Nova squirmed in her sleep for a moment before her eyes snapped open. “I have ta potty!” she whisper-shouted as she sat up, her eyes glancing around frantically.
I jumped out of bed and helped her down before leading her into the bathroom. Only, her legs were too short for her to get on the toilet all by herself. What if she fell in? She was already doing that dance everyone did when they had to pee really bad, but I had no idea what to do to help her.
“Lift me up!” she instructed in a panic as she pushed her shorts and underwear down.
“Let me get your mom.” I started to back away, scared I might hurt her or do something wrong.
“No time. Please? Max helps me all the time. Garret too.” She turned so her back was to the toilet and lifted her hands. “Please, Ryan! It’s coming.”
Lifting her, I sat her on the seat and held her hands, but I kept my eyes closed so I didn’t see anything. It felt wrong to see that part of her. As the sound of her pee hitting the toilet water reached my ears, Nova let out a relieved little sigh. When the dripping sound stopped, she pulled one of her hands free.
“Ugh, I can’t reach the tissue.”
I peeked one eye open and tore her off a little of the toilet paper, but as soon as she took it from me, I snapped my eyes closed again. Moments later, she was hopping down and flushed. I gave her a little longer to pull her clothes into place before opening my eyes.
Nova walked over to the sink then huffed. Smiling to myself, I turned on the water for her and then lifted her around the waist from behind so she could wash her hands. As soon as her hands were clean and she was on her feet again, she threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Ryan.”
My stomach started growling, and hers rumbled back, as if they were communicating. It made her giggle, and I grinned as I took her hand. “Let’s go ask my mom for something to eat.”
With her tiny legs, going down the stairs wasn’t nearly as easy as it had been climbing up them earlier. I held Nova’s hand, and we slowly took them one at a time. I’d never really thought about how many steps there were until right then, but it felt like there were a thousand of them.
“My legs are getting tired,” Nova muttered as we got closer to the bottom. “Your house is so big.”
With only a few steps to go, I moved down to the last one while still holding her hand. “Get on my back,” I told her, turning so she could climb on. “I’ll carry you.”
Her giggle was so sweet and precious, my chest started aching again. Her hands clutched my shoulders as she jumped and wrapped her legs around my middle. I grabbed her hands, pulling them around my neck securely before releasing them so I could reach behind me and hold her bottom in case she slipped.
She didn’t weigh much, so I didn’t have trouble carrying her through the house in search of Mom. Adult laughter came from the dining room, so I turned in that direction. At the door, I glanced in, hoping to find Mom in there with the others.
She snapped her head in my direction as soon as I paused in the doorway, her blue eyes drifting over me and the little angel on my back. “I was just about to come wake you up,” Mom said as she stood and walked over to us, causing the others to stop talking and look our way. “I checked on you a while ago, and you were both sound asleep.” She stroked her hand over my cheek, and she lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear her. “You haven’t been sleeping well, have you, l’venok?”
I shrugged, not wanting to talk about it in front of everyone. The concern darkened her eyes, but she didn’t push the issue. Instead, she shifted her attention to Nova. “I bet you’re hungry. What would you like to eat, myshka?”
“I’m not me-sha,” Nova told her with a giggle. “I’m Nova.”
“Myshka isn’t a name,” I tried to explain as I looked at her over my shoulder. “It’s like when your mom or dad call you sweetheart or honey or baby. In Russian, it means mouse.”
Her face scrunched up as if she was processing that, and then she nodded. “Oh, okay.”
Mom’s mouth twitched with amusement before she lifted her hand, urging me to sit down. I carried Nova over to the side of the table where there were more empty seats and helped her off my back before picking her up and placing her in one of the chairs.
Before I took the one beside her, I felt everyone’s eyes on me, and I glanced around. When my eyes landed on No
va’s mom, I gulped and quickly jumped up next to the little angel.
“Papa is bringing home pizza in a few hours. We haven’t had dinner yet since we had such a late lunch.” Mom informed me as she stood beside my chair. “How about a sandwich for now?”
I looked at Nova, who was already nodding. “Yes, please. If Ryan likes it, I will like it too.”
A soft laugh came from the direction where Felicity was sitting. “She really isn’t picky, Anya. Whatever is fine. As you saw earlier, Garret is the one we have to fight with to eat what we put in front of him.”
“I’m sure if we sent Garret to St. Petersburg for a few weeks, he’d be just fine with whatever was placed in front of him when he returned,” Mom muttered, a sly grin on her face.
“That may be something we take you up on one day.” Still laughing, Felicity got to her feet. “Let me help you.”
The two of them walked toward the kitchen, leaving me alone with Nova and Zia Scarlett.
“Do you like to swim, Nova?” Zia asked as the door swung closed behind our moms. “The other kids are out in the pool right now.”