A DAY WITH UNCLE DAVEY

As soon as Hazel left, Lily jumped off the chair like a spring.

“Uncle Davey! Let’s play—let’s play—let’s playyy!”

David blinked.

He was good with Lily, but he wasn’t used to entertaining a storm of energy.

Still, he nodded.

“…What do you want to play?”

Lily gasped as if he asked the most exciting question in the world.

“TEA PARTY!”

David stared.

Lily dragged a tiny pink bag from her mother’s earlier visit—Kiara always carried Lily’s “emergency toys”—and spilled its contents all over the floor.

Plastic teacups.

A princess tiara.

Three plushies.

David watched helplessly as the little girl placed the princess crown on his head.

“There! You’re Princess Davey!”

“…Lily,” David said slowly, “I am not—”

“SHHHH, princesses don’t complain.”

David actually coughed to hide a laugh.

Lily arranged the plushies in a circle and dragged her tiny chair next to his wheelchair.

“You must drink tea nicely,” she scolded. “No making faces.”

David pretended to sip a plastic cup. “It’s delicious.”

Lily gasped dramatically. “YOU LIKE IT?! REALLY?!”

“It’s… the best imaginary tea I’ve ever had.”

Lily squealed and hugged him, planting a loud kiss on his cheek.

David froze again—but softer this time.

For the first time in a long, long while…

He felt warm.

Soon, the tea party turned into coloring time.

Lily pulled out crayons and sat on the floor.

“Uncle Davey, I will draw you!”

She began scribbling wildly—brown hair, blue eyes, little wheels.

She drew a bright superhero cape.

Then she stood and handed the picture proudly.

“This is you,” she said. “You’re brave.”

David’s throat tightened.

He carefully placed the drawing on the table.

“Thank you, Lily.”

She grinned. “Uncle Davey likes it?”

“I love it.”

Lily hugged him again.

After playing, Lily curled up on the couch beside David, tiny head on his armrest, babbling random stories about school and cookies and cartoons.

Halfway through, she fell asleep mid-sentence.

David looked down at her tiny form, soft breathing and chubby cheeks, and felt something he hadn’t felt in years—

Peace.

A genuine, gentle smile tugged at his lips.

Around late afternoon, Hazel returned quietly, expecting Lily to be running through the mansion like a tiny hurricane.

Instead—

she stopped frozen.

In the living room, sunlight poured over a scene so warm it looked like a painting:

David sitting relaxed in his wheelchair, Lily curled up asleep against him…

and David smiling.

A real smile. Soft. Peaceful. Alive.

Hazel covered her mouth, heart thumping.

He looks beautiful…

She slowly pulled out her phone.

Without disturbing them, she took a picture.

Then another.

And another.

David’s rare, gentle smile was precious—something Hazel’s memories had never contained.

Then Lily shifted, and David looked up—

catching Hazel standing there with her phone raised.

His eyes widened.

Hazel froze.

David froze.

For a moment, silence hung between them, fragile and intimate.

Hazel lowered her phone slowly, almost embarrassed.

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you. You just… looked really happy.”

David’s lips parted, words failing him for a second.

He didn’t know whether to be startled

or touched.

Or suspicious.

But he said nothing.

Hazel walked closer, her voice warm.

“Thank you for taking care of her. She… looks comfortable with you.”

David looked at Lily, then back at her.

“It was… not trouble.”

A pause.

“She’s a sweet child.”

Hazel smiled softly.

“You are too.”

David’s breath caught very subtly.

Just for a second.

Before he controlled his expression again.

Hazel looked down at Lily, brushing a curl from her forehead.

For a moment, they looked like a small family.

And David Wilson wasn’t sure if it terrified him…

or made him hope again.

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