Leonard looked at the two children curled together under the blanket, their innocent faces soft with sleep, well, half-sleep, at least. Nathan, despite the fever that still clung to him, had been restless. His eyelids flickered open, his gaze searching the room for sothing, maybe comfort, maybe answers.
Then Nathan’s voice broke the stillness, cutting through the air like a whisper of truth that Leonard wasn’t prepared for.
"So... are you... our dad?" Nathan asked, his voice small but steady, a child’s pure curiosity that sohow felt much too heavy for the mont.
Leonard froze, his heart skipped a beat. The question seed to hang in the air, suffocating him for a mont. His eyes stayed fixed on Nathan, who was looking up at him with wide, feverish eyes, eyes that still held an innocent trust, a trust that Leonard wasn’t sure he could bear. His hand instinctively moved, brushing Maya’s hair back from her forehead. The act was protective, gentle, but it felt strangely hollow in that mont, like a lie or maybe the closest thing to love he could give.
Leonard swallowed hard, unsure of how to even begin to answer. His chest tightened. The words, the answers, they all felt like they were stuck in his throat, like he couldn’t get them out.
Nathan’s hand twitched beside him, his small fingers gripping the blanket tighter. "You said... you said ’Daddy loves you,’" Nathan continued, his voice laced with confusion, "so... does that an you’re our dad?"
Leonard’s thoughts spiraled, and he realized the truth of it, he had said it. In his mont of weakness, in his attempt to comfort Nathan, those words had slipped from his mouth. He hadn’t ant to say them. He hadn’t expected Nathan to be awake, to hear them. But there it was.
His chest tightened even more, the weight of those words hanging in the air like a confession that hadn’t been fully understood, by anyone, especially himself. He rembered sitting at Nathan’s side, his voice soft and steady, telling Nathan to get better, to be strong. He’d said it because it felt right in the mont, but now, facing Nathan’s innocent questioning, Leonard felt an overwhelming surge of guilt.
Maya, who had been half asleep beside her brother, opened her eyes at the sound of her brother’s question. Her gaze flickered up to Leonard, confusion spreading across her small face as she sat up slightly. "Uncle Leonard," she said, her voice soft, "Are you... our dad?"
The question was so innocent, so pure, and yet it made Leonard’s heart ache. He wanted to tell them the truth, but the words, the right words, eluded him. The air around them seed to grow thicker with every passing second.
Leonard leaned forward, his voice steady but carrying the weight of sothing unspoken. "I... I know that sotis I say things that may confuse you," he began slowly, his hand moving away from Maya’s hair to rest on the edge of the bed. "I know I’ve said things like that and I’m sorry if that makes things unclear for you."
Nathan’s fevered eyes searched his face, but Leonard didn’t look away. He couldn’t, he needed them to understand. "What I ant by that... what I an by that... is that I care for you. More than you’ll ever know." His voice dropped a little, the words heavy with sothing deeper, sothing real. "And I love both of you. I love you and your mom."
He paused, glancing down at the blanket, unsure if the weight of what he was saying would be enough. "But that doesn’t an I’m your father. Sotis people care about you in ways that aren’t always what we expect or want."
Maya blinked, her young mind trying to process the contradiction in Leonard’s words. She tilted her head, clearly trying to understand. "So you’re not our dad?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Leonard felt his heart clench. "I love you both so much. More than you ever know."
Nathan stared at him, the question still lingering in his fevered mind. He didn’t understand the nuances of Leonard’s words, but the small boy was grasping onto the idea that Leonard was soone important. Soone who cared.
"Why did you say it?" Nathan asked, his voice filled with confusion.
Leonard’s expression softened. "Sotis we say things we don’t an," he murmured. "And sotis, when you love soone, you say things that feel right in the mont, even if they’re not the exact right words. I care about you both, a lot. And... I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always protect you."
A heavy silence followed Leonard’s words. He didn’t know if he had made things clearer or more confusing, but there was nothing more he could say. He wasn’t sure if Nathan and Maya fully understood, but there was one thing Leonard knew, he loved them. And that was sothing he couldn’t deny, no matter what happened next.
Just as he thought the mont was over, the door creaked ever so slightly. Leonard’s head snapped toward it, his heart leaping in his chest. His body tensed, every muscle coiled tight as the sound reached his ears, a soft noise, but enough to send a jolt of panic through him.
Katherine.
He didn’t need to look to know it was her. He could feel her presence, the way the air seed to change when she was nearby. And then, slowly, he turned his head. His gaze t hers, and for a mont, everything else faded away. The world, the children, the conversation, it all disappeared as they locked eyes.
Katherine stood at the door, her figure half hidden in the dim light. Her hand rested lightly against the doorfra, her posture tense, like she had been standing there for far longer than she should have. Her expression was a mixture of concern, hurt, and sothing else. sothing he couldn’t quite decipher.
Neither of them spoke.
For a heartbeat, it felt as if the world had stopped moving, as if the weight of the mont held them both in place, suspended in ti. Katherine’s eyes searched his, her gaze soft but tinged with sothing deeper. And Leonard, his own eyes filled with guilt and sothing far more complicated, couldn’t bring himself to say a word.
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