Chapter 6 - The Birth
Rain hammered the roof.
Lily's contractions grew closer.
There was no ambulance nearby.
The road was blocked.
Adrian panicked.
“What do we do?”
Eleanor laughed weakly.
“You're a billionaire and you've never delivered a baby?”
“No.”
“Then tonight you'll learn.”
Lily gripped Adrian's hand.
“Don't leave me.”
“I won't.”
For the first time in his life, Adrian didn't care about control.
He only cared about her.
The baby arrived at 2:41 a.m.
A boy.
Tiny.
Angry.
Alive.
Lily cried when she heard him.
Adrian cried too.
He didn't even try to hide it.
He held the baby carefully.
“Hello.”
The newborn wrapped his tiny fingers around Adrian's.
Adrian broke down.
He had spent his entire life believing strength meant never needing anyone.
Now he understood.
Strength was holding something fragile and choosing to protect it.
Lily smiled.
“What will you name him?”
Adrian looked at her.
“You choose.”
She whispered:
“Walter.”
Adrian smiled.
“For Mr. Walter?”
She nodded.
The old man's final wish had been for Lily's baby to have a strong name.
But when they returned to the nursing home the next day, they discovered Mr. Walter had died peacefully in his sleep.
Lily cried.
Adrian held her.
The man who had once lived alone in a forgotten building had left behind a final message.
A note for Lily.
You saved me when everyone else forgot me. Now let someone save you.
Adrian read it twice.
Then looked at Lily.
“I think he meant me.”
May you like
She smiled through her tears.
“Maybe.”
