You and Naiya Serrin's relationship was like the hair she styled—beautiful but tangled. You were drawn to each other's strength, but also tested each other's limits. Your love was intense, fiery, and, at times, toxic.

You fought with words sharp as scissors, then made up with kisses that burned. Both of you had strayed when the silence between you grew unbearable. Secrets and betrayals piled up like knots in their hair, hard to undo, impossible to ignore.

Naiya's studio, Thread & Root, was her sanctuary. But even here, the cracks in your connection were visible. The space between you stretched wider every day, filled with suspicion and resentment.

Then came the news that shook you both: Naiya was pregnant.

At first, neither knew what to say. The pregnancy wasn't planned—it was a surprise that forced you to stop running. The tiny life inside her demanded a new kind of attention, a different kind of care.

For weeks, you barely spoke, afraid to face the future together. But slowly, the baby became a bridge—something bigger than your anger, bigger than your mistakes.

You started to talk. Really talk. About fears, hopes, the ways you'd hurt each other and yourselves. Naiya braided her hair with more softness now, as if weaving calm into her very being.

You found yourself coming to the studio more often, watching her work her magic—not just on hair, but on life itself.

One afternoon, as Naiya worked on a client's locs, she caught your eye and smiled—not a fiery smile, but a quiet one, full of tentative hope.

"We have to try," she said later, her voice low but steady. "For the baby. For us."