I'd never been one for jokes.
Three years ago, Alex had collapsed at home without warning.
The doctor said it was just exhaustion from pulling too many late nights, but I'd been worried there might be something else going on.
So I asked the doctor to run a full workup. Just for peace of mind.
When the results came back, everything finally made sense.
A full year together. No protection. Not once. And I'd never gotten pregnant.
It wasn't what Alex had always told me—that our "time with a child just hadn't come yet."
The truth was that he would never be able to have a biological child. Not in this lifetime.
The thought crossed my mind, and I let my gaze drift deliberately to Layla's belly.
Alex, however, took my silence as proof he'd hit a nerve.
He draped his arm around Layla's shoulders, chin tilted up with the smugness of a man who believed he held all the cards, the corner of his mouth curving into a lazy smirk.
"Three years gone by, and your little jokes are just like you—haven't improved one bit."
"Same tired trick, over and over. Even if you're not sick of it, I sure am."
"But I'll give you credit for loyalty."