We don’t stay long on the roof – we don’t need to. After all, tomorrow night we’ll be together again, all sleeping in the same room at the Academy. There may be other nights, in the future, where we greet the dawn after our midnight toast – needing to talk for hours, to catch up, to laugh, to cry.
But tonight isn’t one of them. And I’m smiling, warm and pleased, when I press the door to Jackson’s room open and slip inside.
I burst into a smile when I see that he’s dozing against his pillows, Tiger seated neatly at his side, his wrapped present from me still sitting on the bed in front of him. Because even if he fell asleep doing it, I can tell he’s waiting for me.
Softly, I climb up onto the bed, and he’s awake before I can even move Tiger gently to a place of honor on top of the head
