Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Katya
Despite being pregnant for almost three and a half months now, I have no bump to show for it.
A sad fact that according to my research, is quite normal for first-time mothers.
Some women cherish the gift of keeping their pre-pregnancy size for as long as possible, and I don’t blame them at all.
Working hard to keep your figure the way that makes you feel confident is no small thing.
Still, something inside me is itching to see proof of my baby growing outside of ultrasound screens.
I won’t even start to feel quickening or baby flutters for at least another month, but I try my best not to feel bummed out about it.
Time is moving slow and it’s not a bad thing.
The slower time goes by, the more I get to savor my days with Leon and the kids.
I’ll have plenty of months to see my stomach growing, and feel it eventually begin to move inside me. But we made it to fourteen weeks, and officially felt comfortable announcing the news to our families. That process alone gave me enough joy to keep me positive for the foreseeable future.
My mother was ecstatic when I called her, and screamed so loud that Linus ran into the room with his gun drawn, expecting to find an intruder or a very large spider.
Gaia has already begun shopping for her niece—she refuses to admit the possibility that it could be a boy—and Ares has sent me flowers to congratulate me.
And he didn’t even make a joke or a sarcastic quip about the Moretti family breeding like rabbits.
Leon’s family was a whole other beast. We told Rayna and Apollo first, not just because they’ve become our closest friends, but because Leon insisted they wouldn’t freak out and go crazy at the news.
He was correct of course. Though the couple was excited for us and wished us well, sending a little gift in the mail the day after we called, they didn’t scream or jump around like Jade.
Dante came next, and I swear it sounded like he was choked up on the phone call, promising to come visit us soon.
All of Leon’s brothers talked to him on the phone for a while when he called them with the news, and Jade has been texting me more and more often now that we have something obvious in common to talk about.
She’s had two successful pregnancies, and she knows all about being a mother surrounded by tons of overprotective Morettis.
It’s been sweet, even if it’s been a bit overwhelming to have the secret be out.
It was nice having something just between our little family, but it was a miracle Leo didn’t spill the beans sooner.
He did blab to Gino when I threw up in the backyard bushes a month ago, but none of us could be upset with him for letting the man know not to worry about his mommy.
She just growing a baby, he’d said. It was too freaking cute to be upset about.
Thankfully, the days of throwing up at random seem to be behind me.
And since my morning sickness has come to an end, Leon and I decided it was time that we finally take a little trip as a family.
Bastian brought up the cabin when we floated the idea to the kids, and I immediately latched on to it, remembering that he had mentioned it once before.
A little winter getaway in a cozy cabin? I didn’t need to be convinced.
“Here we are,” Leon announces, pulling me out of my thoughts. White surrounds us at every angle, brightening up the tinted windows of our SUV as little flurries of snow flow past the glass.
“Oh wow,” I gasp, spotting the large wood and brick building in front of us. The word cabin doesn’t do this place justice. “This is incredible. We own this?”
Leon grins, liking the sound of me claiming what was once just his. “Yeah, baby, we do. You like it?”
“It’s stunning,” I reply with a wide grin, reaching for my door handle. “I have to see the inside of it.”
Looking over the center console to our kids in the back, he asks, “What do you say boys, should we give Mommy a tour?”
Leo squirms in his car seat, excited to be set free, but Princess Spaghetti is who answers Leon’s question, barking softly as if to say yes.
It’s a family vacation, so of course we had to take our little sunshine with us.
Our sweet golden retriever has grown so much in the past few months, losing her tiny puppy size quickly and becoming exceptionally well-trained.
She now sports a pink polka dot collar that Bastian picked out for her, and a paw-shaped dog tag that Leo insisted be branded with her full name, along with our emergency contact number.
Leon and I get out of the car at the same time, each of us opening the door behind our own, helping a kiddo get out of their seat.
My husband smartly keeps Leo on his hip and takes Princess Spaghetti’s leash in hand, guiding her out of the SUV and onto the snowy driveway.
The ground isn’t overly icy or slippery, but I wouldn’t put it past our little energy-filled cutie to try and run to the cabin so fast and trip over his snow boots in the process.
Bastian, by contrast, takes my hand to guide me inside as if he’s the one responsible for keeping me safe rather than the other way around.
He looks absolutely adorable in his wool coat, matching his father’s charcoal-colored longer jacket.
He has a fun red-lined puffer coat like Leo is wearing, but he has it packed away for later.
We had to make sure the car heat wasn’t too toasty for them on the ride over, since they both insisted on wearing their layers in preparation for the snow.
Leon and I aren’t good at denying our boys anything, and I have a feeling they’re going to grow up quite spoiled because of it.
Thankfully, their manners are impeccable, and I doubt they could be bratty if they tried.
“We forgot our suitcases,” I realize, pointing it out while we ascend the small staircase to the entrance. I was so excited to come inside and look around that I didn’t even think about getting our bags out of the trunk.
“No, we didn’t.” Leon chuckles. “I’m going to get you three settled in and then I’m going to bring everything inside.”
Of course he is, I swoon.
“Daddy is so sweet to us, isn’t he?” I sigh happily.
“Yep,” Leo agrees, tucking his head and laying it against Leon’s shoulder. “Best Daddy.”
Bastian nods, and I smile when Leon sees it.
True to his word, Leon gets us settled in quickly. He helps the boys kick off their boots and coats while I do the same for myself. He keeps Princess Spaghetti’s leash on, informing me that he’ll take her to the bathroom when he goes back outside, but first, the tour.
It becomes quickly evident that Leo has very little memory of the cabin, and since he only came here once when he was three years old, I’m not surprised. It’s kind of sweet though, seeing him gasp and look around the space with such wonder as Bastian and Leon show us around.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom “cabin” is immaculately laid out.
It’s not an overly open-concept modern kind of build, but one with cozy rooms that blend into one another when their pocket doors are pulled open.
The living room is the largest space with a massive leather couch parallel to a large wood-burning fireplace.
The brick is well maintained and so are the wood floors beneath it.
The kitchen is smaller than ours back home, but not cramped, with plenty of space to cook.
Dark finish cabinets balance with the floors and the lighter countertops.
Nothing is too cheesy cabin aesthetic, but I don’t even think I would mind if it was.
There’s something so incredibly welcoming about this space, and the boys seem to feel it too.
They opt to share one of the bigger bedrooms, insisting that Princess Spaghetti’s travel bed is placed in between the queen-sized beds they’ll be sleeping in.
Leon and I will take the main suite of course, where the second fireplace lives.
I briefly wonder how it would feel to lie on the floor next to it while Leon fucks me into the floorboards before remembering that I need to be in Mommy mode right now, not horny pregnant woman mode.
Once the tour is over, I take both of my boys’ hands and lead them back into the kitchen while Leon heads outside with our dog. “Why don’t we make some hot cocoa? I bet we can make it before Daddy comes back inside, and then we can all drink it together?”
“With marshmallows?” Bastian asks shyly.
“Of course with marshmallows,” I confirm, opening up the small pantry door. “Daddy made sure to order groceries for us so everything would be ready when we came. We have everything we need for the best hot chocolate. Do you two want to pick out a mug for everyone?”
“Even Princess Spaghetti?” Leo asks sweetly, eyes widening with delight.
“Not for this,” I reply, letting him down easy. He only wants everyone to be included, to bring them in on something he finds joy in. “Chocolate isn’t good for doggies, remember? We can give her little bits of steak from dinner later tonight, though. I bet she’ll love that.”
Satisfied by the compromise, he dips his head, blonde curls bouncing in agreement. “Steak her favorite.“
It sure is. I think that’s half the reason she’s grown so fast. Bastian and Leo always insist that when we’re cooking steak or chicken, we make a little seasoning-free piece to give to Princess.
She’s so adored by them, and honestly, I’ve come to really enjoy having a pet.
I worried the extra responsibility might be a little too much to handle, but with the guards pitching in at night, and Leon helping the boys with most of her bathroom trips and feedings, cuddling has been my main source of caretaking where our pup is concerned.
Using a pot to heat milk up on the stove, I melt more chocolate than necessary into it, blending up the perfect warm drink.
And although I don’t beat Leon by finishing before he comes inside with the luggage, that turns out to be a good thing.
My husband takes over the responsibility of filling our mugs, scooping up the sweet-smelling drink with a metal ladle and plopping in as many marshmallows as he can fit into each cup.
“Does the baby like hot choc-co-late, Mommy?” Leo asks, tilting his head up at me while he waits to be given his drink.
He picked a snowman wearing a blue scarf ceramic mug and Bastian chose a brown gingerbread man one.
Leon and I were assigned matching mugs, both of ours covered in snowflakes and pine trees.
“The baby loves chocolate.” I grin, wiggling my eyebrows to make a silly face that gets a giggle out of him. “I think the baby is going to be very happy with our creation. You boys helped me pour the milk, didn’t you? That means you made it just as much as I did. My sweet little helpers.”
Leo puffs up with pride while Bastian wears a soft smile.
Soon enough, our drinks have cooled enough not to burn their little mouths, and we’re all wearing matching marshmallow mustaches.
The kids find it especially funny on me, so I make sure not to lick it away too quickly.
They’re so easily pleased by the little things in life, and I have to remind myself to savor moments like this.
My mom always complained that I grew up too quickly, and I’m afraid I’m going to wake up one day and it’ll be ten years in the future. Bastian will be an almost sixteen-year-old piano pro, and Leo will be getting into all sorts of mischief, figuring out who he wants to be.
And they’ll be closer to being made men, my treacherous brain reminds me.
The idea of them handling a gun or even a knife makes me feel like I’m going to fall out of my chair.
Which is why I refuse not to live in the moment.
I’m going to make the most of their childhoods for as long as I can.
I can only hope that when they eventually do grow up, they look back on days like today fondly.
Once the hot cocoa has disappeared, I give my husband a wicked look, nodding to the snowy view through the kitchen window. He raises his eyebrows in question, and I answer by asking a question to the whole room.
“Who wants to go play in the snow?”
“Me, me, me!”
Leo, of course.
A gentle, “I do,” follows.
My little Bastian.
“Well, let’s go, then.” My hands clap together and I roll my fingers, tapping the tips against each other. “I get to throw the first snowball at Daddy!”
“Oh, is that how it is?” Leon drawls, hiding a smirk.
“Come and find out, cupcake.”
“HA,” Leo cracks up. “She call you cupcake, Daddy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he pretends to grumble. “Get your boots and gloves on, I’ll help you with your coats.”
God, he’s such a good father.
And maybe even a better husband.