The room was quiet now. Leonard crouched beside Nathan's bed first, brushing a few strands of hair from his son's forehead. Nathan slept soundly, arms curled around the stuffed lion he refused to part with, lips parted slightly in his dream-filled sleep.
Leonard leaned in and pressed a kiss gently to the boy's temple. "Goodnight, little man," he whispered, his voice barely a breath.
He rose slowly, as though the floor might shatter beneath him if he moved too fast, and moved across the room toward the other bed. Maya lay curled under a pink blanket dotted with cartoon rabbits. One hand clutched a corner of the blanket near her cheek, her other thumb barely slipping from her mouth as she turned slightly in her sleep.
Leonard lowered himself again, this time with a softer kind of ache in his chest. "Goodnight, little princess," he said, kissing her forehead.
