Symere, a young girl recruited as a holder at just 11 years old, uses her innocent appearance to outsmart everyone in the dangerous world of drugs and guns. When the talented Artist enters the fray, he becomes both a rival and a potential love inter...
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The corridor echoed with a strange silence as Symere took her first steps outside the hospital. Though the sun warmed her pale face, it felt foreign. The light was brighter than she remembered, illuminating the paths she would tread moving forward. The past few weeks had been a blur, a haze of indistinct dreams and flickering shadows. With each step, memories rushed back, a laugh here, a moment there, the sound of a heartbeat she had nearly forgotten.
"Symere!"
She turned to see Artist, her husband, his tall frame silhouetted against the bright blue sky. A wave of relief replaced the tension in her chest as he approached, his seemingly effortless stride wrapping her in an embrace that felt like coming home.
"I'm proud of you mama." He whispered against her hair, his voice a sweet, familiar melody.
"What do you mean?" she murmured, the taste of confusion lingering on her tongue.
"Just... look at you." He drew back, studying her with his stormy eyes, always a little tempestuous yet filled with kindness. "You're here. You fought and you didn't give up. My fucking superwoman." He kissed her lips.
His smile widened, the warmth radiating off him soothing the remnants of fear that clung to her. She nodded, a small but decisive motion, and they turned toward the car. Outside, the world felt vibrant with promise.
As they drove, the streets unfolded nostalgically, like pages from a diary she had never thought to reread. Soft hues of green blinked into view through the frame of the open windows, and the fluttering whispers of the wind flowed through. She caught glimpses of laughter, parks, buildings, it all felt both familiar and distant.
"Are we going home?" Symere asked abruptly, breaking the momentary silence.
"Yeah baybeh." Artist replied, glancing sideways with a hint of apprehension.
She grasped the bar on the edge of the seat, suddenly unsure. How would it feel to return to a home that had been empty for so long? The thought formed a lump in her throat. Would everything just feel... normal again?
As they pulled into the driveway, Artist noticed her hesitation.
"I know you don't want to be here and I don't either." His gaze darted around, feeling uncomfortable. "After all, we have a baby coming soon, and I was thinking... why not build our dream home instead? I could pull some strings and get it done before our lil one comes."
Symere blinked at him as the idea settled in, her mind piecing together the fragments of a life they hadn't yet begun. "Build?" she repeated slowly, her excitement brewing beneath layers of doubt.
"Yeah! We could take everything we've talked about and create a safe space for our family." Artist's enthusiasm was impossible to resist, his hands forming shapes in the air as they plotted their dream amid the haze of uncertainty. "A nursery decorated just how you want it, a in home office so you can work from home. We can even have an open kitchen with an island while the lil one runs around!"
