Chapter 255

Sophia shook her head. "It's fine, it's nothing serious."

She leaned into Nicholas's arms and closed her eyes.

"I'm just a little tired."

Nicholas didn't push it. He just held her quietly, one hand resting gently on her belly.

The room was still.

After a long moment, Sophia opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.

The message from Clarence was still sitting in her head, and she couldn't shake it.

It was just three short lines.

But those three lines were enough to make her chest feel heavy.

Nicholas was worried about the surgery coming up — worried something might go wrong, and even more worried he'd miss watching this child grow up.

Sophia didn't say anything. She turned back to the rack and pulled out a light gray little sweater.

She looked at it for a second, then grabbed another one, turned around, walked up to Nicholas, and dumped them both into his hands.

Nicholas blinked and looked up at her.

Sophia put on a stern face. "Since you're here today, let's set some ground rules."

Nicholas looked at her, confused.

Sophia held up one finger. "Every piece of clothing we pick out today — when you get home, you wash them by hand yourself. After that, you hang them up yourself. Once they're dry, you iron them yourself. And when the baby is born, the first outfit he wears has to be put on by you."

She folded her three fingers into a fist and gave his chest a light tap.

"That's your punishment," she said, putting on her best stern voice.

"For missing the first three years of Eloise's life."

Nicholas stood there frozen.

He looked down at the tiny clothes in his hands without thinking.

Sophia turned away and pretended to look at the bibs on the next rack. "If it's too much trouble, forget it."

"It's not."

Nicholas said it fast, like he was afraid she'd take it back.

Sophia turned back around and saw him carefully folding the little clothes and placing them neatly into the cart, head down.

He looked up, caught her eye, and the corner of his mouth curved up.

He knew what she was doing. Sophia was trying to help him make up for lost time, but she didn't want to put too much weight on him, so she'd framed it like a punishment and even made herself sound tough about it.

She was really something.

He suddenly reached out and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He lowered his head and rested his chin in the curve of her shoulder.

"Sophia," he said softly.

The tips of Sophia's ears went red instantly.

"What are you doing..."

"I love you."

Sophia froze.

Nicholas said it again. "I love you. I love you. Sophia, I love you..."

He kept saying it, over and over, like he was trying to make up for every year he'd lost.

Sophia's face was completely red.

She finally came back to herself and gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow.

"Okay, stop... we're still in public..."

Nicholas still didn't let go. He buried his face in her hair and took a slow, deep breath.

Sophia felt his nose brush against the back of her neck. It tickled, and her heart gave a little flutter.

Eloise's voice came from right beside them. "What are Mommy and Daddy doing?"

Eloise had come running back at some point, clutching a small stuffed bunny, looking up at them with wide, blinking eyes.

Her gaze moved from Sophia's red face to the tips of Nicholas's slightly pink ears, then back down to Sophia's belly.

She tilted her head and thought hard for a moment, then spoke with great seriousness.

"Mommy, Daddy — if you hug like that, does that mean there's going to be a little sister?"

Sophia was caught completely off guard.

Eloise tilted her little head and kept going with her theory. "Eloise saw it on TV before — Mommies and Daddies have to hug to get a baby... so since there's already a little sister in Mommy's tummy, was that because you hugged before?"

Nicholas's mouth twitched.

Sophia opened her mouth, wanting to say no, but she didn't know how to explain it, and the more she thought about explaining it, the more complicated it got. Her face went completely red.

Eloise kept going. "So if Mommy and Daddy hug again right now, would there be a second little sister? And if you hug again, a third one? And then again..."

"Eloise," Nicholas said helplessly.

Eloise looked up at him.

Nicholas bent down to her eye level and ruffled her hair.

"Daddy would love for Eloise to have lots of little sisters."

Eloise's eyes lit up.

"But," he said, "having a baby sister hurts Mommy. A lot."

Eloise's little face fell.

Nicholas looked at her steadily and said, "So one little sister is enough."

Eloise was quiet for a moment. She looked down at Sophia's belly and reached out her small hand, touching it gently and carefully.

"Mommy, does it hurt?"

Sophia's eyes went red.

She shook her head, then nodded, and bent down and pulled Eloise into her arms.

Eloise let herself be held, but kept her little hand stretched out, resting against Sophia's belly.

"Then just one little sister," Eloise said in her sweet little voice. "Eloise doesn't want Mommy to hurt."

A young couple passing by couldn't help but laugh.

Sophia's face went red again. She buried her face in Eloise's shoulder and refused to look up.

Nicholas stood beside them, watching the two of them, the smile on his face growing wider and wider.

He finally took a step forward on his crutch, bent down, and picked Eloise up.

"Come on. Let's go pick out more clothes for the baby."

"Okay!"

Eloise laughed and agreed.

Sophia watched Nicholas and Eloise walk toward the rack, laughing together, and she couldn't help smiling too.

Then her phone buzzed.

She picked it up without thinking and unlocked it. It was a new message from Clarence.

One look at it, and the smile on Sophia's face went still.

A few minutes later, Nicholas noticed Sophia hadn't followed and turned around.

"What's wrong?"

Sophia quickly put her phone away and forced a small smile.

"Nothing. Just something at the gallery. Kenna's venting at me again."

Nicholas smiled tiredly. "Looks like I really need to find time to give your assistant some proper training."

Sophia curved her lips and walked over to take his arm.

"Are we done picking stuff out? I'm kind of hungry. Let's go eat."

The three of them found a restaurant nearby with light, simple food and had a quiet dinner. By the time they were done, it was nearly dark.

Back home, Eloise was barely keeping her eyes open. Nicholas got her washed up and into bed, and she was asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow, cheek tilted to one side.

Nicholas tucked the blanket around her and slipped quietly out of the room.

He came back to the bedroom to find Sophia sitting against the headboard, staring at nothing.

Something felt off. He walked over and called her name softly. "Sophia?"

She snapped back.

"What is it?"

"You seem like you're not in a great mood." Nicholas sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Is it something with Kenna? If you need help, I can go over there tomorrow. Or if you want to go yourself, I'll come with you."