As a Scummy Omega, I Ran Away with the Baby - Chapter 57.2

After a while, Gu Yining finally spotted the missing piece tucked away in a hidden corner, partially obscured by a packaging box.

“Got it!”

She shouted in triumph, holding the tiny crystal piece aloft like a child showing off a prize. Her gaze instinctively flicked past the cheering Bai Xia toward Bai Qingqiu.

And in that instant, their eyes met—Bai Qingqiu had not yet looked away.

They froze, neither breaking eye contact. The faint smile in Bai Qingqiu’s eyes, barely faded, was captured fully by Gu Yining. And Gu Yining’s radiant, unguarded smile was reflected clearly in Bai Qingqiu’s pupils.

“I’ll put it on!”

Bai Xia couldn’t understand the turbulent undercurrents between the adults. She lunged at the stunned Gu Yining, stood on tiptoe, and snatched the crystal spire—the symbol of victory—straight from her hands. Wiggling her little legs, she ran eagerly back to her castle.

“Hey, careful! Slow down!”

Gu Yining, as if awakened from a dream, cried out instinctively.

But the excited little one couldn’t hear adult warnings. Clutching the piece, she tried to press it onto the tower—but a child’s hands aren’t as steady as an adult’s. With a slip, the delicate spire fell from her fingers.

Plop.

The piece hit the carpet and rolled under the sofa, disappearing from sight.

The living room fell into sudden silence.

“Auntie.” Bai Xia’s lips pouted, and her big eyes filled with misty tears as she looked at Gu Yining.

Before Bai Qingqiu could even form a word, Gu Yining, seeing Bai Xia upset, immediately spoke:

“It’s okay, don’t worry. Aunt will get it for you.”

Without another word, Gu Yining dove onto the floor, ignoring her clean loungewear, and crawled into the dark, narrow space under the sofa to reach the stubbornly hidden piece.

Bai Qingqiu’s half-formed thought—“We’ll just buy another one”—was silenced by Gu Yining’s resolve.

Watching Gu Yining’s unwavering back, Bai Qingqiu glanced at her daughter, who had stopped crying after receiving the promise, and now sat at the edge of the sofa, nervously watching.

For a moment, Bai Qingqiu was the only bystander, powerless.

Her leg injured, she could do nothing, just as Bai Xia waited—not for a toy, but for something she couldn’t even name.

“Got it yet?”

Seeing Gu Yining struggle, Bai Qingqiu instinctively lowered herself further, her voice tight with tension.

“Got, got it!”

From under the sofa, Gu Yining’s triumphant voice rang out.

Hearing it, Bai Qingqiu exhaled in relief, subtly shifting her good leg to give Gu Yining more space to rise.

But this instinctive move destabilized her already precarious posture, and she teetered, leaning heavily on the sofa, holding herself up only with one arm.

Neither Gu Yining, painstakingly inching backward from under the sofa, nor Bai Xia, watching nervously, noticed.

Facing downward, Gu Yining had to wriggle like a caterpillar, using her elbows to push herself backward. With only her upper body still under the sofa, clutching the precious piece, she couldn’t brace herself with her hands. She thrust with her knees, trying to lift herself fully out of the narrow space.

In that moment, her arched back pressed against the soft sofa cushion.

The elastic sofa bulged upward, and Bai Qingqiu, already unsteady on one leg, let out a short gasp before the sudden upward force sent her toppling uncontrollably toward the carpet.

Gu Yining, now fully free from under the sofa and about to stand, looked up in alarm—just in time to see Bai Qingqiu falling straight toward her and Bai Xia.

Her pupils constricted.

All thought ceased, leaving only the primal instinct to protect. She threw her arms out without hesitation, colliding with the falling figure.

With a short cry from Bai Xia, the two of them tumbled onto the soft carpet, landing in an intimate, protective embrace.

Gu Yining lay on her back, her body cushioning Bai Qingqiu, while Bai Qingqiu pressed firmly against her, instinctively bracing her hands on either side of Gu Yining so she didn’t fully crush her.

Both froze.

Their faces were less than a centimeter apart.

They could feel each other’s warm, startled breaths on their cheeks.

They could see every eyelash, every detail of each other’s eyes, reflecting the same shock and helplessness.

The world’s sounds disappeared.

Only the deafening, uncontrollable beats of their hearts filled the space.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely.

Bai Qingqiu saw herself reflected in Gu Yining’s clear eyes—clumsy, vulnerable—but beneath that reflection, a long-suppressed, unstoppable flutter of emotion surged forth, exposed by shock.

Her once-proud mind went blank.

The feelings she had thought nonexistent for five years were erupting uncontrollably.

She could have pushed Gu Yining away, or had Gu Yining help her stand—but she didn’t.

Gu Yining could have spoken to diffuse the tension—but she didn’t.

They simply stayed there, gazing into each other’s eyes.

She still loves me.

She still loves me.

The realization struck them both like lightning.

All misunderstandings, all tests, all defenses lost meaning.

This rediscovered love drew them irresistibly closer, inch by inch.

Their breaths mingled, noses almost touching. Their heads tilted slightly, lips soft and inviting, as if the next second might—

“Mommy!”

A clear, childish voice rang out from beside them.

“Are you two going to kiss?”

The innocent question struck like thunder, snapping the two almost-lost adults back from the brink.

They jerked apart.

Bai Qingqiu turned her head aside.

Gu Yining swallowed and clumsily moved out from under her.

Bai Xia giggled, covering her eyes with her pudgy little hands.

“Shy!” she exclaimed.