IVA
Lev re-entered the room, his hair still damp from the shower, and a smile lit up my face as our eyes met before he settled down beside me on the couch. Akari was wedged between us, warm and sleepy but stubbornly awake as he leaned into Lev’s side. He knew it was time to open the presents, and he wasn’t about to miss that.
My father walked in just then, carrying a tray, his expression bright, as if he knew he was stitching joy back into the room. He handed out drinks one by one: peppermint hot chocolate for Lala and Mom; a slow-cooker hot chocolate for me, thick and rich, topped with an indecent amount of whipped cream; whiskey for himself and Lev; and finally, a classic hot chocolate for Akari, whose face immediately lit up, sleep dissolving in an instant.
By the time he took his
