He swallowed.
“I rehearsed several speeches.”
“And?”
“They all disappeared.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve much more than that.”
“I know.”
Leo looked up.
“Are you really my dad?”
Ethan knelt.
His eyes were wet.
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
Maya held her breath.
Ethan did not lie.
“I was doing something I thought would keep you and your mom safe.”
“Did it?”
Ethan looked at Maya.
“No.”
Leo considered this.
Children sometimes understand complicated truths more cleanly than adults.
“So you made a mistake?”
“A very big one.”
“Mom makes mistakes.”
Maya looked down.
“Excuse me?”
Leo nodded seriously.
“She burned pancakes yesterday.”
Ethan covered his mouth.
A laugh escaped him.
Maya narrowed her eyes.
“That information was classified.”
Leo giggled.
And somehow, standing on a floating runway in the middle of the Atlantic after the strangest night of their lives, Maya laughed too.
Ethan did not reach for her.
