first book in the Evelyn Black series
• • sequal: BACK TO LOVE
[ i promise the second book is better lol ]
• slow slow-burn (like years) friends to lovers •
• soft burn romance •
[ all books listed in prologue via chronological order ]
"As ador...
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Their ride home was quiet.
Evelyn fell asleep after chatting with her mom about the boys and about Nell and Jasmine... she doesn't mention Cedric, nor does she say anything about what she had overheard.
The words still seeped into her in such an uncomfortable manner that she found it hard to fall asleep once she was settling into it against the seatbelt of her mum's beaten down Beatle.
She did fall asleep eventually, after her mum put on a cassette of Fleetwood Mac's Rumors, and she woke up when they were twenty minutes from home.
"Remus wrote me last week... when you were in the infirmary," Sara says softly, turning down "Go Your Own Way". "He told me what happened..."
Evelyn's heart pauses in apprehension. "Oh..."
And then she hears a sniffle.
Her head turns to her mother, who's baby blue eyes are glossed with tears.
"Mum," she starts, "we don't have to do this now—"
"No," Sara shakes her head. "No, we do... really. Robby's already been hearing me cry since New Years," she says, "he doesn't need any more of that from me."
Evelyn swallows, unsure of how to respond or what to say... it makes her almost uncomfortable.
Her father was still such a taboo topic. As the quiet swells in between them, they realize that neither of them really realize how to even start the conversation.
"I almost didn't have you," Sara decides to begin, letting the air in the car thicken. Her voice is so small and delicate, like she feels like speaking any louder would shatter the confines of their past's weight. "I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant, and even more so when I realized who it was with... I don't think your father truly comprehended the situation until I started showing and that's when he started being compassionate towards you."
Evelyn turns in her car seat, watching her mother speak.
"He and Remus and, Merlin may he rest in peace, James were the sweetest boys, despite all their tricks and troubles— not to mention that Marlene and, Merlin bless her sweet red-headed soul, Lily were the biggest supporters throughout my pregnancy," Sara says. "They were... the best family I've ever had there, especially during the hardest time in my life because, and you know this, you were a very difficult baby while in the womb, it was a stressful time. But, I could get through it because of your father, because of his love for you and his concern for you."
Evelyn watches a tear trickle down her mother's face and she immediately begins crying herself.
"You were everything to him, bug," Sara tells her, her voice quivering. "No one would've thought that the big-shot Gryffindor Sirius Black would be the boy to trip over his own feet for some baby girl who wasn't even born yet... made out of the drunken mess that was a victory quidditch party."
