Chapter 27
CARA
“Okay, do you have your shoes on?” I fuss over Nina, as I stoop down to double-check that her laces are tied properly.
“Yes!” she replies, sounding more than a little impatient as she looks towards the door. I know she just wants to get out there, and there’s nothing I want more than to give her just that—especially given that Alexei actually knows about it this time.
“Alright,” I sigh, as I straighten up, slipping her hand into mine as we head for the back door. “Then let’s go...”
Outside, the sun is shining, and it’s about as perfect a day as I could hope for, but it still doesn’t fully quell the unease.
Alexei and Maxim are already outside, stooped down by one of the large trees in the middle of the garden, the sunlight casting dappling shadows across the two of them.
For a second, I just pause and take it in, a small smile spreading over my face at the sight.
After so long feeling like there will never be a way out of this place, to see Max enjoying the sunshine alongside his father feels something like a miracle.
I know it’s going to be baby steps, at first, but I’m not going to let him skip out on them.
I can only imagine how hard it is for him to admit to anyone, let alone himself, that keeping his kids locked up here has only made their lives harder, only risked earning him their resentment in years down the line.
And even now, I can see the tension in his shoulders, the way he looks up every now and then and checks to see if there is any kind of threat.
Old habits die hard, I guess, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to distract him a little while longer.
Nina goes running over to join Max, and I follow her, smiling as I lift a hand to greet him.
“Hey,” I murmur, as I reach his side, glancing back at the guards on the door who are keeping their distance. “How are you doing?”
“Been better,” he replies, but he is grinning. “But I’m getting there.”
I reach out to squeeze his hand, making sure that Max and Nina don’t notice. They still have no idea of what is happening between us, and I think it’s for the best that it stays that way.
“Thank you for doing this,” I tell him softly. “I know it’s not easy for you, but...”
“Easier than what we were talking about the other day,” he replies, and I know that’s what lies at the crux of all of this for him. The fact that he fears the same resentment growing in his own kids that grew for Sophie and I for so long.
“Yeah, it really is,” I agree, and I glance over at Nina and Max as they pluck a daisy from the lawn and search for another to make a chain. “Hey, what are you two up to...?”
They explore the rest of the garden, doing their best to find as many daisies as they can to string together into a chain.
It has been so long since I’ve done it myself, I had almost forgotten how much fun it could be, and I grin as Nina lays out all the flowers at my feet, her little brow furrowed as she tries to figure out where to start.
“This one has a thicker stem,” I offer her, as I hold out one of the flowers towards her. “That might make a good place to start, right?”
“And what about this one?” Alexei replies, holding up another flower. “It’s got the biggest bloom on it, you should put it somewhere in the middle, so it stands out.”
I laugh as Nina takes the flower from him, cocking an eyebrow. “I didn’t much take you for the kind of guy who would know much about making daisy chains.”
“I’m not,” he admits. “But I’m willing to learn.”
I smile. God, that’s all I really want from him, at the end of the day, the promise that he will try to make a difference and figure out where he fits in this world with the children. It might not be easy, but as long as he is willing to try, then I can’t ask for much more.
Nina and Max sit cross-legged on the grass as they drape the daisies out in front of them, and, just behind them, Alexei rests his hand over mine as we watch them together. He doesn’t say a word but he doesn’t have to.
Once they have finished the chain, Maxim, with his tongue pinched between his teeth, carefully lifts it so that he can place it around Nina’s neck. She reaches up to touch it, almost reverently, as if she can hardly believe that it’s hers now.
“Thank you,” she murmurs to him, looking up at him with a beaming smile on her face. She might not know that Max is actually her big brother, but the way the two of them fall into their respective places, it’s hard not to believe that, on some level, they both know it.
He goes over to give her a hug, and I grin, glad to see them bonding so deeply so soon after they first met.
Now that I’m staying here, I would do anything to make sure that they got along, but it seemed like I wouldn’t have to go out of my way to encourage it, when they seemed to adore each other as much as they do.
Alexei tangles his fingers with mine on the grass, and I know his head is in the exact same place mine is right now. Relief, knowing that they got on, and comfort in seeing them connect with each other. Even outside the confines of the house, I can tell that he is starting to relax.
And for the first time in a long while, time feels like something we have plenty of. I rest my head on his shoulder as Nina and Max spring to their feet to finish up what they were doing and search for some more flowers to add to her crown, and Alexei presses a kiss on the top of my head.
In the quiet of that moment, it’s hard not to believe that everything is perfect. Even with as far as I know we still have to go.