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They stared at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

“Do y’all want to end up like Benny?”

“No, sir!” all three chorused instantly, their voices trembling.

“What’s the rule on this playground from now on?”

“Keep our hands to ourselves!” Khori cried.

“What about my boy’s shoes?”

“They’re fresh!” the runny-nosed one shouted. “They’re so fresh!”

“And what do you do when you see him?”

“Say good morning and share our crayons!”

I stood up to my full height, stepping back to let the ambient light bleed back into the space. “Good. Now get your little asses over to those swings before I have all three of y’all scared to go to the bathroom by yourselves for the rest of the school year.”

They didn’t wait for another word.

Khori grabbed the crying kid by the arm, dragged him off the mulch, and all three scrambled across the blacktop like they were running from a fire drill, heading straight for the teacher with their hands in the air.

I shook my head, chuckling under my breath. “Little bad-asses.”

Then I turned around.

Kaidence was still standing by the slide.

He hadn’t run or cried; he was just standing there, staring directly at me with my exact sharp, analytical eyes.

Then Kaidence took two hesitant steps forward on the mulch. He looked at my black boots, my chain, my face.

“You’re the man in Mommy’s picture. The one she said is my daddy. Are you really my daddy?”

Daddy.

The word hit me like a bullet to the chest.

Six years of cold darkness, six years of watching from the other side of the glass, and that single syllable thawed out parts of my soul I didn’t even know were still frozen.

I dropped back down to one knee, looking at him properly.

“Yeah, little man,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended. “It’s me.”

Kaidence’s mouth fell open.

He reached out a small, curious hand, extending his index finger toward my forearm.

When his finger touched my sleeve, there was no solid resistance. His hand slipped straight through the fabric, feeling only a brush of cold static that made his curls lift slightly from his forehead.

He pulled his hand back, frowning at his palm. “You’re like air.”

“Yeah,” I said with a faint smile. “I’m not quite all the way here, Kai.”

“Are you really a ghost?”

“Something like that.”