“Lift me up!” she instructed in a panic as she pushed her shorts and underwear down.

“Let me get your mom.” I started to back away, scared I might hurt her or do something wrong.

“No time. Please? Max helps me all the time. Garret too.” She turned so her back was to the toilet and lifted her hands. “Please, Ryan! It’s coming.”

Lifting her, I sat her on the seat and held her hands, but I kept my eyes closed so I didn’t see anything. It felt wrong to see that part of her. As the sound of her pee hitting the toilet water reached my ears, Nova let out a relieved little sigh. When the dripping sound stopped, she pulled one of her hands free.

“Ugh, I can’t reach the tissue.”

I peeked one eye open and tore her off a little of the toilet paper, but as soon as she took it from me, I snapped my eyes closed again. Moments later, she was hopping down and flushed. I gave her a little longer to pull her clothes into place before opening my eyes.

Nova walked over to the sink then huffed. Smiling to myself, I turned on the water for her and then lifted her around the waist from behind so she could wash her hands. As soon as her hands were clean and she was on her feet again, she threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Ryan.”

My stomach started growling, and hers rumbled back, as if they were communicating. It made her giggle, and I grinned as I took her hand. “Let’s go ask my mom for something to eat.”

With her tiny legs, going down the stairs wasn’t nearly as easy as it had been climbing up them earlier. I held Nova’s hand, and we slowly took them one at a time. I’d never really thought about how many steps there were until right then, but it felt like there were a thousand of them.

“My legs are getting tired,” Nova muttered as we got closer to the bottom. “Your house is so big.”

With only a few steps to go, I moved down to the last one while still holding her hand. “Get on my back,” I told her, turning so she could climb on. “I’ll carry you.”

Her giggle was so sweet and precious, my chest started aching again. Her hands clutched my shoulders as she jumped and wrapped her legs around my middle. I grabbed her hands, pulling them around my neck securely before releasing them so I could reach behind me and hold her bottom in case she slipped.

She didn’t weigh much, so I didn’t have trouble carrying her through the house in search of Mom. Adult laughter came from the dining room, so I turned in that direction. At the door, I glanced in, hoping to find Mom in there with the others.

She snapped her head in my direction as soon as I paused in the doorway, her blue eyes drifting over me and the little angel on my back. “I was just about to come wake you up,” Mom said as she stood and walked over to us, causing the others to stop talking and look our way. “I checked on you a while ago, and you were both sound asleep.” She stroked her hand over my cheek, and she lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear her. “You haven’t been sleeping well, have you, l’venok?”