Page 101 of The Bratva King

We move toward the children’s section like he’s done this a hundred times.

The kids’ furniture section is overwhelming, even for me. Bunk beds and race car beds and princess canopies. Everything is bright and loud and covered in cartoon characters. Luke is tense. I feel it and look for the quickest exit. If a meltdown is coming, I have to get him outside as quickly as possible.

Nikolai stops in front of a display of stuffed animals. He picks up a large plush dinosaur, examining it with a very serious expression.

“What kind is this?” He holds it up.

Luke looks at it. Then at Nikolai. Then back at the dinosaur.

“T. rex,” he says quietly.

“The right kind,” Nikolai says. “Not like the other one.”

Luke’s eyes widen slightly. “The other one had the arms wrong.”

“Exactly.” Nikolai turns the stuffed dinosaur over in his hands. “Did you know the T. rex had the strongest bite of any land animal? Four times stronger than an alligator.”

Luke takes a step closer, his interest overriding his anxiety. “And they could eat five hundred pounds in one bite.”

“That’s right.” Nikolai hands him the dinosaur. “What else?”

“They can see really good,” Luke says. His hand reaches out to touch the dinosaur.

I watch them, suddenly close to tears. Nikolai researched dinosaurs. He looked up facts so he could talk to my son. So he could connect with him.

I blink rapidly and pretend I’m looking at a display of lamps.

“Come on,” Nikolai says to Luke. “Let’s find you a bed.”

They walk off together, with Luke still clutching the T. rex. I follow a few steps behind. I’m not even sad that Luke isn’t holding my hand. It makes my heart sing to see him moving through a new environment without fear.

Nikolai shows Luke different bed frames. He doesn’t rush. He lets Luke touch them, examine them, take his time deciding. When Luke finds one he likes—a simple twin bed with a blue headboard—Nikolai nods.

“Good choice.”

They move to dressers next. Nightstands. Luke picks everything carefully and thoughtfully. Nikolai never gets impatient. Never pushes him toward something more expensive or flashy. I’m cringing at the mismatched furniture, but that’s the old me. That’s Gabriella. Gabby doesn’t give a shit if wood grains clash.

By the time we get to the bedding section, Luke is talking without prompts. He finds a comforter covered in realistic dinosaurs—not cartoons. He drags it half off the shelf to show Nikolai and points.

“This one.”

“Perfect. We’ll take it.”

“Nikolai,” I start. I love that Luke is getting the experience, but I also fear he’s going to get spoiled. I can never turn him loose in a store and tell him to pick whatever he wants.

“You promised,” Nik says quietly.

I swallow the protest and decide I’ll talk with Luke later. I’ll explain Nik’s generosity. And then I’ll remind him this is special and not the norm.

With the furniture ordered and scheduled for delivery, we end up at Target. Nikolai Sokolov is pushing a red cart through the store with Luke holding on to the side like he’s been taught.

We spend another hour picking out decorations. Posters. A lamp shaped like a volcano. Curtains with pterodactyls. Luke is glowing by the end of it, and his arms are full of dinosaur books that Nikolai kept adding to the cart.

I don’t even look at the total at the checkout. I can’t. It’ll make me panic.

Nikolai hands over his card without blinking.

“In a couple of days,” he says to Luke, “we’ll go get you some new clothes.”