Page 31 of Razor’s Redemption

Luna.

She's holding a wooden spoon, stirring something in a bowl that's definitely too big for her, and she's talking a mile a minute about dinosaurs.

"—and the Tyrannosaurus Rex had teeth that were eleven inches long, which is like this—" She holds her hands apart to demonstrate. "—and they could bite with more force than any other land animal ever, which is why they were very strong predators."

"That's very impressive, baby," Daisy says, smiling. Then she looks up and sees me. Her whole face lights up. "Razor. Hi."

Luna stops stirring and turns around. Her eyes go wide as she sees me, taking in the tattoos, the cut, the scar. I brace myself for fear or rejection.

Instead, she says, "Wow. You're really tall."

I can't help it. I smile. "Yeah. I am."

"Are those tattoos real?"

"Yeah."

"Can I see?"

I glance at Daisy, who nods. I walk closer and hold out my arm. Luna abandons the spoon and comes over to inspect my tattoos with the serious concentration of a scientist examining evidence.

"This one's a dragon," she says, pointing. "And this one's a skull. And this one… What's this one?"

"It's a phoenix. A bird that rises from fire."

"Are they real?"

"They might be."

"Cool." She looks up at me with those big brown eyes. "Are you Mommy's boyfriend?"

"I—" I look at Daisy.

"Yes," Daisy says. "He is."

"Okay." Luna turns back to her cookies like this is settled business. "Do you like dinosaurs?"

"I don't know much about them."

She gasps like I just admitted I've never heard of oxygen. "You don't know about dinosaurs? Mommy, he doesn't know about dinosaurs!"

"I heard, baby."

"That's okay," Luna says seriously, turning back to me. "I can teach you. I know everything about dinosaurs. Well, not everything. But a lot. Do you want to help us make cookies?"

I look at Daisy, who's watching this entire exchange with tears in her eyes and the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"Yeah," I say. "I'd like that."

Luna grabs my hand, her tiny fingers wrapping around two of mine, and pulls me toward the counter. "You can help me stir. But you have to be careful because if you stir too fast, the flour goes everywhere. I learned that the hard way."

I let her pull me to the counter. Let her instruct me on proper cookie-stirring technique while Daisy watches with that smile that makes my chest ache. Patricia appears in the doorway, sees what's happening, and quietly disappears.

"You're doing it wrong," Luna informs me. "You have to go in circles. Like this." She demonstrates with exaggerated circular motions.

"Got it. Circles."

"Good. Now you try."