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Amira unbuckled her seatbelt halfway before Daniel gently said, “Wait. Let’s pull over.”
They found a quiet spot along the road, bordered by olive trees and dry grass swaying in the breeze. Daniel parked the car and turned off the engine.
Immediately, the world seemed to grow still.
Amira slipped out of her seat and opened the back door. The baby’s face was scrunched, his tiny fists clenched.“Hey… hey, little one,” she murmured, lifting him carefully.
He calmed almost instantly in her arms, his eyes fluttering open—dark, searching, unfocused yet somehow aware.
Daniel stepped out and joined her, leaning against the car as he watched them.
“Look at him,” he said softly.
“I know,” Amira whispered.
For a moment, everything felt perfect.
Then the baby made a strange noise.Not a cry.
Not a coo.
Something else.
Amira frowned slightly. “Did you hear that?”
Daniel straightened. “Yeah… what was that?”
The baby wriggled, his face tightening again. He turned his head, mouth opening wider than before.
And then—
“He’s just hungry,” Amira said quickly, though her voice carried a hint of uncertainty.
“Probably,” Daniel agreed, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced.
Amira reached into the diaper bag and pulled out a bottle. She checked it, shook it slightly, and brought it toward the baby’s mouth.
For a split second, everything seemed normal.
Then the baby lunged.
Not like a newborn.
Not like something small and fragile.
But with a sudden, startling force.
Amira gasped, nearly dropping the bottle. “Daniel—”“I saw that,” he said immediately, stepping closer.
The baby latched onto the bottle, drinking—but too fast. Far too fast. His small body tensed, his fingers gripping the fabric of Amira’s sleeve with surprising strength.
“Is that… normal?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know,” Amira admitted.
Within seconds, the bottle was empty.
Completely empty.
Amira blinked. “That was… that was full.”
Daniel stared. “It was.”
The baby pulled back, his breathing uneven. For a moment, he seemed calm again.
Then his gaze shifted.
Upward.
Toward Daniel.
And something in that gaze made Daniel’s stomach tighten.
“Amira…” he said slowly.
“I see it,” she whispered.
There was something… off.
Not wrong in an obvious way. Not something you could easily explain.
But something that didn’t belong in the eyes of a three-month-old child.
Awareness.
Too much awareness.
The baby’s grip tightened again, this time on Amira’s hand. She winced slightly.
“That hurts,” she said softly.
Daniel reached out instinctively. “Hey, easy—”
The baby turned his head sharply toward Daniel.
And growled.
They both froze.
It was faint. Almost subtle.
But unmistakable.
“That was just… a sound,” Amira said quickly, though her voice trembled.
Daniel didn’t respond.
Because he knew.
That wasn’t just a sound.
The baby’s expression shifted again, the tension melting away as suddenly as it had come. His grip loosened. His eyes softened.
And just like that, he looked like a normal baby again.
Amira let out a shaky breath. “Okay… okay. We’re just tired. It’s been a long day.”
Daniel nodded slowly, though he didn’t look convinced. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s all.”
They stood there for another moment, the wind whispering through the trees.
Then Amira adjusted her hold on the baby. “Let’s go home.”
—
The house greeted them with quiet warmth.
Sunlight filtered through the windows, casting soft patterns on the floor. Everything was ready—the crib, the blankets, the tiny clothes neatly folded in drawers. They had spent weeks preparing, imagining this moment.
Amira carried the baby inside, her movements gentle but purposeful.
“This is your home,” she whispered.
Daniel closed the door behind them, locking it out of habit.
He didn’t know why, but the sound of the lock clicking into place felt… important.
They settled the baby into the crib.
For a while, everything seemed normal again.
Too normal.
The baby slept peacefully, his tiny chest rising and falling in steady rhythm.
Amira sat beside the crib, watching him.
“I think we overreacted,” she said quietly.
Daniel leaned against the doorway. “Maybe.”
“He’s just a baby.”
Daniel nodded. “Yeah.”
But he didn’t move closer.
And he didn’t take his eyes off the child.