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The gifts haven’t stopped since. We arrived with one small bag, and now my son owns half the west wing.

I’m holding up the bear sweater when Mrs. Wentworth appears to ask what Misha and I would like for breakfast.

“Where did this come from?”

She adjusts her ladybird glasses. “A shop.”

“I know that.”

“Mr. Orlov requested suitable clothing for the child.”

“Mr. Orlov met him a few days ago.”

Mrs. Wentworth looks at Misha, who is trying to fit a taxi into one sweater pocket and a tractor into the other. “He requested several sizes.”

“Of course he did.”

She hands me a slim access card. “The playroom has been updated. Your fingerprint and Misha’s profile have been added.”

I stare at the card. “His profile?”

“Height, image, allergy information, and permitted escorts.”

I turn the card over and find the security strip on the back. “You put his medical details in the security system?”

“Only the information required to protect and feed him safely, Doctor.”

I close my eyes for a second. “What was wrong with the old playroom?”

“Nothing.” Mrs. Wentworth folds her hands. “The new playroom simply has more.”

I lower my hand. “More toys?”

“Biometric entry, reinforced glass, a direct alarm to the security annex, and a secondary seal on the passage leading to the pool pavilion.” She ticks through the list with growing pride.

I stare at her. “So, fewer toys.”

“I didn’t say that, Doctor.”

I look down at the sweater in my hand. Brown bears dance around the hem.

Alexei has turned childcare into a military operation and dressed it in knitwear.

I find him at the breakfast table in the sitting area, where morning light reaches through the tall garden windows and catches on the glass roof of the pool passage beyond. His shirt is open at the throat, his stubble is gone, and the scar through his eyebrow looks sharper without the beard.

A folded piece of paper shows above his breast pocket.

He looks up from his tablet. “Good morning.”

I drop the bear sweater beside his plate. “Explain this.”

Alexei glances at it. “Clothing.”

“The playroom has biometric locks.”

“Yes.”

“There are five pairs of shoes in Misha’s wardrobe.”