This is where my children come in.
I find them in the nursery. Sofia is dressing a stuffed rabbit in one of Nikolai’s socks. Nikolai is trying to stop her with the grave intensity of a small accountant watching embezzlement.
“I need your help,” I say.
Both of them freeze. Children love those five words.
Sofia gasps. “Is it dangerous?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes light up. “Wonderful.”
Nikolai narrows his. “What kind of help?”
“I need Vika’s phone.”
That gets silence.
Then Sofia says, reverently, “This is the best day of my life.”
Nikolai says, “Why?”
“Because I need something from it.”
That’s not enough for him. “Why can’t you ask?”
“Because your aunt would rather eat glass than help me.”
Sofia nods at once. “That’s true.”
Nikolai thinks a little longer. “So we’re stealing.”
“No,” I say. “Borrowing secretly.”
“That’s stealing,” Nikolai frowns.
“Temporarily.”
He looks unconvinced.
Sofia is already on board. “What do I do?”
I crouch in front of them.
“You do exactly what you do best.”
They both look offended.
“What I mean,” I say quickly. “is that Sofia you’ll distract her, she’ll keep the phone down and Nikolai will retrieve it.”
He blinks. “Why do I retrieve?”
“Because you’re sneaky.”
“I’m not sneaky.”
“You once took three biscuits from the kitchen and convinced everyone the dog had done it.”
