I rest a hand gently on his back. His tiny chest heaves with emotion too big for his years. “You did the right thing,synok. You protected your mother. I’m proud of you.”
He sniffs, lifting his head slightly to look at me. “You are?”
God, this child. I see parts of myself in him, but more than that, I seeher. His heart, his fight, his need to defend what he loves without fully understanding the weight of the world that put him in that position.
That’s all Ivy.
I nod, letting a small smile break through my rage. “Of course I am.”
His little shoulders relax the tiniest bit, and I see him lean into his mother again, reassured.
It guts me. This is the life I wanted for us. Not the war, not them being pulled into a mess they never were supposed to be exposed to in the first place.
Just this.
If I ever needed a reason to burn the world down and rebuild it from scratch just for the two of them, it’s this moment right here that would solidify everything.
27
MAKSIM
The rest of the day passes in a blur I never want to end.
We don’t talk about the report the principal insisted would be getting filed right as we were leaving the school, or the visit Child Services might schedule to come do at Ivy’s parents’ house.
Instead, we just…live.
I hold Leo’s small hand as we cross streets downtown and watch him press his nose against shop windows that we pass by, his wide eyes lighting up at the toy displays. His boisterous energy is contagious as much as it is hard to contain. He tugs Ivy and me toward a park once he grows bored of the window shopping, chirping at us to hurry up.
He climbs the jungle gym with no fear, calling down for me to watch when he swings from the tallest rung upside down. I stand beneath him with my arms half-raised, ready to catch him even though he doesn’t need me to. He just laughs and laughs until his breath is punching out of him.
I feel Ivy’s eyes on me when Leo begs for another push on the swings, when I crouch in the grass to tie his shoelaces right before he takes off and begs me to chase after him. It warms something inside me I thought had gone cold forever, sharing these small, incidental moments with her and our child that I never thought I’d find precious until now.
But I also see the shadows in her eyes the longer we spend time together, the way she presses her lips together when she looks at me, her hand finding her chest and resting over her heart when she looks at Leo.
She’s torn in her decision to lock me out. That much is obvious.
Still, I don’t try to push her.
We finish the afternoon with ice cream.
Leo’s face is sticky, his hands a mess, but his grin is so wide and infectious, it has me mirroring it right back. He’s leaning against me on the bench, licking melting vanilla from a cone, babbling about an upcoming science fair project he can’t wait to start.
Ivy sits on my other side, oddly quiet, with her strawberry scoop barely touched. The sun catches her hair, turning it to a golden brown that makes me want to run my fingers through it. Her silence presses heavily between us, but I don’t force her to speak. I know she’s listening to him, watching me. Fighting with herself over her decision not to come to Russia with me.
Later, when Leo begins to droop against my side, yawning wide enough to make his little eyes water, we head home.Her parents’ house is empty when we walk in, saving us both from having to explain ourselves.
I carry Leo upstairs, his small body heavy with sleep, and settle him into his bed. He curls into the blankets instantly, already lost to dreams.
I stand there for a long time watching his chest rise and fall. I can’t believe I nearly lost him…
Ivy comes to the door, leaning against the frame. Her arms are crossed, but her eyes are soft. She watches me, something flickering across her face I can’t quite name. We walk downstairs together in silence and take opposite ends of the couch. My hand drags across my jaw, the stubble prickling against my palm
She’s the first to break the silence. “I’ve been thinking about everything. About what you said.”
I sit forward, elbows on my knees, and nod. “Go on.”
Her arms tighten around herself. “For so long… I thought Leo would never know his father. I grieved that. I convinced myself it would be fine since he only needed me. But now that you’re here… I see how incredible you are with him. He loves having you around, and it’s really shown me what life would be like if we were all together.”
