Katherine was in my apartnt.
This was the first ti since I moved to this town that she had visited, now that we decided to co-parent separately.
She was looking around and taking it in. Looking around the small but decent one-bedroom apartnt with modern furnishings, I was sure she felt it gave a temporary feel.
"This is very... temporary, compared to your kind of place," she observed.
"It is temporary. I’m hoping-"
"Don’t." She held up her hand. "Don’t hope for what I can’t give."
"Can’t? Or won’t?" I retorted
Her face hardened as she spoke. "Tony, please. Let’s just focus on the baby. Our daughter."
Our daughter. The words still do not feel real.
We’re having a girl. A daughter. Thinking of giving her a beautiful na, such as Rose, maybe. But we haven’t officially decided.
But she was real, growing and kicking.
We sat across from each other, the coffee table between us like a physical barrier.
Katherine’s hands were instinctively on her stomach, seemingly protective and maternal.
"Rules," she said. "We need them. Real ones this ti." She eyed .
"Okay. Like what?"
"Like you can’t just show up at my apartnt unannounced. Especially at 11 PM when you’re angry."
I wanted to defend myself, but she was right.
"I was upset-"
"I don’t care. There are boundaries, Tony. You text first, ask if it’s okay to visit, and wait for my response."
My jaw tightened, but I nodded. "Fine."
"And you can’t follow . Or ’coincidentally’ be everywhere I am. The coffee shop, the grocery store, or the park."
"I wasn’t-"
"Tony."
She already knew. Of course, she must have noticed.
"Fine. I’ll give you space. Real space."
"Thank you."
"After she’s born," Katherine continued. "Custody. How does that work?"
The word hit hard. Custody as if we were divorced parents or separated.
Which, I guess, we are based on our current circumstances.
"She stays with ," Katherine said, her hand still protective on her stomach. "You can visit-"
"Visit?" I interrupted. "I’m her father, not a visitor."
"I am going to be nursing her. She needs to be with -"
"Then I’ll be there. Every day, morning and night, for her feedings and diaper changes. You na it, everything."
Katherine was already feeling overwheld, and I could see it. "Tony, that’s not realistic. I don’t know if I can handle you being in my apartnt all the ti. Seeing you every day in my space."
"So what’s your alternative? I see her for a few hours a week and miss everything important?"
"No, I just-" She was looking frustrated. "I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet."
"What if we had two places?" I suggested, thinking out loud. "Your apartnt for you, mine for , but we do shifts?"
"Shifts?"
"She stays with you mostly since you are nursing. But I get her weekends or nights once she’s sleeping through them. Whatever works."
"She’s going to be a newborn. She needs consistency-"
"She needs her father!" I was now standing because I couldn’t sit still. "I’m not so weekend dad who shows up twice a month. I want to be present. Fully present."
Katherine stood up too. "You’re right, she does need her father. But Tony, I need consistency too. I need to know you’re not going to take her or disappear. Or-"
"I would never-"
"I know. Rationally, I know that, but I’m scared about everything, this arrangent, and what would happen when she’s born. Whether we can actually do this."
The silence that followed was heavy.
We were both terrified and drowning in uncertainty.
"Money," I said, changing the topic. "You said you don’t want my support. But Katherine, be reasonable."
"I’m being perfectly reasonable. I have my consulting firm, and it’s doing well-"
"Which you’re running remotely while pregnant and nauseous and exhausted. Let help."
"I told you. You can support our daughter, but not ."
"How is that even practical?" I was already frustrated, running my hand through my hair. "Baby expenses are your expenses. Diapers, formula, childcare, and dical bills. How do you separate that?"
"I’m nursing, no formula, and I’m not doing external childcare. I’m her mother."
"So you’re going to work from ho with a newborn? Never sleep and do everything alone?"
"If I have to."
"You’re being stubborn."
"I’m being independent."
"There’s a difference between independence and martyrdom, Katherine. You’re making this harder than it needs to be."
"Or maybe you’re making it easier than it should be. Throwing money at problems and trying to control everything, as usual."
I needed to ask as I just couldn’t help it.
"What about Pete?"
Her face closed off. "What about him?"
"You told him about the baby."
"He deserved to know. We’re friends, and he was getting the wrong idea."
"And?"
"And he said he’s not giving up. That he cares about regardless."
My blood boiled, and my hands clenched into fists. "He wants to raise my daughter."
"He wants to be supportive-"
"Bloody Hell! He wants you, Katherine, and he’s using Mandy to get close to you. Using that little girl’s attachnt to manipulate you."
"That’s not fair-"
"Isn’t it? Because from what I have observed, he sees you with his daughter and sees how good you are with her. Realizes you’d be a perfect stepmother, and now you’re pregnant? Even better, he gets an instant family."
"You’re being ridiculous-"
"Am I? He literally said he’s not giving up. That he’ll raise another man’s child. Our child. My daughter."
"Pete is a good man-"
"I’m a good man!" I was shouting now. "I’m her father, and I’m the one who should be there! Not so random guy who lives across your building!"
Katherine shouted back. "You want to know why Pete’s around? That’s because he doesn’t hover, he doesn’t control like you, Tony, and he doesn’t show up at 11 PM demanding answers about my friendships!"
"I was protecting-"
"You were obsessing, there’s a difference!"
We were both standing too close, with our anger radiating.
"You want to know the truth?" I said, my voice breaking slightly. "I’m terrified. Terrified that you’ll choose him and terrified my daughter will call him dad. I am scared that I’ll be pushed out of your life completely and beco a stranger to my own child."
Katherine was crying now. "And you think I’m not terrified? I’m pregnant and alone. I am co-parenting with a man I love but can’t be with because his world is too dangerous!"
"Then be with ! Choose us and choose our family!"
"I can’t! Not yet or maybe not ever. I don’t know."
"Why? Why can’t you trust ?"
"Because every ti I trust you, people get hurt!" She was still sobbing. "Elliot got shot, seventeen of my clients died, and Hassan Patton stalked ! Your world is dangerous, and I can’t - I won’t expose our daughter to that kind of life."
I could feel myself breaking; the facade I’d put up was now crumbling.
"I don’t know how to fix this, and don’t know how to be what you need. I’m trying. God, I’m trying so hard. But nothing’s good enough."
"I know you’re trying." Katherine’s voice was softer now, probably from exhaustion. "But trying isn’t enough. I need a change. Real change in your world and from your past. Your enemies included. Until that’s really gone, we can’t be together."
"My past will never be gone, and you know that. My father’s sins, his father’s before that, and generations of enemies don’t just disappear as simply as that."
"Then we have a problem."
The silence that ensued was heavy and devastating.
Because she was right. We do have a problem, and it was an impossible one.
Katherine gasped suddenly, her hand to her stomach.
"What? What’s wrong?" I was beside her instantly.
"She kicked. This is the first ti. She just-" Tears stread down her face, and they were happy tears. "She kicked."
"Can I-?"
She took my hand and placed it on her stomach just below her ribs.
We waited, holding our breath.
Then, it was there, like a flutter. A tiny movent against my palm.
Our daughter was kicking. She was alive and real.
"That’s our daughter," I whispered.
"That’s our daughter," Katherine echoed.
We both had tears in our eyes, and our hands were on her stomach, connected through our child.
For this mont, nothing else mattered.
Not our fights, not Pete, not the danger, and not the impossible situation.
Just this ti, with our daughter moving inside her, it was perfect and real.
My phone rang.
I wanted to ignore it and continue to stay in this mont, but Katherine pulled back to look at . "You should answer."
It was an unknown number. I almost declined, but I answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Anthony Marvin, congratulations on the baby. A girl, how wonderful."
My blood ran cold from the voice. "Who is this?"
"Just an old friend of your father’s and of Charles Sterling’s. You thought you had destroyed his legacy, but you were wrong. We’re many, and we’re patient. So enjoy your pregnancy, we’ll be in touch soon."
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone, horror spreading through .
Katherine sees my face. "What? What’s wrong?"
"We need to leave. Now. Pack our essentials and go sowhere safe."
"Tony, you’re scaring -"
"Soone just called. Knows about the baby and knows we’re having a girl. They actually know everything."
"But Hassan’s in prison. The Twelve are-"
"There are more." I was already moving and grabbing my keys. "Charles had more students, and they know about our daughter."
Katherine’s hand went to her stomach, instinctively protective and seemingly terrified.
"We need to go now. I’m calling Luca and the FBI to get protection-"
"Where are we going?"
"Susan’s estate. It’s fortified and secured. We’ll be safe there."
"For how long?"
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know myself.
It could be days, weeks, or maybe forever.
Our daughter was already a target before she was even born.
And Katherine’s safe life, the one she built away from , just beca impossible.
Again.
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