Page 80 of Fractured Empire

“Leon?” I croak, feeling like I’ve been floating only to be set down onto a cloud. I was asleep, that much becomes obvious quickly, noticing how difficult it is to crack my eyes open and see properly. My vision is hazy as I peer through heavy lids, looking up at the man hovering above me. “Where⁠—”

“Shhh,” he breathes out quietly. “Go back to sleep, Katya.”

I shake my head stubbornly, and sit up on my elbows to look around. My bedroom is easily recognizable even with only the small light from the hallway peeking through the door to light the space surrounding us. I realize with a disappointed pout that I know exactly what happened to bring me to this moment.

The kids and I must have fallen asleep while waiting for Leon to come home. He asked us to stay up for him and we passed out without even getting ready for bed. My husband seems to have found us and thought it right to put us into our respective beds. At least, I assume he had to put Leo and Bastian to bed before me. The two little ones were tangled all over me before my eyes finally betrayed me and lulled me into a deep sleep alongside them.

I was hoping I could at least stay up even though they dozed off, and told Leon all about our long and eventful day that tired them out so much. I failed in my attempt, of course. But Leon doesn’t seem upset about it, at least, he isn’t frowning as he stares down at me.

“You carried me to bed?” I swallow, realizing that I was too exhausted to even wake up while being lifted from the couch and carried all the way upstairs. “I didn’t even feel you.”

“I can be very gentle,” Leon says with a small quirk of his lips. “You were out like a light. I’m not surprised you didn’t notice me. You can go back to sleep, though. It’s late, and you’ve clearly had a tiring day.”

“I wanted to stay up to tell you all about it,” I argue, shaking my head again. “The kids had so much fun, and I took videos for you to watch later. I didn’t want to send them and distract you, though. You seemed busy when you called. Busy and flustered, honestly.”

Leon groans, meaning to sound annoyed about his day but the grumble deep in his chest makes me feel a shiver shoot down my spine. He’s so manly sometimes it makes me swoon before I can even think to disguise my reaction. Thankfully, I think my bedroom is too poorly lit for him to witness my obvious reaction to him.

“That bad?” I ask, biting my lip in worry. “Is everything okay?”

“It will be,” he replies immediately. “I don’t want to talk about my day, though. You should get some sleep.”

“You don’t want to talk about your day, but would you mind hearing about mine?” I ask, reaching for his arm to stop him before he can pull away. “I’ve been waiting to tell you all about it for hours. I don’t want to fall asleep and forget any important details.”

He stills, and for a moment, I think he might turn me down. But instead of politely declining and scurrying out of my room, he smiles. Sitting down on the edge of my bed, Leon nods for me to go on.

“Well, it started with the boys teaching me how to play a game they claim to have invented which is apparently a cross between laser-tag and hide and go seek. It was thrilling, I must say. Our boys are terrible at hiding and therefore were no match for me.”

Leon raises his eyebrows up slowly, and I realize what I’ve just called his kids.

“I mean⁠—”

“Our boys,” he agrees, not allowing me to correct myself. “And I’ve played the game with them myself. Leo is a terrible hider because he thinks it’s the most fun when he gets caught and he has to fight his way out of it. Bastian is bad at it because he doesn’t want to make anyone fear that he’s disappeared. Leo burst into tears once when we couldn’t find him after five minutes. He makes it easier to be found now.”

“I didn’t know that,” I say, easily able to imagine the scenario. “They’re so precious when they play together, you know? I thought Leo might get upset when he gets tagged out with the lasers but it makes him laugh instead.”

“He acts like it tickles,” Leon jokes, shaking his head. “No, they’re both very good losers as long as they’re not in a bad mood. They’re too happy for each other when the other wins to be moody about not winning themselves.”

“I noticed,” I agree with a wistful smile. “They said that we need to get crowns to make each other the king or queen of laser tag after every match. I for one would adore being crowned the laser queen and wouldn’t take my winning prize off all day. You may come home to me cooking dinner in a tiara someday.”

“I would like that.”

My breath catches, hearing the deep sincerity in his voice.

For a moment, neither of us speaks. Then, Leon clears his throat and pulls us out of the strange pause.

“What else did you get up to?”

“Oh, plenty,” I gush, remembering that the first activity had only been the beginning of our long and adventurous day. “After we had lunch, the boys only napped for an hour and it was back to back activities after that. We swam in the pool, whilst having a bit of a water gun fight. Then after we dried off, we built forts in their play room. They’re still up since I promised them that you’d want to see their creations. And we ran around the backyard kicking a soccer ball before dinner too.”

“I definitely want to see their fort,” he confirms seriously. We share a grin, knowing that the kids will adore his excitement to witness our creation. “Did you help construct it? Or did they make you stand aside so they could get full credit?”

“I helped with the tall bits.” I chuckle, shaking my head. He knows them all too well. “They told me they were building it for me, and it couldn’t be a gift if I did too much work on it.”

“Very polite of them.”

“Very,” I hum. “I only worried a bit about them tripping and falling every three seconds, but who’s counting?”

Leon snorts, dipping his head in understanding. “And after dinner?”