Page 56 of Monstrosity

I end up at a table with Runes, Ivar, and several other brothers, discussing plans for the raid while trying to keep the conversation kid-friendly.

"Uncle Rio, is it true you killed a man with a spoon once?" Zayder asks, eyes wide.

I nearly choke on my sandwich. "Where did you hear that?"

"Daddy said you did," the kid replies, pointing at Aesir.

I shoot Aesir a look. "Your daddy exaggerates."

"So you didn't?" The kid looks disappointed.

"It was a spork," I deadpan, which gets laughs from the adults.

"Rio's kidding," Dasha says firmly. "There was no spoon or spork."

"But there was something else?" Florencia asks, too perceptive as always.

"Eat your lunch," I deflect.

The afternoon passes quickly.

We spend hours in the chapel, planning every detail of the raid.

Maps are studied, contingencies discussed, roles assigned.

By the time we break for dinner, I'm confident in our plan but exhausted from the mental gymnastics.

I find my family in our room, the girls playing quietly while Dasha reads.

It's such a normal scene, it makes my chest tight.

"Daddy!" Cali abandons her dolls to launch herself at me. "We learned more fighting moves after lunch!"

"Did you?" I settle on the floor with them. "Show me."

What follows is an enthusiastic but highly inaccurate demonstration of self-defense techniques.

I correct their form gently, turning it into a game.

Dasha watches from the bed, that soft smile on her face that never fails to warm me.

"Bath time," she announces eventually, which triggers the usual protests.

"But we're not dirty!" Cali argues.

"You're covered in marker," Dasha points out. "How did you even get it on your elbow?"

"Art is messy," Cali says seriously, which cracks me up.

"Can't argue with that," I say, earning a glare from Dasha. "But you still need a bath."

The bedtime routine is becoming familiar—baths, pajamas, stories.

I take story duty tonight, making up tales about brave princesses who ride motorcycles and fight dragons.

Both girls are asleep before I finish, worn out from their busy day.

"They're getting comfortable here," Dasha observes as we settle into our own bed.