Lucien Legion started with the simplest approach he could think of, searching for the bar itself, the one detail of that reckless night he actually remembered with any real confidence, a flickering red sign and a jukebox playing something twangy about a cheating heart. It took him almost an hour of scrolling through local reviews and faded business listings before he finally found it, a small, unremarkable dive bar that had apparently closed down three months after that particular night, the kind of place that left almost no digital footprint behind beyond a handful of old customer photos.He clicked through an old social media location tag attached to the bar's now defunct page, scrolling past years of unrelated photos, birthday celebrations and league night trivia teams and blurry group shots of regulars he didn't recognize, searching specifically for anything dated around the exact week burned permanently into his memory from that parking lot confrontation and the DNA results that

The warmth that had defined the apartment for weeks drained out of it almost entirely over the following days, replaced by something careful and brittle that neither of them quite knew how to repair. Clarice kept mostly to the guest room now, emerging only for necessary meals, her conversations clipped and polite in a way that felt, to Lucien Legion, considerably worse than outright anger would have.He found her on the third morning scrolling through apartment listings on her laptop, a stack of printed rental applications sitting beside her coffee, and felt something settle heavy and unwelcome in his chest at the sight of it."You're looking for your own place." He said it carefully, not quite a question, standing in the kitchen doorway."I think it's time." Clarice didn't look up from the laptop screen, her voice carrying a careful, controlled distance that hadn't been there even during their worst argument weeks earlier. "The security system's installed now. I have resources of my

The man disappeared around the corner of the alley, his footsteps fading fast into the ordinary evening noise of the street beyond, and Lucien Legion turned immediately to Clarice, adrenaline still hammering hard through his chest. "Are you hurt?" He reached for her gently, checking her over with the same careful, clinical urgency he brought to an emergency patient, though his hands shook slightly despite his best effort to stay composed for her sake. "I'm okay." Her voice came out thin and shaken, tears finally spilling over now that the immediate danger had passed, her whole body trembling with the belated crash of adrenaline. "He grabbed my arm, but he didn't, I'm okay, Lucien. I'm okay." He pulled her carefully into his arms, feeling her shake against him, old protective fury still burning hot in his chest even as relief flooded through him in equal measure. They stood like that for a long moment, neither one speaking, the alley settling back into its ordinary quiet around them

Clarice stared at him for a long, frozen moment, the question hanging heavy between them in the quiet apartment, her hands wrapped tight and trembling around her own stomach."I don't know how to answer that." She finally said it, her voice barely above a whisper, tears spilling freely now, no longer held back by whatever careful composure she'd been maintaining for weeks. "Not without reopening a night I've spent months trying to forget ever happened.""Clarice." Lucien Legion kept his voice gentle despite the storm building in his own chest, old instinct from a hundred difficult patient conversations guiding him toward patience instead of pressure. "I'm not asking because I want some romantic confession out of you. I'm not asking because I expect anything from you beyond honesty. I just need to understand the truth, whatever it is.""It's not that simple." She wiped at her face with the back of her hand, old grief bleeding through every word now. "That night wasn't just two stranger

The appointment itself passed quickly and uneventfully, Clarice's obstetrician confirming the pregnancy was progressing normally, the baby's heartbeat steady and strong on the monitor, every measurement exactly where it should be for someone approaching her third trimester. Lucien Legion sat in the corner chair during the exam, trying not to hover, trying to give Clarice the dignity of her own appointment rather than crowding it with his own anxious presence, though his eyes kept drifting helplessly back to the small, grainy image on the ultrasound screen.The doctor, a calm, efficient woman named Dr. Alvarez who'd clearly seen every conceivable version of complicated family circumstances walk through her office door, didn't blink when Clarice raised the subject of paternity testing, explaining the noninvasive prenatal option with brisk, practical clarity. A simple blood draw from Clarice, cross referenced against a cheek swab from Lucien Legion, analyzing fetal DNA fragments already