It’s past midnight.
She wasn’t supposed to come back… but here she is.
The house is silent. Too silent.
The door is slightly open — she’s sure she locked it before she left.
Her hand trembles as she pushes it.
Inside… nothing looks touched.
Except one thing.
On the table…
there’s a glass of water.
Half full.
Still warm.
She freezes.
Because she lives alone.
Then—
A voice, low… familiar… from behind her:
“You always forget to lock the door properly.”
She turned her head slowly, shock screaming in her eyes through her tears.
“Jack…?”
He smiled painfully.
“You thought I was dead, didn’t you?”
She rushed into his arms, as if she was holding her only reason to live, shivering, sobbing.
“Yeah… they told me they saw you dead in that war.”
He embraced her, resting his face against her neck.
“And you believed it? You believed I could leave you… and leave you behind like this?”
She pulled back slowly, shaking her head through her tears.
“No… I knew you would come back one day… to see it with me.”
She placed his hand on her belly, looking at him.
His eyes widened.
“You’re—”
She hugged him again, whispering:
“Yeah… it’s a boy. I was planning to call him Jack.”
He lightly hit the back of her head, smiling.
“Never. There will only ever be one Jack in your life.”
She closed her eyes against his shoulder, smiling peacefully.
“Yeah… that’s true.”