Hazel POV
The house was quiet that night, the kind of quiet that usually brought comfort. Mom had made vegetable soup again — thin but warm. Lucas joked weakly about his bruises while we ate, trying to make us laugh. I forced smiles and pretended everything was normal, but my hand kept drifting to my belly under the table. The baby had been fluttering lately, tiny movements that made my heart both swell and ache with fear.
After dinner, Mom went to bed early. Lucas stayed up watching an old movie with me on the couch, his swollen lip still healing. I kept checking the windows and doors, double-checking the locks. The threatening message from earlier still burned in my mind.
“You okay, sis?” Lucas asked during a quiet scene.
I nodded. “Just tired.”
He didn’t believe me, but he let it g
