Page 55 of My Unexpected Surprise
Public couple appearances have begun, even here. Staff from the consortium pass by the windows occasionally, observing how we function as a unit.
I remain close to Livia, placing a hand lightly on her lower back when I reach past her for plates. She stiffens slightly but does not pull away. The contract allows necessary appearances.
The contact lasts only a second.
Still, I feel the exact moment her breathing changes.
Livia reaches for the stack of plates too quickly afterward, knocking one slightly off balance before catching it against her hip.
“I’ve got it,” I say quietly.
“I know.”
But her voice comes out thinner than usual.
Nico climbs into his chair and immediately begins driving his toy car across the table with loud engine noises that echo through the cottage.
The normalcy of it unsettles me more than any threat assessment ever could.
Domestic noise.
Warm lighting.
Pasta boiling on the stove while a child chatters about lakes and trees and whether ducks sleep at night.
None of this belongs in my life.
Yet I find myself adjusting to it with dangerous ease.
Livia carries the bowl of meatballs to the table, and I take it from her before she can burn her hand on the hot ceramic.
“Thank you,” she murmurs.
Our eyes meet briefly.
There’s caution there. Also fatigue, awareness, and beneath all of it, something that looks too much like memory.
I look away first.
We sit down to dinner together.
Nico talks enough for all three of us combined. “There was a deer outside the gate,” he says between bites. “Did you see it? It was huge. Bigger than Benny's Mama's dog.”
“That seems unlikely. Your friend's mom has the biggest dog I've ever seen,” Livia says dryly.
“It was.”
I hide the faint pull threatening at the corner of my mouth by taking a sip of water.
Nico points his fork at me suddenly. “Do you know how to fish?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Can you teach me tomorrow?”
