Spite had tolerated a great many things in this house.
He had tolerated the Househusband who moved through the apartment with eerie quiet efficiency, who rose before dawn every morning and brewed bitter-smelling coffee like it was a ritual sacrifice to some unseen god of productivity. He had tolerated the Workaholic who left books everywhere and smelled like paper, ink, and whatever floral soap she insisted on buying in alarming quantities. He had even tolerated the endless domestic routines that came with living inside a small home: the washing machine roaring like a wounded beast, the vacuum cleaner that screamed across the floors like a demon from the Fade, the strange ritual of yoga in the living room where the Househusband folded himself into impossible shapes while the Workaholic laughed and pretended she could do the same.
All of that had been survivable.
The baby, however, was another matter entirely.
The baby had hands.
Small, relentless, sticky hands that appeared without warning and grabbed.
Grabbed the tail. Grabbed the whiskers. Grabbed the ears with the confidence of a creature that had never once been clawed for its crimes. The baby did not understand boundaries. The baby did not respect personal sovereignty. The baby believed that Spite existed exclusively for the purpose of being petted, squeezed, and occasionally drooled on.