Summary:

Ilya recalls his mother in fragments: her voice, gentle in his ear; her curls, warming his cheeks as she wrapped him in an embrace; the way her eyes crinkled, as she brushed his hair back and said, “You are getting so tall now, Ilyusha. What am I going to do about my very tall bear?” Ilya Rozanov has never belonged to anyone but himself. An Ilya character study, tracing canon events.