8. 2
“Wow, Dad,” Yelena says, smiling at her parents. “Way to hold out.”
Her mom laughs. “He held out way too long. I’d been waiting for him to notice me since I was a little girl. He was so much older than me, so I know he didn’t see me like that, but my patience started to wear very thin when I turned sixteen. Those were a long two years,” she admits with another laugh.
“You’re telling me,” Uncle Matvey says, giving his wife a wink. “You became very bold when you turned seventeen.” He looks over at us and laughs. “I think she was trying to drive me crazy, and she very nearly succeeded.” His eyes meet mine when he adds, “Your dad mentioned that very tiny black dress he got her for her eighteenth birthday, and after she opened it, she decided she wanted to go and get a drink at the club. I didn’t stand a chance in hell.”
Aunt Alina smiles. “Perks of being in Russia. The drinking age is eighteen.”
My aunt and uncle share a look that feels so private it has me looking away because I feel like I’m intruding on something that’s just for them.
“Is your family still coming over for supper?” Yelena asks.
“Yeah, they’ll be here soon. Svetlana had her appointment today, and they’re refusing to say anything until they get here.” I smile at the thought of my future niece or nephew, and then my mind immediately goes to the small life growing inside Yelena. I rest my hand on her stomach and step closer so our bodies are touching. She lifts her head to look at me.
“Do you still not have a preference?”
I smile down at her and shake my head. “Nope, just an easy labor and the two of you healthy. That’s all I care about. I’ll be thrilled with a son or daughter.”
“Me too,” she says, and then she rests her head against my chest. “And I’ll definitely say yes to the easy labor.”
I tighten my grip on her, the very thought of her being in pain makes me feel sick, and I know it’s going to kill me to see it. “You’re going to be amazing,” I tell her, “and we’ll get you the good stuff so you don’t feel anything.”
“Sounds good to me.” She lifts her dark eyes to mine. “You’ll be there with me, right?”
“Baby,” I say while cupping her face and leaning down so we’re closer. “Of course I’ll be there. Nothing could keep me from being with you when our baby’s born.”
She nods, and I know she believes I’m telling the truth, but I hate that she’s worrying about this. I hate that she’s worrying about anything. I kiss her and then lift her back onto the barstool while scooting her laptop closer.
“Come on, myshka , let’s pick out wedding stuff.”
She raises a brow at me. “You want to help pick out flowers?”
I sit down next to her and nod. “I do, and whatever else you need help with.”
Taking me at my word, she angles the computer so she can close the tab with the wedding dresses and then turns it back around when she’s back on the flowers. We both want to get married as soon as possible, but the lockdown has put a damper on things. None of us know how long it will last, but I know Yelena is getting impatient, so when she stops scrolling and looks over at me, I’m not completely taken by surprise to hear her say, “Let’s get married here next weekend.”
“What?” I hear her dad say from across the kitchen.
Yelena smiles at her parents and then turns her beautiful face back to mine. With a soft shrug, she says, “I’m tired of waiting. We could do something small and private here. I’m sure everyone can get here safely, right?”
“They can,” I say, knowing we have enough bodyguards to make sure our cousins and aunts and uncles can get here without any issues.
Yelena looks over at her parents. “Do you guys mind if we have it here?”
“Of course not,” her mom quickly says while her dad nods in agreement.
“What are we having here?” Evgeny walks in and looks around before leaning against the counter near where Yelena and I are sitting.
“Our wedding,” Yelena tells him.
He smiles and smacks me on the back. “Awesome.” He looks towards the large windows that face the veranda, raising a brow at the snow that’s started falling. “We’re going to need to move the furniture unless you want to wear a down jacket over your wedding dress, sis.”
“We can clear out a room,” her mom quickly says. “Your aunts can help me get it ready.” She looks thrilled at the idea and quickly adds, “It’ll be perfect.”
Uncle Matvey smiles at his daughter. “As long as I get to walk you down the aisle, I’m fine with whatever you all decide.”
Yelena returns his smile. “Of course, Dad. You have to give me away. That’s nonnegotiable.”
He walks over and kisses Yelena’s head. “Sounds good, honey, but I’m not giving you away. I’m gaining a son-in-law, but I’m not giving away a daughter. I’ve never understood that expression.”
Before he steps back, he pulls me in for a quick hug that I easily return. Our family may kill together, but that’s never stopped us from showing affection with one another. If anything, it’s made us more affectionate because we’ve learned how fleeting life can be. My uncles learned the hard way with my Aunt Alina’s kidnapping, and they passed those lessons down to us. We grew up knowing how precious those we love are and that they’re worth protecting, no matter what it costs.
After he walks off, Evgeny parks his ass in the stool next to mine and leans in to get a look at the screen. “What are we picking out?”
Yelena laughs and pushes the laptop closer to him so he can see. “Flowers.”
“Nice.” He brushes a finger over the trackpad, scrolling through the options before landing on a bouquet that’s filled with roses in various shades of pink along with several other white and pink flowers that I don’t know the names of. It’s beautiful, though, and Yelena would look breathtaking while holding it. Evgeny leans back with a smile. “It’s perfect.”
Yelena scoots in and rests a hand on my thigh while she clicks on the image to see it better. “It really is,” she says and then she turns her head to smile at me. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” I tell her. “Your brother is right. It’s perfect.”
“Oh, let me see,” her mom says, leaning over the counter to get a peek. She lets out a soft gasp when she sees it. “That’ll look amazing with the dress you picked out.”
“You picked out your dress?” I ask. “I thought you were still looking.”
She blushes a little before she says, “Maybe. I’m not a hundred precent sure yet.”
“It’s going to look amazing on her,” Aunt Alina says while giving her daughter a wink. “And I already ordered it.’
“Mom,” Yelena says, giving a soft laugh. “I said I wanted to think about it.”
“I saw the way your face lit up when you saw it, honey. It’s definitely the one, but if you do hate it, we can always exchange it for something else.”
I reach out and run my finger along her cheek. Lowering my voice I ask, “Why are you blushing, Yel?”
She turns a deeper shade of pink when she admits, “It’s just a little fancier than anything I’ve ever worn before.”
I tug on my old hoodie that she’s wearing. “I think you look beautiful in my old sweatshirts, and I’ll think you look beautiful in whatever dress you pick out. You look amazing in everything, myshka .”
Before she can say anything, I hear the front door open right before my Uncle Matvey says, “Jesus Christ, Vitaly, you’ve got to stop using the emergency key we gave you to just barge in whenever you want.”
My dad laughs. “Our kids are getting married. I think that means I can barge in whenever I want.”
They share a laugh while I lean down and kiss Yelena again. “I can’t wait to see you in your dress,” I whisper before she shuts the computer and my family walks in.
“Hi, honey,” my mom says, rushing over to wrap Yelena and me in a hug. She kisses my cheek and then looks at Yelena. “How are you feeling? Val said you’re still getting sick in the mornings.”
Yelena groans. “Yeah, every single morning.”
“It’ll pass soon,” my mom tells her.
Overhearing our conversation, my dad walks over and says, “I remember those fun days.” He kisses Yelena’s head and gives me a quick hug before wrapping an arm around my mom. “Fun times. Right, ptichka ?”
My mom laughs and leans into him. “Oh, yeah, tons of fun.” She looks at me and then at Sveta when she walks into the kitchen. “I think those two were seriously trying to kill me.”
“Yeah, they were,” my dad agrees. “They couldn’t even agree on who was going to come out first so my poor wife had to have an emergency C-section.”
I look at my twin and point a finger at her. “I think we all know who was trying to cut in line.”
Sveta laughs, but it quickly turns into a groan when Vitya walks in. “They’re talking about how difficult a twin delivery is,” she tells him. As soon as he’s next to her, he cups her face and kisses her. I’m just about to ask why in the hell she’s worried about a twin birth when she turns to face us all and says, “Apparently, the Universe has one hell of a sense of humor, because we’re having twins. Two babies at once,” she clarifies by holding up two fingers. “Both of them boys.”
Vitya’s beaming when she looks back up at him, and we all start congratulating them as Samantha gives a happy squeal from Uncle Matvey’s arms. He smiles down at her and says, “You’re going to have two baby brothers, Sam.” She laughs and baby talks to him while I pull my twin in for a big hug.
“Congrats, sis. I can’t believe you’ve got two babies in there,” I say with a laugh.
She groans again and rests her hands on her baby bump. She’s only in her second trimester, but I swear that bump is bigger every time I see her.
“Tell me about it.” She jerks her chin at Vitya. “Someone decided he needed to show off and give me two instead of one.”
My Uncle Matvey laughs and looks at my dad. “What was it you used to say?”
“I don’t remember,” my dad quickly says, trying to hide the smile that’s playing at his lips. “It was probably something brilliant, though.”
“Well that goes without saying,” my Uncle Matvey says, and his tone has us all laughing. “I believe it was something about being so powerful you made two babies at once. I guess Vitya has the same gift.”
“Please tell me you didn’t seriously tell people that, Dad,” Sveta says.
Our dad laughs and in a rare show of affection for his son-in-law, he raises his hand to give Vitya a high five. “Fuck yeah, I did.”
They laugh while Sveta rolls her eyes and fights the big smile she wants to give. “Well, however it happened, it’s done. I’m going to be birthing two babies, and they better not fight about who gets to come first because I really don’t want an emergency C-section.” She looks at our mom and cringes. “Sorry about that, Mom.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say.
She just smiles and says, “You two were worth it.”
My dad wraps an arm around Yelena. “Twins run in the family, kiddo. I wonder how many you’re carrying.”
I swear Yelena grows a shade paler at my dad’s words, so I quickly say, “Don’t listen to him, Yel. There’s only one baby in there.”
My dad smiles and nudges my shoulder. “What? You don’t want to be in the Powerful Penis Club?”
“I’m going to forget you ever said that to me, Dad,” I tell him.
He just laughs and claps me on the back before digging into the spread of cheese and crackers that Aunt Alina sets out. While our parents talk, Sveta walks over and wraps an arm around Yelena.
“Come on, cuz. Let’s put our feet up and be pregnant together.”
Yelena laughs at my twin but nods her head and grabs my hand so we’re all walking back into the living room together. Sveta plops down onto the couch with an exaggerated sigh and hikes her legs onto the ottoman. Resting her hands on her stomach, she looks over at us and smiles.
“I love seeing you two together out in the open.”
I sit down next to her and pull Yelena into my lap. “It’s a relief to no longer have to hide how I feel,” I say.
Yelena rests against me and stretches her legs out so they’re on the ottoman with Sveta’s. “It is,” she agrees, and then she smiles and says, “I think we were starting to get pretty lazy about hiding it anyway. We were having way too many close calls. It’s a miracle we managed to hide it as long as we did.”
I think about all those close calls and smile. “At least we were only caught kissing. It could’ve been a hell of a lot worse.”
Yelena gives a soft laugh. “Yeah, we got very lucky, and I’m so glad we were spared that embarrassment. I don’t think I’d ever be able to face anyone again if they’d walked in on something that involved way more exposed skin.”
Sveta laughs while I kiss Yel’s cheek, and when Vitya walks over and sits down next to her, she grabs his hand and leans her head against his shoulder. My sister and her bodyguard were secretly in love with one another for two years before either one of them finally admitted their feelings, but once they did, there was no going back. Vitya kisses the top of her head and wraps his arm around her before looking over at us.
“How’s the wedding planning going?”
“Good,” I tell him. “We’re having it here as soon as we can.”
He nods and rests a hand on my sister’s stomach, stroking her pregnant belly over the sweater she’s wearing. “I’d do the same thing. There’s no reason to wait.”
“They’ve definitely waited long enough,” Sveta adds. “It’s time to make this official.”
I couldn’t agree more. When I meet Yelena’s dark eyes, I know she’s thinking the same thing. I can’t wait to make her my wife. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, and now that it’s so close, I feel like it’s a dream, like it’s going to evaporate right in front of my eyes. When I tighten my grip on her, she leans closer to kiss my cheek before resting her head back on my shoulder.
While I keep Yelena tucked up against me, they tell us about all the new things Samantha is getting up to, but it doesn’t take long before my sister groans and looks at her husband. “I’m really hungry, Vitya.”
He immediately digs out a package of fruit snacks from his pocket and hands them over with a smile. He learned early on to always have snacks. It ended up being good practice now that he’s a dad. Thanks to my twin, he’s prepared for anything.
Since she and our dad are practically identical, I’m not at all surprised to hear my dad’s voice from across the room. “Are you passing out fruit snacks?”
Vitya laughs and digs out another package before tossing it to our dad, who catches it with a big grin and quickly opens it. “Thanks,” he hollers out before stepping back into the kitchen.
I look over at Vitya. “How many of those things do you carry around?”
“I have at least three on me at any given time. I also have a package of animal crackers.”
Yelena laughs while Sveta looks up at her husband. “Animal crackers?”
“Jesus, woman,” he groans, but it’s obvious he’s not even remotely upset as he fishes the bag of animal crackers from the pocket of his hoodie.
“I’m eating for three,” she reminds him, snatching the bag and opening it before he even has the chance to offer it to her.
He just smiles down at her and kisses her head. “I know you are, pcholka . Eat as much as you want, baby.”
Sveta smiles and holds the bag out to Yelena, pouring a few animal crackers into the palm of her hand. While my fiancée nibbles on her crackers, the soft munching sounds making me smile, I make a mental note to start carrying around snacks for her.
When Aunt Alina hollers out to us that supper is ready, we follow Sveta and Vitya into the large dining room. Samantha is already in her high chair. She’s recently been introduced to finger foods, and from the messy smile she gives us when we walk in, it looks like she’s loving it.
“Is that yummy, little one?” Vitya asks before leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
She mumbles a “dada” and gives him a big grin before stuffing more food into her mouth. He laughs and kisses her head again before pulling out a chair for Sveta.
“I don’t know how anyone can look so happy while eating that,” my dad says, giving a disgusted look at the prepared meal she’s eating. “Sweet potatoes and peas, Vitya? Really?”
Vitya smiles. “They’re organic, too. There’s also avocado, and for dessert, there’s raspberries and banana.”
My dad looks appalled. “That’s not dessert. That’s fruit.” He looks back at his granddaughter. “Don’t let your daddy fool you, sweetheart. That’s not a real dessert.”
She smiles and lets out another long string of baby talk.
My dad laughs. “I hear your cry for help, and I’ll answer it as soon as you’re old enough to digest chocolate cake.”
Vitya groans, but he knows he’s outnumbered. There’s no way in hell my dad isn’t going to corrupt her tastebuds at least a little bit. It goes against his nature to turn his nose up at sugar. Our mom insists he eat healthy meals, but his addiction to sugar isn’t going to end anytime soon. My sister is the same way, and Vitya has his hands full trying to make sure she gets all her fruits and vegetables.
Yelena sits in the seat I pull out for her, and I take the one on her left, resting my hand on her thigh under the table. We used to eat like this when we were teenagers. I’d always slip my hand under the table and secretly touch her leg while our parents ate, completely oblivious and unaware of what was going on. She gives a soft laugh, and I know she’s remembering all those moments too. I squeeze her thigh and lean down to kiss her just because I want to and because I can. I’ll never get tired of being able to show how much I love her.
We spend the evening with our families, laughing and joking around, and when we all move back into the living room and I put Yelena back in my lap, it’s perfect. There was never any question about where Yelena and I would end up, because it was always meant to be right here—together, with my ring on her finger, and our baby growing inside her.
“I’m so happy, Val,” she whispers in my ear before she kisses it, and those words are everything to me, because all I want is for her to be happy and loved and taken care of.
“Me too, baby,” I tell her.
By the time my family gets ready to leave, Samantha is fast asleep in her dad’s arms, and Sveta is barely keeping her eyes open. While Yelena is busy talking to my mom, I pull my dad aside so I can talk to him.
“Have you heard anything else?” I ask.
He smiles and leans his shoulder against the doorway we’re standing in. “You mean since the meeting we had a few hours ago? No, son, nothing new to report.”
I hadn’t been expecting anything new. I know I’d have already been told if there’d been a breakthrough, but it still worries me that it’s been so quiet.
My dad knows I’m worrying about it, so he adds, “The family is safe, Val. All our men are on high alert, and our wives and daughters have extra bodyguards watching them.”
I meet my dad’s eyes and ask the one question that’s been eating away at me. “Would you postpone the wedding if it were you?”
He sighs and drags a hand over the back of his neck. “God, no pressure, right?” He gives a soft laugh and reaches out to give my shoulder a squeeze. “Our lives are always going to be dangerous. If we postpone every important event because of the risk, then we’d never be able to get married or have kids. We’ve done everything we can to make sure our family is safe.” He waits a second before adding, “And, no, I would’t wait if it were me. I’d marry your mom and be grateful for every second I have with her.”
I nod because I know he’s right. I just needed to hear it from him. “Thanks, Dad.”
He smiles and pulls me in for a hug. “Anytime, son. It’s so nice to be able to pass down all this wisdom, because I have so much of it, you know?”
I laugh and shake my head. “You do. Be sure and save some of it for the grandkids.”
He smiles and ruffles my hair like he used to when I was little. “You’re going to have lots, right?”
I grin even bigger. “We are.”
“That’s my boy,” he says, squeezing my shoulder again as everyone starts to put on their jackets and Yelena walks back over to wrap an arm around my waist and smile up at me. When I look into her dark eyes, I know my dad is right and that we’re doing the right thing by not waiting. None of us are guaranteed a tomorrow, and the last thing I want is to put off marrying the love of my life.
I kiss her head before we join everyone at the door. After we’ve given hugs and said our goodbyes, I look over to catch Yelena in the middle of trying to hide a yawn.
“Someone’s about to get carted off to bed,” Evgeny jokes when he sees the worried look on my face.
“I’m fine,” Yelena insists, but I’m not convinced, and she doesn’t look even remotely surprised when I pull her into my arms and start to lead her toward the bedroom. “You don’t have to keep worrying about me.”
I let out a soft laugh and pick her up so I can carry her the rest of the way. “I think you know me better than that by now.”
When I step in and shut the door behind me, she sighs and says, “I’m anxious to have our own place.”
“Me too, myshka . As soon as it’s safe, we’ll move out,” I promise her. She has no idea that her dad and I found an empty apartment one floor down, and that I’ve already bought it. I’m going to surprise her with it on our wedding night. It’s almost as big as her parents’ penthouse, and I know how important it is to her to be close to them. Maybe one day we’ll move further away, but for now she wants to be near them, so that’s what we’ll do.
Even with the worry niggling at the back of my mind, I push it aside and focus on my fiancée. We’re both safe and in each other’s arms, and for now that’s enough.