Chapter 5 - Dawn Over Lake Michigan
Six months later, the private penthouse on Michigan Avenue was filled with the soft, sweet sounds of newborn breathing and the gentle rustle of silk curtains.
The storm that had fractured their lives a year ago was gone, replaced by an unbreakable quiet.
Meline sat in a deep velvet armchair near the nursery window, cradling their healthy, perfect baby girl in her arms while watching the morning sun paint the waters of Lake Michigan in brilliant shades of gold and amber.
A pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped gently around her shoulders from behind, resting securely over her heart.
“She has your eyes,” Dominic murmured softly, pressing a lingering kiss into her dark curls.
Meline leaned back against his chest, feeling the solid, unshakable warmth of the man who had torn mountains down to find her. She looked down at the tiny baby girl clutching her finger with microscopic hands, then up at Dominic.
“She has your stubbornness,” Meline corrected with a small, playful smile.
Dominic chuckled, a rich, deep sound that resonated through the quiet room. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, charred scrap of paper encased in a crystal frame—the singed fragment of the sonogram he had recovered from the ash basin months ago.
He placed the frame on the mahogany mantelpiece right beside their daughter's new birth certificate.
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“We burned the past, Meline,” Dominic whispered, his arms tightening around her with fierce, permanent devotion. “Everything else belongs to us.”
Meline smiled, resting her head against his shoulder as the morning sun flooded the room with light. She was home. And nothing in this world would ever hurt them again.
