I couldn’t help it. A loud, genuine laugh bubbled up in my throat, echoing off the stone walls of my new house. They were still jealous, still territorial, and still a little bit insane, but as I stood there with dirt on my knees and the sun on my face, I knew they were mine.

The willow was planted. The secret was out. And the horizon was finally, truly open.

"While you all do that, I’m going to choose the music for the jet. I have to at least do something, haha."

"Deal," they all chorused, the sound of their voices blending into the mountain breeze.

This happiness felt so profound that I was almost scared it was all a dream. A dream. I’ve been having way too many dreams in this world, and this time, if it’s a dream, I don’t really want to wake up.

"Jo-Pil," Ki-hoon suddenly called, his tone heavy and serious, and this caught everyone’s attention. "Your heat just passed, and we all, well, we all did it with you. The possibility of you getting pregnant is high, and..." his words were fumbling, and I could see him distressed over it.

I could also tell what he was getting at. He was scared I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

"Are you scared that I am not open-minded to being pregnant after hearing about the past?" I asked, and he shamefully lowered his head. "Thank you for worrying about that, Ki-hoon Hyung, but don’t worry. I am not afraid of it."

The ones I was afraid of were the fathers, not the children. And while I never got to spend time with my babies, while the only thing I felt was loathing each time I got pregnant, there was no denying the warmth I felt whenever I felt the babies kick in my belly. And the tears that followed, knowing they weren’t mine.

Each time I gave birth, the babies were all taken from me. Their faces, their names, the warmth of them, I was never allowed to see, and I thought it was for the best. Because I might not be able to let them take the child from me if I felt the warmth of it just once. So, I gave up on them before I could learn to love them.

Motherhood, I would love to experience it for real this time. With fathers who care for every kick, every mood swing, every morning sickness... and fathers who will look at me with warmth and kiss my forehead, telling me I had worked hard once the labor was over.

That is what I want to look forward to, so...

"It doesn’t matter. If I am pregnant, I will be overjoyed. Because..." I placed my hand on my belly, smiling softly. "It is a testament of the bond and love we have together."

Ki-hoon’s head snapped up, his eyes searching mine with a look of pure, raw disbelief. His lips parted, but no words came out. He looked at my hand resting on my belly and then back at my face, as if he were trying to see if I was just saying what he wanted to hear. But I kept my smile steady, letting the warmth in my eyes do the talking.

"You mean that, Hyung?" Min-Cheol whispered, his voice cracking. He dropped his shovel entirely, his eyes welling up again—but this time, the tears weren’t from guilt. They were bright with a frantic, desperate kind of joy. "You’d... you’d really want to have a baby with us? Even after everything?"

"I would," I said, and for the first time, the word didn’t feel like a sentence. It felt like a choice. "I want to see what a child looks like when they are born into a house full of laughter instead of whatever we had in the past. I want to see you all argue over whose eyes they have or who has to change the diaper at three in the morning." I laughed.

Seo-Jun let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. He seemed to have noticed the conversation we had in the gym, my reaction about the baby, even though I had explained I wasn’t scared. Everything made even more sense now.

He sat back on his heels in the dirt, dragging a hand through his hair, leaving a streak of mud across his forehead.

"A baby," he muttered, his usual sharp edge completely dulled. "I’m going to be a disaster. I’m going to buy out every toy store in the city before it even crawls." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Yeah, that sounds about the kind of reckless thing you’d do.

Jin-Yeok didn’t say a word. He walked over to me, his emerald eyes burning with an intensity that made my breath hitch. He didn’t care about the dirt on his clothes or the sweat on his brow. He reached out and placed his large, warm hand directly over mine, where it still rested on my stomach.

His hand was trembling. The powerful man who handled billions and controlled empires was shaking at the mere thought of a life we hadn’t even confirmed yet.

"In that life," Jin-Yeok rasped, his voice barely a whisper meant only for me, "we took everything from you. We stole your peace, your body, and the children you bore. If there is a life here... if you are carrying someone... I will spend every breath making sure you are the one they reach for first. You will never have to let go of anything ever again."

I leaned into him, the mountain breeze cooling my skin as the warmth of his hand seeped through my clothes.

"I know," I said, looking at all of them. "I’m not afraid anymore."

Ki-hoon finally moved, closing the distance to stand on my other side. He reached out, his bare, ungloved hand gently touching my shoulder.

"A testament," he repeated, his voice thick with emotion. "I like that. A testament that we did it right this time."

For a moment, we all just stood there by the newly planted willow tree. The sun was high now, casting long, golden rays over the courtyard. I could almost see it—the future. Not a nightmare, not a cage, but a yard filled with the sound of a child’s laughter and the sight of four Alphas who would probably be the most overprotective, doting fathers in existence.

I looked at Seo-Jun, who was already looking at his phone again.

"What are you doing now?"