Jonas lifted her satin nightdress and kissed her stomach, "hello there?"

Sierra giggled, "I doubt he can hear you?"

The New Year had come, and Sierra and Jonas could not keep the secret about her pregnancy. However, the confession wasn't on the order of Christmas day. The couple felt better, especially Sierra, who began to live her pregnancy differently the more the weeks passed.

Everyone was happy for them, and Sierra explained it to Leone, who wasn't sure whether it was something he needed to rejoice about. All he knew was his mother's stomach had a small stepping stone. She spoke of a baby, and Leone wondered where she would get one.

From the moment Sierra acknowledged her pregnancy, she noticed minor alterations in her body. Her stomach bloated and looked like it had a bump. For Sierra, constipation was more the culprit than the baby, who wasn't even the size of a pea at that instant.

"You said he earlier. What if it's a girl?"

"I know it's a boy."

"How? Jonas asked while staring at her stomach.

Sierra flattened his ruffled hair, "call it intuition."

The man sat up and reached for something under the bed, "happy birthday."

Sierra gave him a curious stare, "It isn't my birthday."

"It's our birthday, actually."

Sierra was perplexed, "what? Our wedding anniversary is in eleven months."

"On this same day last year, I knocked on your door, and I said I'm the father, and you replied, excuse me, you are not my father."

Sierra burst into laughter, "my goodness, Jonas, no. You haven't forgotten."

"I never will. I still see you opening the door with Leone in your arms."

"I can't believe it."

Jonas' words revived the images of their first encounter. The woman saw herself looking through the peephole of her apartment door while wondering what the man wanted.

"So," Jonas opened the box where a silver necklace and its pendant laid. He took it out, and Sierra prepped her neck by sliding her braids to the front while Jonas tied it, "here's your present."

"Jonas, I have nothing for you," the woman said.

"He counts double," Jonas replied and pointed to her stomach.

Unlike Sierra, Jonas had no doubts. He was okay with any moment to have a child as long as it happened. He wanted children, Sierra's pregnancy resulted from that desire, and he assumed it.

Of course, he could; he was wealthy and had a very comfortable situation. Having children for Jonas was anything but a hassle in that sense.

As Erik said, Jonas was over the moon, and he hoped to take his wife with him.

Jonas began to work on the baby's room design from the instant he knew. He wished Leone's room to communicate via a door with his sibling. Neither Sierra nor he wanted the children to share. There was no need.

The proud soon-to-be-father of two began to craft the toys for the child. Jonas spent hours working on everything.

Sierra watched him do it with mixed sentiments. The woman didn't doubt Jonas' resolve; it was she who was weak. Leone was six months when she got his custody. She remembered the sleepless nights and the first microwave baby bottles. The woman thought she was a lousy mother and had no faith in her skills. A year later, Sierra didn't believe she was a better mother. She still wondered if she was doing the right things, and went she thought of the incident with the swan and the police, the woman felt unworthy of the role.

Old doubts surfaced when she had these ponderings, and the woman questioned everything from Ceciles' decision to give her Leones' custody to her pregnancy.

"I was thinking, how about we go to my house in Kiruna forest. You can rest there without the bustle," Jonas said.

"But you need to work."

"I can take some time off. How about it? You, me, Leone, and Potsmann jr?"

Sierra laughed, "oh, no, don't call him like that; it's cringy. I'd love to go, but I haven't told Jacob yet, and I wanted to tell him in person."

Jonas pondered a second before saying, "okay, you tell me. Do you want us to go to Paris first?"

Sierra's gaze lit up, "can we?"

The man had the words to bring a smile to his wife's lips.

"It shouldn't be a problem. We'll have to find a good place to stay," Jonas added.

"Stay?"

"Have you forgotten you have a tenant in your apartment?"

"Aww, I can't believe we'll be doing an Airbnb in France," she replied.

"We can stay at a hotel."

Sierra shook her head, "no, it's too expensive for nothing. I'll look up on Airbnb."

"Great, I'll just go to the office today to set things up, and we can get packing."

Joy, after the storm came the sunshine. Their life found tranquility once more.

Jonas left for work an hour later, leaving an ecstatic Sierra, who immediately began to search for a place to stay on Airbnb. Yes, Jonas was well off, but her goal wasn't to wring her husband's bank account but to make sure his financial assets remained at their peak. The woman looked for something reasonable with all the commodities. She looked forward to seeing her brother and announcing the news to her friends. She wondered how May and Jade would take the information. She would be the first of the three to have a baby.

While Sierra began to book things, Jonas entered his office with a grin only to find an unexpected visitor, "excuse me, I didn't know we had an appointment."

The person turned around.

"Rut," Jonas exclaimed.

"Jonas."

"What are you doing here?" The man exclaimed.

"Didn't Lars tell you I'm the new project manager?"

Jonas tried to maintain a neutral expression, "no, my brother didn't." The man's blood boiled.

"I'm thrilled to work with you. Don't worry; this project will be fantastic."

"Rut, I can't afford someone with your profile."

Jonas could, but any pretext was good to get rid of her.

"You're family. I'll work for peanuts."

The woman smiled internally. The man was so predictable, and Rut enjoyed seeing him break a sweat.

They played a ping pong match of words ten minutes before Jonas forfeited and briefed her on the project. He waited for Rut to leave, and he called Lars in his office, "why Lars, why do you always end up doing things like this? I thought you'd change, but no. There always has to be some unlawful shenanigans with you," The man said as he paced, hands on his hips.

"Jonas, listen. You wanted someone competent she's the best. Relax, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Jonas stopped pacing and began to sort the files he planned to take, "we're leaving for Paris. Sierra needs rest. She wants to see her brother and friends, so I'm taking her there."

"Okay."

Jonas sighed; he hated the idea of having Rut roam in his company, "Lars, I trust you. I need to take care of my family. Do you think you can hold it here?"

"Of course."

"I don't want any trouble. Please, Lars."

Jonas still showed his trust despite Lars's past, making his brother want to give his all.

"Jonas, I swear, I won't mess up. About Rut, I only chose her for her skills."

"It's justㅡnevermind."

Jonas didn't want to say it. Rut was that woman, the one who tempted and played. She spun Jonas around her finger. A compulsive flirt, there wasn't one of the Potsmann brothers she didn't taunt. Her relationship with Jonas wasn't a healthy one. The woman made him jealous, almost obsessive. Rut, followed by Cecile, got the man used to portraying a spare tire. She left Jonas saying he wasn't man enough for her, yet there she was, barging into his life again.

Jonas wasn't interested in figuring out why the woman accepted the job. Rut was not his priority. He called in his other managers, gave his directives, and got ready to leave.