Chapter 26: Three Weights, One Heart

The journey back to Callista's estate was long and quiet, the road winding through fields painted with the gold of early spring. Emily leaned against the carriage window, eyes half-lidded, her hand pressed softly to her belly. The bump was still hardly visible, but it pulsed with meaning. A secret the world had not yet seen—but one that shaped everything ahead.

Her village felt far behind her now. The scent of home still clung to her shawl—cinnamon, woodsmoke, her mother's perfume but already the safety of that world was fading, dissolving into the gray urgency of the one she was returning to.

The manor appeared like a crown on the distant hill, the place where her present and future now collided. Lady Callista was waiting at the steps, her eyes steady and unreadable as always, but a softness formed in the corners when she saw Emily descend.

"You're home," Callista said gently.

Emily managed a smile. "Yes."

They said no more as Callista offered her arm. The younger woman took it, grateful for the quiet.

....

Inside, the manor was as Emily remembered—still and elegant, with high windows, honey-colored light, and walls lined with books and art. But everything felt different now, filtered through the weight she carried in her body and in her heart.

Back in her chambers, a tray of tea and fresh fruit awaited her. Callista sat beside her while she sipped slowly, her mind drifting between deadlines and the gentle pulse within her womb.

"You're quieter than usual," Callista said at last.

Emily swallowed. "I don't know how to hold it all. The pregnancy. The university. The scholarship. It's… everything."

Callista reached forward, brushing a loose strand of hair from Emily's face.

"You don't need to hold it alone."

....

That night, Emily sat curled on the chaise by the fire, books spread across the table, her fingers trembling slightly from fatigue. Diagrams, summaries, and formulas blurred before her eyes. Every page was another reminder of how much she had left to do—and how little time remained before her body changed visibly. Exams loomed. Research projects weren't waiting.

She placed a hand on her belly, pressing lightly.

"You two picked quite the time to arrive," she whispered, her voice cracking into a tired smile.

There was no reply, of course—just that now-familiar fullness, that silent but undeniable presence.

.....

Her Invisible Burden

The following days blurred into a pattern: early mornings, long hours at the university, quiet nights back at the manor. She made sure to keep her belly hidden beneath flowing dresses, using scarves and books to shield it during lectures. The twins were still her secret, and she intended to keep it that way—at least until she had no choice.

She grew increasingly aware of the weight she was carrying—not physically yet, but emotionally. The ache of fatigue. The knots of worry. The pressure to be perfect.

Her professors praised her focus, not knowing her concentration was built from sheer will. Her classmates chatted about essays and weekend outings, oblivious to the fact that Emily had traded her weekends for prenatal rest and secret stress-cries in the manor's empty music room.

.....

Callista's Constant Presence

Lady Callista remained her rock.

She arranged appointments with a discreet healer. Ensured Emily's meals were rich with the herbs and nutrients she needed. Found moments to pause and simply sit with her—offering calm, even when Emily couldn't speak.

One night, as they sat by the windowsill watching the moon rise, Emily whispered:

"I keep wondering when it will feel real."

Callista tilted her head. "The pregnancy?"

"All of it," Emily said. "The babies. My future. This ache inside me. The way I miss someone who doesn't know I exist."

Callista didn't respond immediately. When she did, her voice was low and steady.

"You are doing something extraordinary, Emily. And you are not doing it alone."

....

Doubt, Rising

Still, the doubts came like tides.

Emily would stare at her notes, hand drifting unconsciously to her belly. Could she really sit exams while pregnant? Could she finish her research with two growing lives pressing against her spine? What would the professors say when she began to show? What would the other students whisper?

And deeper than all of that: what would she tell her children when they asked where their father had been?

She never mentioned Adrian at the university. There was no point. He wasn't a name to her now—only a shadow. A ghost with warm hands and a voice she still heard in her dreams.

She hadn't seen him since before she left for her village visit. And she wouldn't go searching. Not now. Not while she carried this burden and this secret.

.....

A Single Night of Collapse

One evening, after a particularly brutal lecture day, Emily collapsed onto her bed at the manor and couldn't get up.

She didn't cry. She didn't speak. She just lay there in the dark, one arm wrapped over her belly, the other stretched limply to the side.

When Callista entered, she found her still dressed, pale and shaking with silent exhaustion.

Without a word, the older woman knelt by the bed and placed a hand on her forehead.

"You've been pushing too hard."

"I can't stop," Emily whispered. "If I stop, I fail. If I fail, I lose the scholarship. If I lose that… I lose everything."

"You won't lose me," Callista said. "And you won't lose them. We'll adapt. We'll find a way."

Emily didn't respond, but a tear slipped down her cheek. She didn't wipe it.

.....

At the Garden Window

By the end of the week, Emily sat beside the garden window, wearing a pale lavender dress, one hand absentmindedly stroking the curve of her stomach. She wasn't visibly pregnant to a stranger—but to her, every change in her body felt seismic.

The birds fluttered beyond the glass. Somewhere down the corridor, a piano note rang softly.

She closed her eyes.

"I don't know how you'll turn out," she whispered to the lives within. "But I want you to know this… I'm trying. I'm doing everything I can."

She felt no answer. But then again, she hadn't expected one.

.....

There was no news of Adrian. No letters. No chance meetings at the university.

He was somewhere in the world, continuing life without her memory burned into his mind.

And she? She was rebuilding hers without his hand to hold.

But still—she moved forward.

Because now, she wasn't just walking for herself.

She was walking for three.