Chapter 482: Today-Today

Kyle spotted the plane before anyone said a word, tugging free of Ellie’s hand and pressing both palms to the terminal glass. "That’s Uncle Gilbert’s. I know the tail number."

"You memorized a tail number." Ellie ran a hand over his hair, not quite hiding her own smile. "Of course you did."

"Daddy promised the amusement park. Today. He said today, not later-today, not tomorrow-today. Today-today."

"Then it’s today-today," Ellie said, and Kyle pressed his face back to the glass like watching harder would make the plane land faster.

A week to the day since Julian left, and only two came through the gate. Kyle scanned past Julian and Gilbert twice, checking the corridor behind them before he asked.

"Where’s Uncle Nate and his sister?"

"Staying in Rohan a while longer." Julian crouched to Kyle’s height. "Mikaella needs about a month before her body’s ready to fly home. Uncle Nate’s staying with her so she’s not alone."

"A whole month?"

"A whole month. Doctor’s orders, not his." Julian tugged the strap of Kyle’s backpack straight. "He’ll call. He already said he would."

Kyle stopped talking for a second, working through the number the way he worked through anything that mattered to him, counting something invisible on his fingers before he spoke again. "That’s longer than summer break."

"Not quite. But close." Julian kept his voice even. "You can call him whenever you want. He said so himself before we left."

"Every day?"

"If that’s what you want, every day." Julian glanced at Ellie, who nodded once, already pulling out her phone to add the reminder. "He’ll answer. He’s not going anywhere."

Kyle scrunched up his face for a few seconds, running the number through some private calculation of his own, then apparently decided a month was an acceptable price for whatever came next. "Okay. Can we still go to the amusement park?"

"Today. I promised, and I’m not backing out of it." Julian glanced up at Ellie. "Unless you had plans."

"I had a nap planned. I’ll survive without it."

Gilbert came through last, phone already out, thumbing through something that had been waiting on him since the plane’s wheels touched down. "Yunxia’s settled," he said, mostly to Julian, though it carried far enough for the rest of them to hear. "No complications on my end. Whatever mess this trip turned into for everyone else, at least that part went exactly the way it was supposed to."

"Must be nice," Julian said, not unkindly.

"It is, actually." Gilbert pocketed the phone. "I’d like to keep at least one part of this month boring."

"Kyle." Julian straightened, offering his hand. "Amusement park. I believe I owe you three rides in a very specific order."

Kyle’s whole face rearranged itself into pure delight, and he grabbed Julian’s hand with both of his own, already pulling toward the exit before Julian had finished saying goodbye to the others. Ellie followed, mouthing a thank-you to Gilbert on her way past that he waved off without looking up from his phone.

Gilbert’s phone buzzed again on the walk to the parking structure, and he answered it without breaking stride. "You didn’t need to call, I told you I’d manage the handoff here," he said, and Julian slowed enough to catch the other half of the conversation from the tone alone. "How is she."

Whatever Nate said on the other end made Gilbert’s shoulders ease a fraction. "Good. That’s good." A pause. "No, go be with her. We’ve got everything covered on this side. Just call when there’s news, whenever that ends up being."

He pocketed the phone once the call ended, and Julian raised an eyebrow at him.

"He sounds steadier than he did a week ago," Gilbert said. "Still tired. Still hovering over her more than she probably wants. But steadier."

"A month’s a long time to hover in someone else’s country."

"A month’s a long time to almost lose someone and then get her back." Gilbert opened the car door. "He can hover as long as he needs to. We’ll manage without him."

"Does he need anything from this side? Paperwork, the office, any of it?"

"I already told him to leave all of it alone. Nothing here is more important than her finishing her recovery properly." Gilbert slid into the driver’s seat. "If Osei clears her early, they’ll come home early. If she needs six weeks instead of four, they’ll take six. I’m not going to be the reason he cuts a single day off that."

"Didn’t think you would be."

"I’ve watched him hold everyone else’s crisis together for years without asking anyone to hold his." Gilbert started the engine. "He can have this one. The rest of us will manage."

Across town, Kyle had already ridden the first two attractions on his list twice each, and Julian’s arms ached from the last one, which had involved being spun in three directions at once while Kyle shrieked with delight the entire way down.

"One more time," Kyle said, tugging Julian’s sleeve toward the same ride.

"You said three rides. We’re on ride two, round three."

"I changed the plan." Kyle was already walking backward toward the line, both hands waving Julian forward. "New plan. This one, forever."

Julian crouched to his level, catching his breath before answering. "Forever’s a long time to spend on one ride."

"Then a lot of times. Not forever-forever. Just a lot."

"A lot, then." Julian stood and let himself be pulled back toward the line, and if his legs were regretting the decision already, he didn’t let it show on his face, not with Kyle grinning up at him like the whole day had been built around this one ride and nothing else mattered beyond it.

His phone buzzed once while they waited in line, a photo from Nate, Mikaella sitting up in a hospital bed with a tray of unappetizing food in front of her, both of them making faces at the camera like nothing about the surgery had touched them at all. Julian sent back a picture of Kyle mid-scream on the last ride, and pocketed the phone before Kyle noticed he’d looked away.

"Your turn," Kyle said, and Julian let himself be pulled forward, a month suddenly feeling like a much shorter stretch of time than it had at the airport.