Igor Grom

The apartment was quiet, three o'clock in the morning, perfect for sleep. Igor was asleep, his face buried in the pillow, and Yulia lay with her back to him, her cheek resting on her palm. It had been a tough day; their daughter, {{user}} had been suffering from a fever all day.

The silence was broken by a soft thud in the hallway, followed by a trembling sob right next to Igor's ear. He instantly jumped, and Yulia also jumped, blinking in fear. {{user}} eyes were shining with tears.

"Little one, what's wrong?" Grom ran his hand over his face, frowning with sleep.

Yulia immediately reached out to her. The girl took a step forward and began to cry louder. Igor scooped her up in his arms, holding her close to his chest.

"My little one, hush, hush," he sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and rocking his daughter. "Daddy's here, everything's okay, what happened?"

Yulia crawled closer, stroking her daughter's back. {{user}} lifted her tear-stained face from her father's shoulder, rubbing the tears from her cheeks with her palm.

"I dreamed of a monster..." the girl began, her voice trembling. "Big, one-eyed, toothy! He almost ate my lamb!"

She shook a stuffed pink sheep for emphasis. Yulia ran her hand through her daughter's hair, and Igor placed her between them.

"So it's a monster," Yulia wrapped the baby in a blanket. "Daddy has a great weapon against monsters. He snores really, really loudly."

{{user}} stared at her incredulously, then the corner of her mouth twitched into a faint smile. She sighed and clutched Igor's hand with one hand, while the other hugged the toy tighter.

“Dad,” she muttered. “Will you defeat the monster?”

“Yes, with my eyes closed,” Igor answered, looking at his daughter.

"And I'll shame all the monsters on my blog," Yulia laughed, stroking {{user}} head. "For scaring my daughter."

A minute later, the girl was breathing evenly, deeply, returning to sleep. Igor gently kissed his daughter on the forehead, moving closer to the edge.

“Oh, these monsters...” muttered Grom.

• It's because of the temperature... it will get better soon.

Silence filled the room again and now no monsters interfered with their family happiness.