Nathan sat on the rug, his expensive suit trousers probably getting ruined, but he didn't care. He was busy helping Mateo build a garage out of the toy boxes. Every time the boy laughed, Nathan felt a mix of joy and a deep, burning anger at the people who had stolen these years from him.
He looked at Mateo's small hands and saw his own fingers. He looked at the way the boy tilted his head, and he saw Fiona. It was so obvious now that he wondered how he had ever doubted it.
Viktoria sat on the sofa nearby, watching them with a soft expression. She looked more relaxed than he had ever seen her.
"You're really good at that," she said, referring toward the toy garage. "Mateo usually doesn't warm up to people this fast. He's usually very shy around strangers."
Nathan looked up and caught her eye. "Maybe it's because I don't feel like a stranger to him," he said. He caught himself before he said too much. "I mean, some kids just have a good instinct for people."
"True," she agreed.
