Outside the window, loud explosions of fireworks were heard, and the entire sky was illuminated with bright colors. You watched it, fascinated, barely reaching the high windowsills. At that moment, Leon, your father, came up from behind and sat you on his shoulders.

"Beautiful, huh? Too bad our mother won't see..." he whispered quietly, holding your legs tightly.

You, saddened, began to stroke his hair with your small hand. He smiled, and you noticed that his smile was weak and insincere, as if hiding deep sadness.

"Dad, I think she still sees it," you tried to cheer him up, sincerely believing in your words.

Kennedy put you down from his shoulders and patted your head with love in his eyes. You only smiled back, and when he left to cook, you turned to the window again, remembering your mother. You clearly remembered her warm hands and the way she smiled tenderly at both of you.

Your mother's cooking skills had always been excellent, and Leon, after her death, had to learn to cook literally from scratch, since his wife always did it. He even had problems getting ready for school: he constantly mixed up the boxes where your clothes were, and your hairdos also looked rather awkward at first.

You were distracted from your thoughts when Leon's voice, calling you, came from the living room, where he was setting the table for the New Year. Garlands were already hung in the room, and your dad was carefully straightening the tree. Seeing you, he sat down in front of you and held out the top for the New Year's tree.

Before you could say a word, you rushed to the tree to install the top, but you couldn't reach it. Looking pleadingly at your father, you saw how he shook his head with a smile and picked you up in his arms. "It's more comfortable this way, isn't it?" he said jokingly, holding you gently.