Chapter Nineteen

Sarah

I stumbled, so caught off-guard that I tripped and started to fall face-first down the stairs.

Levi's arm snaked in from behind, wrapping itself around my chest and hauling me back onto my feet.

"Sorry about the grope," he murmured in my ear, letting go. "But this one is all yours to answer."

"I think I would prefer that," I said, wanting to look anywhere but at Jake's expectant face. "Thank you for the save, however. I do appreciate that."

"I'll always be there for you," Levi said with a bit more seriousness than I would have expected.

If it weren't for the bombshell question dropped so casually by Jake, I might have turned to look for an explanation as to why. Even so, I was tempted sorely to do just that. Jake was a child. He was easily distracted. If I truly wanted to, I could put off the question and hope he forgot about it. There was a high probability of that happening.

Unfortunately for me, I had made a promise to myself, one that I'd kept over the years, of not shying away from his questions. Of being open and transparent so that as he grew up, he would hopefully understand and continue to be that way with me.

"Are you all washed up, dude?" Levi asked from over my shoulder, perhaps sensing my hesitation.

"No," I said, putting up a hand to stop him. "It's okay. He deserves an answer."

I didn't want to. That was for sure. Even now, my gut revolted, trying to get me to back down. I didn't. I powered through. Walking down the rest of the stairs—and managing not to fall that time—I crouched in front of my son and put a hand on his shoulder, looking him right in the face.

"Yes," I said softly. "Yes, he is, baby. Mr. Levi is your father."

The word "Dad" wasn't quite there for me. Not yet. That was a distinction Levi and I would make, however. Jakub wouldn't.

"Oh. Okay." He looked past me, working his little mouth. I wondered what he was thinking.

"Hi, Dad," he said, sticking out his arms for a hug, not noticing how Levi's face scrambled itself.

"Hi … son," Levi said, his voice wobbly.

I bit my lip, touched by the impact those two words had on a man so large. There wasn't much that could bring him to his knees like that, but I noticed the tremor as he bent down to Jakub's height and hugged him.

His eyes found me as they embraced. Thank you , he mouthed.

Don't fuck it up, I mouthed back.

His face tightened, and he should his head ever so slightly. I won't .

That remained to be seen, of course, but the morning was off to a good start.

"Is it breakfast time yet?" Jake asked, pulling away with all the squirrel-brain attitude of a young child. "I'm starved. We've been up forever!"

I laughed, glad for the mood-breaker, even if he had no idea he'd done it.

"It sure is," Levi said, then snatched Jake up. "Did you wash your hands?"

"Yep!"

"On your stool?"

"Yep!"

"Did you tell your mom about the stool you helped build?"

And so, we walked into the kitchen as a trio while I listened all about the stool he'd built that morning with Levi. By the end of the story, I turned to Levi with a quizzical look on my face.

"So, just what the heck did you do during all this building?"

The big dragon just grinned. "I guess I mostly supervised. It certainly felt like I did a lot more at the time, but I mean, listening to him tell it back, I guess he did all the work."

I bit my lip as we laughed, my cheeks warming with happiness.

The stove came alive, and Levi tossed bacon in the pan, followed by toast. Then he set about doing something I thought I would never see after the past few days of pancakes and meat.

He started slicing up some fresh fruit, putting half in front of me and keeping the rest for himself. Other than the one piece of melon he nabbed from my plate with a flirtatious wink. I giggled.

Next up, he snagged a bowl from the cupboard and put it in front of Jake. A box of multicolored kids' cereal appeared next.

I frowned.

"That's human cereal," I pointed out. "We get that at the grocery store back, uh, stateside."

Calling it home was no longer accurate, I supposed.

"Yes?" Levi shot me a glance that said I should wake up and look around. "Have you seen the logos on the stove? Or microwave? The toaster? Most of the advanced manufacturing is supplied from your factories. We don't have the industry to produce it ourselves."

I frowned. "How the heck do you get it?"

He laughed. "You don't think the Bermuda triangle got its name for no reason, did you? Things disappear in there all the time."

"Is that where we are?"

Nobody had actually told me. I'd heard rumors the hidden dragon homeland was suspected to be somewhere in the northern Caribbean, but nobody seemed to know for sure.

"Yep."

"Why are you telling me that?" I asked. "You know everyone is working their asses off to find you. If they do …"

"They won't," he said confidently.

"I guess."

"And the answer to your question," he said, turning on the tap and putting some soap on a sponge, "is because I trust you."

I was silent. Beside me, Jakub chomped away happily on his cereal.

The enormity of the information Levi had just dropped belied the casual way he did it. It implied a huge level of trust existed between us. A level that I didn't know how to handle.

"I can help with that," I said, pointing at the sink, knowing full well it was a lame change of topic.

"Eat your fruit," Levi said, winking back.

"Yes, sir," I said with a mock salute, crunching down on some juicy strawberry slices.

"Dad?"

I stiffened at the word, so unused to it was I. In the sink, dishes clanged together unnaturally loud.

"Yes?" Levi asked a moment later, his voice tight.

"Are you really my daddy?"

"Yes, little dude, I'm really your daddy," he said after a glance at me to ensure it was still okay.

I wasn't about to back away now. For a moment there, a strange feeling of completeness had come over me as we all occupied the kitchen together for breakfast. I'd eaten meals with my parents and Jake before, which was "with family," but this … this was different.

That was with family. This was my family.

A subtle but oh-so important distinction.

"Why haven't I seen you before?" Jake asked. "Did you not like me?"

"No, no, it's not that," Levi said, flicking his hands free of water and rushing to Jake's side.

I, meanwhile, was blinking furiously as emotions overwhelmed me.

"Where were you?"

"I was here," Levi said softly. "I've been away."

"Oh."

"But no more," he said with a fiercely protective hug. "I promise you that, Jake. I'll never be gone again. If you need me, I will be there for you. I promise, okay?"

"Okay!" And just like that, he went back to eating his cereal with all the horrible coordination of a child.

Levi looked up at me.

I gave him a very hard, very stern look that could only be interpreted one way.

Don't you dare fucking disappoint him.