Anatoly had done his best to be charming and sociable at the party, but eventually he could take no more of it and he excused himself for a bit, pleading the need to check on his children. Lex had disappeared sometime during this, he had noted, but he knew he couldn't ask without raising suspicion. First, the children then perhaps Lex would come back by the time he returned to the party.

Dmitri was sound asleep when he looked in on him, so he only stayed long enough to press a kiss to his forehead and tuck the covers in more closely around him.

When he peered into Ilona's room, he gaped in surprise. There Lex was, reading to his daughter, and it was possibly one of the most touching things he had ever seen. He quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

He didn't want to interrupt so he waited until Lex had finished the story he was reading before coming over to sit on the other side of the bed, pressing a soft kiss to his daughter's forehead. "Now how many stories have you gotten from Sascha, hmm?"