Page 56 of Mountain Daddy

And Nikolai... the way he holds my son so carefully. Like Chleo is made of spun glass and starlight.

They walk around the bakery like that, Nikolai pointing out things from Chleo's new height.

The top of the display case.

The old tin signs on the walls.

The way the afternoon light catches the dust motes dancing near the window.

“This is such fun,” Chleo announces.

“I'm glad,” Nikolai says softly.

When he finally lifts Chleo down, my son's face is flushed with excitement and something else. Something that looks like longing.

He comes over to me, tugs on my apron.

“Mama?”

“Yes, baby?”

“When is my dad coming to visit?”

The question hits like a physical blow. I kneel down to his eye level, brush a strand of dark hair from his forehead.

“I don't know, sweetheart. His work keeps him very busy.”

“But he loves me, right? Even if he can't visit?”

My throat closes up. Behind Chleo, I see Nikolai go very still.

“Of course he loves you,” I whisper. “So much. More than you could ever know.”

It's not a lie. Not exactly. Because if Nikolai knew about Chleo, he would love him. I'm certain of that.

But love from a man like Nikolai comes with chains. With danger. With a world I can't let my son be part of.

“Okay,” Chleo says, apparently satisfied. He bounces back to his usual sunny self. “Can I have a cookie?”

“One. Then homework.”

He selects a sugar cookie shaped like a star, then disappears into the back room to do his homework.

The afternoon stretches on. Nikolai leaves for a while, but returns. Like this is his life now.

And maybe that's what scares me most.

That he fits.

That watching him with Chleo feels so right it makes my chest ache.

That I could get used to this. Could let myself believe in the fairy tale.

When six o'clock comes, Rosa packs up her writing supplies.

“See you tomorrow, Lilly. Nice meeting you, Nikolai. Try not to fix everything before I get back—I like having things to complain about.”

After she leaves, it's just the three of us. Nikolai, and Chleo, and me in the back room doing homework.

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