Meeting Saddie and Criston

Meeting Saddie and Criston
Serena

“You can push me away all you want, Dove,” he whispered. “But no one will stop me from being here for you.”

The words broke something inside me.

I wanted to tell him how sorry I was for snapping at him, for hurting him, for turning my fear into his burden. I wanted to apologize for every angry word and every cold reaction. I wanted to explain how lost I felt and how scared I was of losing everything again.

But I could not say any of it.

The words stayed trapped in my throat, heavy and useless.

All I could do was hold onto him and hope he understood what I could not express.

I needed him to come back again and again, no matter how difficult I became. I could not survive the idea of someone giving up on me right now. If Nico walked away, even emotionally, I knew I would fall apart completely.

I would not survive it.

As he pulled back slightly, Nico spoke again, his tone lighter, as if trying to give me something else to focus on.

“Dante and Saddie are coming for dinner tonight,” he said.

“Here,” I asked, surprised.

“To meet you,” he replied. “Saddie wants to meet you.”

“Is she okay,” I asked quietly.

“Better than ever,” he said with a small smile.

A soft smile appeared on my lips in return. A year ago, Saddie had been a shadow of herself, a woman crushed by depression and grief. She had seemed so lost then, like someone who might never find her way back. Knowing that she had risen from that place and found her strength again gave me a strange sense of hope.

Meeting her felt like something I could manage, something that did not terrify me.

“Okay,” I said softly. “I would like to see her. I hope she is finally living the life she worked so hard for and gave so much of herself to build.”

For the first time that day, my fear loosened its grip just a little.

The doorbell rang softly, and the sound made my heart jump in a way that surprised me. Nico squeezed my hand gently before moving to open the door, as if he already knew that I needed reassurance even for something as simple as guests arriving. When the door opened, Dante stood there with his tall and strong frame filling the doorway, and beside him was a chubby woman who seemed to glow with a quiet kind of happiness. It took me a second to recognize her, but then I realized it was Saddie.

She looked good. No, she looked better than good. Saddie had gained a little weight, and instead of making her look tired or burdened, it had softened her features and filled her with life. There was color in her cheeks and light in her eyes that I had not seen before. I knew that the past few months had been filled with IVF treatments, endless hospital visits, and hormone injections that had taken a toll on her body. Weight gain was a common side effect of everything she had been through, but on her, it looked like hope. She no longer looked like the sad woman I once knew. She looked optimistic, grounded, and alive.

Before any of us could properly greet them, a small force of nature pushed past Dante and Saddie and ran straight into the house. It was a little boy, perhaps two or three years old, with dark hair that curled slightly at the ends, piercing green eyes, and the roundest, chubbiest cheeks I had ever seen. He was running with all the confidence of someone who had no idea that the world could be dangerous, and then suddenly he tripped over his own feet.

Saddie gasped and rushed forward immediately.

“Criston,” she called out in panic. “Are you okay?”

The boy popped right back up, completely unharmed, and gave her a cheeky grin that made my chest tighten with something warm. He then turned his curious gaze toward me and stared openly, without an ounce of shame or hesitation. After studying me carefully, he turned back to Saddie and announced in a loud and clear voice, “Mommy, this lady is fat like grandma.”

Dante choked on air, and Saddie looked absolutely horrified.

“Criston,” she scolded gently but firmly, her face turning red. “That is bad manners. She is Serena. You can call her Aunt Serena.”

Criston scrunched up his nose, clearly displeased with the idea, but after a moment he shrugged and said, “Fine.”

I laughed softly and squeezed Nico’s hand before letting go and crouching down to Criston’s height. I wanted him to see my face properly and not feel like I was towering over him.

“Hi, Criston,” I said with a smile. “I am Serena. You are very handsome.”

He looked back at his mother as if seeking approval, and when she nodded slightly, he blushed in the sweetest way.

“Thank you,” he said proudly. “You are also very handsome.”

The men in the room burst out laughing at his choice of words, and Criston frowned for a moment before turning back to his mother.

“But not more than my mommy,” he added seriously.

I smiled warmly and said, “You are absolutely right.”

Criston seemed pleased with my agreement and stepped a little closer to me.

“Why are you so fat,” he asked bluntly, his tone filled with curiosity rather than judgment.

I did not feel offended at all. Instead, I placed a gentle hand on my stomach and said calmly, “That is because I have a baby in my tummy.”

“In your tummy,” he repeated slowly, as if the idea itself was magical. “Can a baby grow in a tummy?”

I nodded, smiling at his wonder.

“Did you eat a seed and now it is becoming a baby,” he asked excitedly. “Once I ate an apple seed and Daddy told me an apple tree would grow in my tummy.”

I chuckled and replied, “It is something like that.”

Criston nodded thoughtfully, clearly satisfied with the explanation, and then added casually, “My mommy bought me from the market for a lot of money.”