I lightly rap the back of her knuckles and smile back. “Stop it or you’re gonna make me cry. Now, lie back down and close your eyes. I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I have no business making her promises like that, but sometimes, you just have to say the words and hope they’ll prove true. She does as I asked, curling up with the blankets raised to her chin and letting her face ease.
After a while, her breathing evens out into the rhythms of sleep.
I hope for her sake it’s a dreamless one.
I’ve just snuck upstairs to get a few minutes to myself when the door opens and Uri walks in. I can’t even bring myself to sit up, but that’s fine, because he seems perfectly content to collapse into bed beside me.
“I was gonna come down in a bit,” I protest meekly.
He rolls ont
