The Voice

Ivy’s apartment was a disaster. Boxes were half-packed. She was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out how to pay rent without a job, while Leo drew angry black scribbles on a pad.

A knock on the door.

Ivy wiped her eyes. "Go away, Mrs. Gable, I’ll have the rent on Tuesday!"

"It’s not Mrs. Gable."

Ivy froze. She scrambled up and opened the door.

Julian stood in the hallway. He was soaked. His hair was plastered to his forehead. He wasn't wearing a tie. He held a large, plastic tub in his arms.

"I brought the Ultimate Millennium Falcon set," Julian said. "It has seven thousand pieces. It takes weeks to build."

Ivy stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't work," Julian said. He stepped inside, uninvited. He looked at the chaos—the colors, the mess. He breathed it in.

He set the Lego tub on the floor and looked at Ivy.

"It’s too quiet," Julian said. "My office. My apartment. My head. It’s all too quiet."

"You like quiet," Ivy said, crossing her arms.

"I liked peace," Julian corrected. "There is no peace without you."

He dropped to his knees. He didn't care about the wet floor or his Italian suit pants.

"I was angry," Julian said, looking up at her. "I felt robbed. But I realized... I’m doing the same thing. I’m robbing myself of right now."

He reached out and took her hand.

"I don't just want the heir, Ivy. I don't want a co-parenting agreement. I want the mother. I want the chaos. I want the noise. I want you."

Ivy looked at him—the man who had shielded her son from the storm. The man who hummed jazz lullabies.

"I'm messy," she warned, tears spilling over. "I'm loud."

"Be loud," Julian begged. "Scream at me. Laugh at me. Just don't leave me in the silence again."

Ivy dropped to her knees and threw her arms around him. Julian buried his face in her neck, holding her tight.

"Dad."

The word was small. Rusty. But it was there.

Julian and Ivy froze. They pulled apart.

Leo was standing by the Lego box. He was looking at Julian.

He pointed a small finger at him.

"Dad," Leo said again. Louder this time.

Julian let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob. He held out his arms.

Leo ran into them.

Julian held his world—his loud, colorful, perfect world—in his arms. The rain hammered against the window, but for the first time in his life, Julian didn't hear it. He only heard the beating of their hearts.

\---

**Epilogue**

Three Months Later.

The executive suite at Vanguard Media had undergone some renovations.

The glass walls were no longer pristine. The bottom three feet were covered in dry-erase drawings of robots, spaceships, and flowers.

Inside, Julian sat at his desk, on a conference call with Tokyo.

"Yes, the merger is proceeding," Julian said.

Under his desk, a small boy was building a castle.

Across the room, Ivy was leading the design team meeting. She was wearing a bright red scarf and gesturing wildly. She was laughing.

It was loud. It was chaotic.

Julian looked over at them. He felt the vibration of Ivy’s voice in the floor. He heard the click of the plastic bricks.

He smiled, a genuine, relaxed smile that terrified his board of directors on the video screen.

He didn't mute the background noise. He turned it up.