once lived behind walls and now found he didn't want them anymore.
Outside, the city lights flickered like stars, and inside, in their own small world, the future stretched out before them—not rushed, not forced, but steady and waiting.