Chapter 168 Changes
Chapter 168 Changes
Ryder’s POV
Everything had changed. So had I.
I caught myself watching her more than I used to, not because I thought she couldn’t take care of herself, but because every day brought something new. Some mornings she woke up full of energy. Other mornings she moved a little slower, and I’d find myself hovering nearby before I even realized I was doing it.
She claimed I worried too much. She wasn’t wrong. The closer we got to meeting our baby, the more aware I became of every little change. I noticed when she paused halfway through the stairs. I noticed when she rubbed the small of her back after sitting too long. I noticed the way she smiled every single time the baby kicked, even if it interrupted whatever she happened to be doing. Those little moments meant more to me than I could ever explain.
I walked down the hallway with a stack of reports tucked beneath one arm. I’d finished the morning meeting with Atlas and Cassian, signed the last patrol rotation, and escaped before anyone found another reason to keep me downstairs.
The kingdom had settled into a rhythm again. Warriors trained in the courtyards, patrols rotated exactly when they were supposed to, and reports no longer arrived every few minutes announcing another disaster. After everything we had survived, the quiet almost felt strange. I wasn’t complaining. Peace was something worth protecting.
There was only one place I wanted to be. The nursery door stood half open. I paused before stepping inside. Sunlight spilled across the floor, catching the tiny dust motes floating through the room. The nursery looked different than it had yesterday. Not because the furniture had moved. Because it finally looked lived in.
A stuffed rabbit rested beneath the rocking chair. One tiny blanket hung halfway over the side of the crib. Someone had forgotten a wooden wolf beside the bookshelf, and a little blue pillow had somehow found its way beneath the window.
I smiled. Yesterday, Brianna would have straightened every one of those things before leaving the room. Today… She’d left them exactly where they were.
I slowly picked up the little wooden wolf and turned it over in my hand. The quads had certainly made themselves at home. Their laughter still echoed in my memory.
I could picture Xavier proudly stealing Arabella’s blanket with his powers while everyone tried, and failed, not to laugh. Dominic had somehow managed to empty half the toy basket in only a few minutes, and by the time they all left, the nursery looked nothing like it had when Brianna finished decorating it.
Oddly enough… It looked better. Not because it was tidy. Because it looked loved.
For the first time, I could truly imagine our own child growing up here. I pictured tiny feet racing across the rug, toys scattered beneath the crib, bedtime stories in the rocking chair, and Brianna laughing while trying to convince an energetic toddler that blankets belonged on the bed instead of becoming forts in the middle of the floor. That picture settled quietly in my heart. I wanted every one of those moments.
I set the toy back on the shelf but left the blanket draped over the crib. It belonged there now.
Soft footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to find Brianna leaning against the doorway. She smiled when she caught me looking around the room. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth before I turned fully toward her. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She wandered inside, one hand resting protectively beneath her stomach. Every time I saw that simple gesture, it reminded me how close we were getting. Her eyes followed mine around the nursery before settling on the blanket still hanging crookedly over the crib. “I was going to straighten everything.” She laughed quietly before shaking her head. “I changed my mind.”
I walked over until I stood beside her. “Why?”
She looked around the room for a long moment before answering. “Yesterday I thought the perfect nursery meant everything being exactly where I wanted it.” Her gaze lingered on the rocking chair before drifting toward the scattered toys. “Now I think it means something else.”
I waited, wanting to hear every word. She bent carefully, picked up the stuffed rabbit resting near her feet, and tucked it gently inside the crib. “I think it’s supposed to look loved.”
Those four words settled somewhere deep inside me. Loved. Not perfect. Not spotless. Loved. That was exactly what this room had become.
I slipped an arm gently around her shoulders, and she leaned comfortably against me. For several quiet moments neither of us spoke. We simply stood together, looking at the room that would soon become part of our everyday lives.
“I’ve been thinking,” I admitted after a comfortable silence settled between us.
She tilted her head, amusement already shining in her eyes. “That can be dangerous.” Her smile widened as she rested her head lightly against my shoulder. “What have you been thinking about?”
I looked toward the crib. “I keep wondering what our baby is going to be like.”
She followed my gaze. “I wonder the same thing.”
“I hope they laugh as much as the quads.” A warm smile crossed her face. “I hope they sleep better.”
“I definitely hope they sleep better.”
She laughed hard enough that I found myself laughing with her. The sound filled the nursery. It felt good. For just a little while, there were no enemies waiting beyond the palace walls. There were no battles to plan, no threats to prepare for, and no responsibilities demanding my attention. There was only us.
My hand drifted carefully to her stomach. The moment my palm rested there, a firm kick met it. I froze. “There you are,” I whispered.
Another kick answered almost immediately. Brianna’s eyes softened as she watched me. “I think somebody knows you’re here.”
A grin spread across my face before I looked back down at her stomach. “I think somebody has excellent timing.”
A warm current stirred through the room. Not enough to startle us. Just enough to lift the ribbons tied around the crib for a heartbeat before they settled again.
The mobile overhead turned once. Then stopped. Neither of us moved. The baby kicked again. I smiled so broadly my face actually hurt. “They’re already showing off.”
Brianna rested her hand over mine. “I have a feeling we’re going to be in trouble.”
I laughed quietly before meeting her eyes again. “Oh, absolutely.”
A comfortable silence settled between us. “But…” She looked up at me. “I wouldn’t change a single second of it.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Neither would I.”
Outside the nursery window, I could hear distant laughter drifting up from the palace gardens where the children were playing. Inside, the room felt quiet again.
I looked once more at the crib, the toys, the blankets, and the little signs that children had already claimed the room. For the first time, I wasn’t imagining the future anymore. It felt like it was already beginning.