Renee changed her habits first. Morning walks replaced idle moments. Meals grew more intentional—balanced, hearty, familiar enough that no one questioned them. She slept more deeply, rose earlier, and listened closely to her body in a way she never had before.
Everything looked ordinary.
Behind the counter at Honey & Hearth, she laughed with customers, kneaded dough, lifted crates of produce without strain. At home, she moved easily through the rooms she shared with Charlie, humming as she folded laundry or set bread to rise.
Charlie noticed, of course.
"You've got more energy lately," he said one evening.
Renee smiled. "Trying to take better care of myself."
He nodded, satisfied. That was explanation enough.
---
The optimization came quietly.
In the early morning, before the café opened and before Charlie woke, Renee accessed the system interface. The purchase screen hovered briefly before her.
[Advanced Bodily Optimization Potions
(I Shall Survive Using Potions)
Cost: 7,500 SC]
She approved the transaction without ceremony.
There was no glow. No pulse of magic. No sensation beyond warmth—gentle and fleeting, like the first stretch after a good night's sleep.
The integration worked at a level no doctor could detect. Cells functioned more efficiently. Nutrient absorption improved. Hormonal cycles stabilized without artificial spikes. Her body did not become extraordinary.
It became ready.
[SYSTEM LOG]
[METABOLIC INTEGRATION COMPLETE]
[Physiological Stability: OPTIMIZED
Anomaly Visibility: NONE]
Renee exhaled slowly.
Perfect.
---
Charlie's protectiveness emerged the way most good instincts did—not suddenly, not possessively, but with quiet consistency.
He walked her to the car more often. Checked the locks at night without comment. Stood a little closer when strangers lingered too long at the café. Renee noticed—and appreciated that he never framed it as ownership.
It was care. Chosen. Responsive.
When she caught his hand hovering near her back as they crossed the street, she leaned into him, letting him know she felt safe.
[SYSTEM LOG]
[PARTNER RESPONSE: HEALTHY]
[Protective Instinct: SUPPORTIVE
Control Risk: LOW]
---
Renee reinforced resilience the same way she reinforced everything else—through practice.
She meditated when stress crept in. Wrote when fear tried to sharpen itself into certainty. She did not let herself spiral into canon catastrophes that might never come. She focused on what was real: her body, her marriage, her town.
On one quiet afternoon, she stood in the café kitchen, hands dusted with flour, sunlight filtering in through the windows. Her heart felt steady. Her breathing even.
She checked the system.
[SYSTEM LOG]
[BIOLOGICAL READINESS: CONFIRMED]
[Pregnancy Risk Profile: MINIMAL
Emotional Stability: STRONG]
Renee smiled to herself.
No omens. No drama. No glowing prophecy.
Just preparation done right.
She washed her hands, tied on her apron, and stepped back into the warmth of Honey & Hearth—ready, grounded, and deliberately ordinary, while the future quietly aligned itself around her.