It was quiet in the car.
Celestine was asleep in the backseat, her cheek resting gently against the edge of her car seat, little puffs of breath fogging the window beside her.
I reached back and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. My hand lingered there, just watching her chest rise and fall.
Her tiny hand was still wrapped around the corner of her blankie.
Lorenzo glanced at me from the driver's seat.
The sunlight through the windshield painted golden streaks across his face, softening every sharp edge i used to be scared of.
"She's out," I whispered, smiling.
"She always falls asleep when you're with her," he said, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.
I glanced down at the hand resting on my lap — his.
His fingers intertwined with mine, warm and steady.
There were still so many questions between us, so many moments we were trying to rewrite.
But for now, this was enough.
This silence, this calm.
This ordinary day.
"We're going back to Grand Circuit," he reminded me gently, as if i could ever forget, how i stormed there back them, when i'm asking where he is.
I laughed under my breath, leaning my head against the window. "God, I made a scene the last time we were there."
"I don't… know that."
"You don't need to know"
-
Before heading to Grand Circuit, Lorenzo suggested we stop by the mall for a bit.
"Let's give her a good day," he said, nodding toward Celestine, who was still drowsy from her nap. "Something to remember."
And maybe, deep down, we both needed that too.
A moment of lightness.
A pause before everything changed again.
-
The mall was quieter than i remembered.
Or maybe i was just noticing different things now — the glow of lights, the sound of a fountain, the way toddlers giggled as they ran around in crocs and mismatched socks.
Everything felt… slower. Gentler.
We bought Celestine a new dress. Pale yellow, frilly, soft like summer.
Lorenzo let her pick out her own shoes — glittery sneakers with light-up soles that made her squeal every time they blinked.
We let her ride the carousel twice.
Lorenzo insisted on taking pictures of us — not for social media, not for show, just for memories.
Just for us.
In one of them, Celestine is holding my cheeks and giggling while i try to kiss her nose. In another, Lorenzo's hand is on my back, our daughter between us, smiling wide with her tiny teeth.
There was no rush in our steps.
No urgency.
We ate slowly.
We played with her in the little indoor playground.
We bought cookies and milk tea and fed each other bites like teenagers.
We were trying to live what we never got the chance to all the missed Sundays, the afternoons we could've had.
And for the first time in forever, I wasn't afraid.
When we stepped in Grand circuit, just before sunset, the sky was brushed in pink and lilac.
We walked along the strip where i once cried and yelled and searched for the man i thought i lost.
Now, I was walking beside him, our hands full — mine with his, his with Celestine's and our baby in my stomach.
"Do you remember this spot?" he asked, slowing to a stop.
I turned.
Of course i remembered. My feet knew before my brain did.
It was the exact place where i kissed him, because he don't want to shut his mouth.
The same place.
Different hearts.
We were like cats and dogs back then—always fighting over the most ridiculous things. And when he tried to teach me how to drive properly? You'd think he was possessed by a demon.
"I cried here," I said. "I thought i was going to fall apart."
"And i was frozen," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know if i had the right to walk up to you."
"You did," I whispered.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. But i didn't know that then."
Celestine had run off just a few steps to stare at the pink lights strung across the trees.
Lorenzo bent down and whispered something to her.
She squealed and ran to a nearby bench, clapping her hands.
I looked at him, confused. "What are you doing?"
He turned to me, smiling nervously. "Come here."
"What?"
"Just come."
I stepped toward him slowly, confused and unsure — until he dropped to one knee.
My heart stopped.
Literally stopped.
"Oh my God," I whispered, both my hands flying to my mouth, …as if he hadn't already proposed to me once in our condo —
But that was rushed.
That was messy.
This… this was different.
This was him asking, not in desperation — but with peace in his eyes.
He looked up at me, his eyes softer than i had ever seen them.
His lips trembled a little, just the slightest crack in that normally composed face.
"Atasha," he began, voice hushed. "I don't have some perfect speech prepared, because the truth is, I've rehearsed this a thousand different ways, and none of them ever felt enough."
Tears were already pooling in my eyes.
My hands were shaking.
"I lost you once," he continued. "I lost you because i was stupid, because i didn't say the things i needed to say when you needed to hear them. But i swear to you, I am never going to lose you again."
"Lorenzo—"
He took the ring from his pocket — delicate, gold, simple.
Not flashy. Just… honest. Another ring.
"I want to do this right," he said, voice breaking a little. "I want to raise our daughter beside you, hold you every night, and our new baby in your tummy, i want to be there for every kick, every cry, every quiet morning. I want to fill all the gaps we've missed and i want the world to know—"
He swallowed.
"You're not just a mistake from my past… you're not just the girl I fell in love with in secret— You're the woman I want to spend forever with."
I couldn't breathe.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, silent, heavy, unstoppable.
I dropped to my knees in front of him and hugged him so tightly it felt like the only thing keeping me together.
"Yes," I cried. "Yes. Of course it's yes."
I didn't need a ring to know what i felt.
I didn't need a perfect speech.
I just needed this moment.
Him.
Us.
I felt his arms around me, strong and trembling at the same time.
Behind us, Celestine clapped and shouted something neither of us could understand — a jumble of syllables only a toddler could invent.
Lorenzo slipped the ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly.
Just like everything else finally did.
-
Later that night, in his condo, our condo now — we all lay together in the same bed.
Celestine was curled beside me, and Lorenzo was on my other side, his hand resting gently on my belly.
He kept touching it absentmindedly again, tracing soft circles against my skin.
"You keep doing that," I whispered.
He smiled against my shoulder. "I'm waiting."
"For what? It's barely a bump."
"For them to kick me."
I laughed, turning to face him. "It doesn't happen that early, Mr. Buenaventura."
"Well," he said, placing a kiss on my belly, "I can hope Mrs. Buenaventura."
I feel the butterflies in my stomach.
There was silence again.
Not empty, just… full.
My fingers played with his.
He kissed me.
And for the first time in my life,
I wasn't surviving.
I wasn't running.
I was finally living—loved, chosen, safe.
I was home.