(2) Year 1

The elderly woman died in her sleep soon after Gilbert took up residence in her apartment with baby Kevin. The dark-haired man arranged for her burial, and since she had no living kin to lay claim to her estate, he went through her things to sell whatever he didn't need. During that process, he found enough cash stashed in various places around the house that he could feel confident he wouldn't need to worry about working to earn money for a while. So he was left to focus his energy on Kevin, who was now essentially his foster child.

Kevin was just over one year old now, and loved sweets, as any child does. He was not a talkative baby – his answer to most questions was "da?" with a rising intonation that made everything he said seem like a question. He preferred to expend his energy propelling himself around the house in any way he could. He'd just started walking, and Gilbert could hardly sit down to read the newspaper without losing track of the little rascal. He'd think Kevin had climbed into a cupboard to play, and then the next thing knew, the boy was somehow under the table.

As Kevin grew into a toddler, he loved to wrestle with Gilbert and tug on the belt of his coat. This kid seems happiest when he's harassing me, thought Gilbert ruefully, as he tried to take a toy Kevin offered him only to have it snatched back by the young boy.

Gilbert had mixed feelings about being a foster parent. On the one hand, he loved being needed by someone, and Kevin definitely needed him – needed someone – to make sure he didn't crawl out the window and plunge to his death, accidentally stab himself with paring knife, or choke on his food when he tried to cram too much in his mouth at once. On the other hand, the sense of responsibility he felt was at times almost too much. Gilbert was prone to headaches and desperately needed a regular good night's sleep, and that just wasn't possible with a small child in the house.

Most mornings, Gilbert would wake up when Kevin crawled into bed beside him (having long ago learned to escape his bassinet). If he was lucky, the boy would simply snuggle up beside him and fall back asleep, but most days, he would jump on his foster father's chest and poke his forehead with his little fingers, irritating the heck out of the dark-haired man until he resigned to starting his day a few hours earlier than he would have liked.

When they'd been together nearly a year, the snowy season came around again and then it was time to celebrate Christmas. Gilbert fondly remembered the holidays he'd spent with family…the Vessalius family more so than the Nightrays. Everyone needs a family to be a part of, and for Kevin…I guess I'm it now. Gilbert took some money from under the mattress and secretly bought two gifts for little Kevin and wrapped them in decorative paper.

On Christmas morning, Kevin woke Gilbert as usual.

"There are presents for you, Kevin," he muttered sleepily.

"Da?" The boy had a curious expression on his face.

After breakfast, they sat in the living room in front of the fire. Gilbert smiled as he watched Kevin opened the first present…a small puppet. At first Kevin seemed confused, but then Gilbert took the puppet in hand and made it speak. The young boy was so enchanted by the puppet, he was too distracted to even open his second present. Gilbert eventually resorted to picking up the second gift with the hands of the puppet and presenting it to Kevin. Those red eyes grew wide at the sight and taste of the pink and white striped sucker with a ribbon around its stick. With no molars yet with which to chew, little Kevin sat on the floor licking the lollipop for a long, long time, until his chin was sticky with pink drool.

to be continued