"Are you really my daddy?"

Anna wriggled loose from her mother's grip and gazed up at Kon. "You look just like the Nutcracker Prince in my storybook!"

Meg was shaken by the stars in her daughter's eyes, shaken by this new threat to her own fragile emotions and hard-won independence. But she knew it was too late...

"My mommy told me my daddy lives in Russia and can't ever come to visit," Anna confided to Kon in a loud whisper.

"Well, your mommy is wrong, Anochka. I'm your daddy and I've always loved you, even though we've never met and I lived far away. But now I'm finally here, in America." Kon glanced at Meg. She couldn't, wouldn't, meet his eyes. "I'm looking forward to our first Christmas together, Anochka. As a family."