My Princess

My Princess
SARAH

“Cullen....no,” I whispered, shaking my head, but he didn’t stop.

“Let me finish,” he said, his voice low and steady. “I’ve tried telling you this before, but every time I bring it up, you shut me down. I see the way you look at Bella’s stomach, even when you think I don’t notice. I see how your eyes soften when Victor runs to hug you. You love kids, Sarah. You always have.”

He gave a small, sad laugh. “And the truth is....we can have children.”

The words sliced through me. I pushed his hand away, my heart pounding. “I don’t want false hope, Cullen. I don’t want to keep thinking there’s a way when there isn’t. I will never be able to have children, and I can’t keep pretending adoption is an option when.....when it isn’t.”

“But we don’t have to,” he said.

I froze. “What do you mean?”

He picked the paper up again and met my eyes. “I went to the doctor,” he said quietly. “I asked her if there was any way, any chance at all for us. She told me that the last time we went, we didn’t let her finish. We didn’t ask about other options.”

My breath hitched. “What are you saying?”

He took my hand again, squeezing gently. “Sarah,” he whispered, “you don't have your uterus but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a child. There are ways. There are options. And I want them if you do. I want them with you.”

My lips parted, but no sound came out. The hope terrified me. “How, Cullen?” I asked him, my voice breaking. “How?"

Because if I start hoping again… I don’t know what will be left of me if it’s taken away.

He smiled, that small, careful smile he gives when he knows I’m about to fall apart. He reached out and held both my hands, his thumbs brushing over my knuckles.

Cullen took my hands again, steady, grounding, his voice low and careful.

“Sarah,” he said, “you remember what the doctor told us last time, right? You don’t have a uterus. That was true then, it’s still true now. But it doesn’t mean it’s over for us.”

I blinked through the tears, confused. “Then how....how can we have a baby?”

He gave a small smile, one that almost hurt to see. “Because I made sure we still can.”

He reached for the folder again. “I went back to the hospital. I spoke to your doctor. She confirmed your test results, the ones we did together. Your ovaries are perfectly healthy, Sarah. That means we can still have a child that’s ours....completely ours.”

My heart stopped. “Ours?”

He nodded. “Our blood. Our DNA. No adoption, no outsiders, no paperwork that can ever be used against us. I made sure of that. Everything will be clean, private, protected.”

I felt my breath catch, tears burning.
“Tell me how,” I whispered.

Cullen took a slow breath. “There are a few ways. The first and safest is gestational surrogacy. We’ll take your eggs and my sperm, create embryos through IVF, and have a surrogate carry the baby. She won’t be connected to the child by blood. The baby will be completely ours.”

He paused, watching my face, his thumb brushing away a tear before it could fall.

“The second,” he continued quietly, “is uterine transplant. It’s rare, expensive, and dangerous, but it’s possible. A real uterus transplant. I’ve already contacted specialists in Sweden and the States who’ve done it. You’d have to go through surgery, recovery, and treatments before trying to carry, but it could be done. If that’s what you want, if you want to carry our baby yourself....I’ll make it happen.”

I shook my head slowly, barely able to process it all. “You already talked to doctors?”

“I did,” he admitted. “The moment we came home from the hospital last time. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I told them about your case. I wanted to be absolutely sure before I came to you with this. I didn’t want to give you false hope again.”

He leaned closer, his forehead resting against mine. “Sarah, I know what your family did to you. I know they thought they were protecting you, but they took something from you that wasn’t theirs to take. But I promise you, that doesn’t mean your, our dream dies here. I’ll give you back everything they stole, piece by piece, if I have to.”

I couldn’t stop the tears now. They slipped down my cheeks as his words wrapped around me like a promise I didn’t know I could still believe in.

“You’re saying…” I whispered, voice trembling, “We can really have a child. Our child.”

He nodded, smiling softly.
“We can, baby. I already spoke to the clinic. Everything’s private, no records under our real names. They’ll take your scans, confirm the ovarian function, and start the process. I’ve already made the calls. All you have to do is say yes.”

I laughed shakily, covering my mouth. “You did all this without telling me?”

“I had to,” he murmured. “I wanted to be sure first.”

I stared at him—at the man I once thought had broken me beyond repair. And now, here he was, giving me back hope I never thought I’d touch again.

“I wanted to be certain it was real. I couldn’t stand giving you another dream just to watch it break again. I needed to know it was possible, Sarah.”

My throat burned. “And is it?”

He nodded slowly. “It is.”

I couldn’t breathe...

“Sarah,” he whispered again, his voice trembling now, “I know how much you’ve carried. I know what it did to you, to us. But I want this. Not because I think it’ll fix us, but because I want to build something with you. Our family. However, it happens.”

A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. He wiped it gently, then leaned closer until his forehead rested against mine.

“We don’t have to decide today,” he murmured. “I just want you to know… that hope isn’t gone.”

I nodded faintly, my voice barely a whisper. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

He smiled softly. “That’s okay. I’ll wait. As long as it takes.”

I laughed weakly through my tears. “You always say that.”

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to my hand. “And I always mean it, princess.”

Outside the window, the sky was streaked with orange and gold, the sun dipping low as our plane prepared to take off. I looked at Cullen again.... I still couldn't believe this was real.

I was going to be a mother. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't afraid of the future.

“Cullen,” I whispered, smiling through the tears, “I think I’m ready to try.”

His eyes softened instantly, the way they always do when I surprise him. He pulled me into his arms, his voice breaking against my hair.

“Then we’ll try,” he said. “Together.”