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But before she can, I hear Ilya’s voice carry down the beach.
Followed by the sound of the two little kids screaming.
Rayne and I both shift into high alert instantly. She spins away from me, a hand coming up to shield her eyes from the midday sun. But I don’t bother looking. I run past her towards my brother.
A second later, Rayne is at my side. “I didn’t know Ilya was out here. You could have told me you were with him.”
“And you could have stayed home,” I bark.
The kids are lying in the sand and Ilya is bouncing back and forth like he isn’t sure which way to go. From this distance, he looks like he’s trying to decide which of them to grab.
Did he already knock them over? Is he having a meltdown? Can I get Rayne and the kids out of here before he hurts any of them?
My thoughts are spinning one thousand miles a minute, so it takes a second to process what I’m hearing as we get closer.
The little girl isn’t crying or screaming. She’s…
Singing.
“Fishes in the water, fishes in the sea, we all jump up with a one, two, three!”
The two kids pop out of the sand and start running in a circle around Ilya. He spins around to keep an eye on them—with a wide, beaming smile on his face.
“What’s going on here?” Rayne asks. Her voice is gentle, but her gaze is shrewd. She’s assessing everything just as closely as I am.
“This is Ilya,” the little girl says, pointing to my brother.
“How do you know that?” I ask.
She looks at me like I’m stupid. “He told us.”
Ilya is smiling at Rayne now. He tips his head to the side. I can see him trying to put it together, but the second Rayne lifts her fingers and flutters them down, Ilya’s face lights up.
“Rayne!” he crows. He looks from her to the water and then taps his eyes.
Rayne taps a finger to the edge of her eye, too. Almost like a secret code between the two of them.
The girl with the ocean in her eyes.
I dismiss my entire household staff one day per week so I can take Ilya to the beach uninterrupted, and he is handling this unexpected visit like it’s nothing but normal. As if he sees other people and dances with little children every day.
I’m not sure what to think. But I can’t help but worry how long it will last.
Rayne seems to feel the same way because she calls the kids over to her. “Why don’t the two of you go get your toys and play in the water? We’ll have to leave soon.”
They wave to Ilya and then run back towards where Rayne dropped their stuff on the sand.
“Do you want to get in the water, Ilya?” I ask. “You can.”
He squints out at the horizon and then points down the beach.
“You can use your words,” I remind him.
He swallows. “Walk. I… I want to walk.”
I nod. “Okay. I’ll catch up. Don’t get in the water without telling me.”
Ilya smiles and then heads down the beach, letting his feet sink into the soft sand with each step.
