POV: Megan

The house sounded too still, like it was holding its breath with me.

Steam drifted from the bathroom into the bedroom as I tied my robe. My skin was warm, damp, and tired. I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed slow circles over my stomach the way the nurse had shown me once.

The baby usually answered with a kick, a nudge, a roll. Today, there was a flutter, faint and soft. I smiled anyway.

Then the cramp hit.

It didn’t feel like the mild ones I’d had before. This one ...