**ISABELLA'S POV**

I woke up slowly, my body heavy like it had been wrapped in wet cement. The silk sheets smelled like Mateo-dark musk, leather, and that faint hint of cedar from his cologne.

"Good morning, pookie"

My hand instinctively went to my stomach. Seven weeks. Still so early, but the exhaustion was already real. My breasts felt tender, and a dull headache pulsed behind my eyes.

Pregnancy doesn't care that it's Christmas vacation, I thought groggily. It just wants me horizontal.

Still, I smiled. Today I was going to have fun. No fighting with Mateo's mother, no Valentina drama, no icy silences. Just me, Mateo, and Lucian-if I could...