Epilogue
In which Andrey and Iris love each other as the Universe dances around them.
Iris…
Christmas Eve…
We're celebrating at Maksim and Ella's house, an enormous brownstone that easily holds the ever-expanding Morozov clan. A blaze is roaring in the huge fireplace and there are five Christmas trees scattered through the downstairs, majestic pines so tall they scrape the high ceilings.
Aunt Ella is clearly a Christmas fanatic, every level surface is covered in white lights and greenery and the long table groans under an opulent display of everything from spiced gingerbread and sugar cookies to Ptichye Moloko, a chocolate mousse and my personal favorite, Medovik, which is a towering display of goodness made from thin layers of sponge cake layered with honey and slathered in a caramelized sour cream.
I'm eyeing the dessert table and wondering if I could eat another slice of Medovik without slipping into a sugar coma when Rose bounces over to Andrey and me.
"You just trashed that data center, didn't you?" Rose asks gleefully. "I heard you made their lawyers cry."
"I made one judge cry in court this year," Andrey says tiredly. "It does not happen every day. Though I did get the lead attorney for the case disbarred."
"And very soon, behind bars," I mumble as Rose wanders off in search of more eggs stuffed with salmon and caviar. Andrey told me after the decision was passed down from the Supreme Court that the attorneys representing the data center knew perfectly well who was behind Darian Technologies.
Not only did the Lìxīn Triad lose the five hundred million they'd already sunk into the data center, they had to pay their attorneys to lose horribly in court as well.
"Actually, they're lucky if they get jail time," I muse, rubbing my stomach, "I don't get the sense the Triad's going to let them live long enough to get sentenced? "
"It is unlikely." Putting his large, warm hand over mine, he asks, "How are the malen'kiye sorvantsy, our little menaces tonight? Any new barrel rolls?"
"They're being well-behaved for the party, which means they will most likely punish me later tonight." I lean against him a little heavily and his arm goes around me, taking my weight.
Violet and Roman stroll over, she's holding a glass of sparkling water like me. "Andrey and I did offer to stop drinking in solidarity with you two," Roman says, attempting to look noble.
"Whatever," she taps her glass against his. "We don't want to deal with cranky husbands as well as fat ankles and heartburn."
I don't dare say that I've been lucky. But after a few more bouts of nausea, my pregnancy's gone really well. It would be mean when Violet's second one has not been comfortable. At all.
Andrey, of course, has no problem bringing it up. "Really?" he says. "Surprising, since Iris hasn't had any-"
"Sweetheart, would you mind getting a couple of those Kartoschka truffles for me?" I ask.
"Of course," he says, tipping my chin up for a kiss.
Verdict: devoted.
"I never, ever thought I would see the day when the supremely haughty Andrey Morozov trotted off to fetch sweets for his wife." Tania joins us, giving me a gentle squeeze.
"Man, that's harsh. You're his mom," I tease. "Aren't you supposed to be all, 'my son can do anything?'"
"Well, Andrey had done all the things," she points out. "Except falling deeply in love with his very deserving wife."
"It's an interesting love. Obsessive, sometimes," I say. I'll wake up to find him leaning over me, his huge hand spread over my stomach and studying my face. "His fascination is intense and sometimes, I worry it will fade."
"That, my dear, you will never have to worry about," she says confidently.
"There are very few people who've made their way into my son's heart.
Once he's placed you there, you're embedded for life.
Andrey may not feel things in the same way we do, but there's a deep core of devotion in him.
I've seen how he treats you, how he watches you…
anyone can say they're in love. He will dedicate his life to showing you. "
We watch Andrey, stone-faced as he listens to a distinctly rattled Theo's efforts to engage him in conversation. Theo is Rose's new boyfriend and I'm very hopeful about him. He's a pediatrician from another Bratva family and less easily quelled than her college boyfriends.
"Your information about the Pregabalin lawsuit is incorrect," Andrey says, losing interest and walking away.
Tania's struggling to control her amusement. "Not that his softer intentions extend to anyone else."
"No, they do not," I agree. "How tempted were you to find out the sexes of the twins before they were born?"
"I wouldn't have minded knowing," she says, "but it wasn't important. Yuri, of course, was too busy strutting around, thrilled with having knocked me up with twins to have an opinion."
"You did break it to him that the father's genes have no part in that?" Can I laugh? Would that be rude to my lovely father-in-law?
Tania smothers a laugh. "He didn't care. It is nice to know you're having boys, too, though. I have a lot of Andrey and Nikandr's things that I'd love to share."
The thought of our babies wearing something their father and uncle did makes me weak in the knees. "Do you have any little suits?"
She takes a sip of champagne, winking at me over the glass. "Suits and tuxedos."
"Stop it!" I barely hold back a squeal.
Andrey is back with my truffles and a fresh glass of sparkling water. "You realize, darling, that it's too late to run from me, no matter how terrible the stories are that my mother might be sharing?"
She gasps dramatically. "I've said nothing to Iris other than what a lovely, delightful, wonderful son you are."
"Hmm." He doesn't look convinced.
Uncle Maksim and Yuri are standing in front of the enormous bank of windows in the great room, and we all gather closer, Andrey's hand warm on the small of my back.
"This has been - even in the blood-soaked annals of Morozov history - a memorable year," Uncle Maksim says. I smother a chuckle. Only in this family does a warm holiday toast begin with references to excessive gore.
"We have toppled dynasties." Uncle Maksim is handsome in that remote, terrifying way that my husband is.
But while I know he's devoted to Auntie Ella, he's not a man I could ever imagine being comfortable with for any extended period of time.
"We have created new ones." He nods at Andrey, alluding to his new role as a Justice.
"This family has cleared an incalculable amount of human filth from the planet. "
Yep, super sentimental holiday speech.
Now, his eyes glitter like the sun on a glacier. "And collected billions more while doing it."
There's a robust round of applause because this family digs its death, violence, and money.
Yuri then raises his glass. "However, as we make our toast, we drink to, what in the end, is the only thing that truly matters. The Morozov family. To unbreakable bonds, to new life." He nods and smiles kindly at Violet and me. "To new adventures. To the family. First, and always."
"To the family! First, and always!" The room is huge, but it's crowded and the chorus of voices make the chandeliers shake.
Andrey…
It's close to midnight when I bring my wife home. She's dozing with her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer.
Iris was adamant that she would look terrible as the pregnancy progressed, warning me in a grim tone that women in her family do not "do" pretty pregnancies.
She's wrong. Watching her stomach grow has made me half-insane with need and protectiveness. My wife glows, her skin and eyes brighter, and she laughs even more, warming even my withered shell of a soul.
I'm constantly hard around her, and it's infuriating.
Fortunately, her sex drive has done nothing but increase with each month.
I never knew how erotic it could be to look up from case work and see her leaning against the door, eyeing me as hungrily as I do her.
My hands are on her almost constantly, steadying her, stroking over her skin, feeling the heavy weight of her breasts.
She sleeps on my chest now, commandeering me as her personal pillow and I'll stroke her hair for hours, still filled with a grinding fear about how close I came to losing her.
As Trofim turns into our private parking level, I look down to see her eyes open, watching me. "You're so handsome, do you know that?" She yawns a little, eyes shining.
"Ordinarily, I'd say that you were drunk." I run my knuckles down her cheek, marveling at her silky skin. "You're sober, so this must be pregnancy hormones."
"Nope, this is just me knowing I bagged me a hot one."
I'm surprised into a laugh. "And here I thought you would go into one of your sweet, 'I love you so much,' moments."
"I'm too busy objectifying you tonight," she says haughtily
We move through the penthouse, settling in. I get the remote to turn on all the Christmas lights Iris has spread through the house, which essentially illuminates the place like it's high noon. She pulls out the last of the shortbread she'd baked yesterday, humming happily as she takes a big bite.
"You must be exhausted," I say, watching how the light of the Christmas tree in the living room plays over her thick hair, highlighting the blonde and reddish hues.
"I'm kind of buzzing right now," she confesses with a cheeky grin, stuffing the last of the shortbread square in her mouth. "I'm riding a sugar high."
"Would you join me on the rooftop for a quick look at the stars?" It snowed earlier today, but the night sky is bright and clear.
"I'd love to!" she says, sticking her foot out to let me put on her boots. Bundling her up again, I carry her up to the rooftop.
Once we're on the deck, I set her down. The tiles here are heated to keep her from slipping and I'd timed the space heaters to click on when we arrived home.
"Babe, you're going to throw your back out if you keep carrying me around like this," she warns, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"It's far more rewarding than my usual cardio," I assure her. "Shall we have a look?"
The telescope is new, an early Christmas gift for us both. It's enormous, taking up one corner of the terrace, but we needed something extraordinarily powerful to combat the light pollution. We've spent hours up here, searching the night sky.
I double check the focus on the telescope and stand back. "Have a look."
Iris goes up on tiptoe, kissing my cheek before she leans into the eyepiece. "What are we watching tonight?"
"The Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy," I say, wrapping my arm around her and turning to shield her from the breeze.
"Oh, I have such fond memories of that night in the observatory," she sighs happily.
"Do you remember the stellar nursery in the Tarantula Nebula?"
"Yes, all those white clouds of star babies," she says, rubbing her stomach.
"Star babies?" I kiss her just under her ear, feeling her shiver.
"I can call them what I like," she says loftily.
"I'm changing the focus, hold on." I make a slight shift and she leans in again. "Do you see the two stars in the lower left of the field?"
"Yes, just slightly from the main grouping?"
"Correct," I say. "When I first saw our children in that ultrasound, I thought… this sounds fanciful, their hearts looked like stars on the monitor. Tiny, pulsing clusters of light."
"That's beautiful," Iris sighs.
"These two stars you're looking at were born this month from the galactic nursery in the Nebula. They've been recorded, but not named yet."
Iris turns away from the eyepiece, watching me.
"From that night, all those months ago, scanning the galaxy together to now, we've come full circle with children of our own.
These two stars will be named Lukyan and Kir, for our sons.
" A few tears trickle down her face as she heroically tries to hold back the rest. "I know there was a trend at one point.
Naming stars, getting a certificate. A sentimental thing, like a dozen roses.
This, though, is ours. Two newborn stars isolated and claimed. It's real."
"Our sons and stars, born together. It's beautiful." Iris kisses me fiercely. "It's so beautiful. Like you. This is the most romantic gift you could possibly give me."
"There is no version of this Universe where I wouldn't find you, Iris Morozova. You are my soul."
"You have to stop being wonderful," she sobs. "I'm crying so hard I can't breathe."
I scoop her up in my arms and sit down, handing her a clean handkerchief. And together, we watch the Universe dance.
What happens next after Happily Ever After? And what about those identical twin babies? Meet up with Andrey and Iris a year and a half later in the extended epilogue.