18. Aurora
18
AURORA
ONE WEEK LATER
I still can't shake off my nervous jitters as Ruslan and I wait in the foyer.
"You okay, zarechka ?" Ruslan reaches for my hand, his thumb tracing small circles over my palm.
"I'm fine." I look up at the lavish chandelier, trying not to count the minutes until the doctor arrives.
"Nervous about the ultrasound?"
"Terrified," I admit. "What if something's wrong?"
"Nothing will be wrong." He brings my hand to his lips. "Our baby is strong, like their mother."
I can't help but smile. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"I don't care," he says instantly. "As long as they're healthy."
"That's such a cop-out answer." I roll my eyes. "Come on, you must have a preference."
Ruslan considers this for a moment, his golden eyes thoughtful. "Maybe a girl. A little princess with your hazel eyes."
My heart flutters. "I was thinking a boy. With your height and that brooding scowl you do so well."
"I don't brood," he says, immediately brooding.
"Sure you don't." I laugh, leaning against his shoulder. "Or maybe twins. One of each."
"You really want to fit two people inside of you?"
Before I can retort, the massive oak doors swing open, and Daria leads in a small procession—Dr. Ivana Reyes at the front, followed by two nurses wheeling the ultrasound equipment.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dragunov," Dr. Reyes greets us with a professional smile. "Are we ready to hear your baby's heartbeat today?"
I respond with a nervous smile to Dr. Reyes. "Yes."
Daria leads us down the hallway to what was once a guest bedroom, now transformed into a makeshift examination room complete with medical equipment and a padded table.
"Please lie back and lift your shirt," Dr. Reyes instructs, her tone calm and methodical as the nurses position the ultrasound machine.
I do as she asks, the paper beneath me crinkling loudly in the quiet room. My heart hammers so hard I wonder if everyone can hear it. The cold gel touches my belly and I flinch, more from nerves than discomfort.
"Sorry," Dr. Reyes says. "Should have warned you it's cold."
Ruslan squeezes my hand, his tattooed fingers engulfing mine completely. I'm struck again by how gentle those lethal hands of his can be with me.
"Nervousness and excitement are two sides of the same coin, zarechka ," he whispers, leaning close enough that I can smell his familiar scent of mahogany and cedarwood. "The only difference is how your mind interprets it."
His words settle something in me. He's right. This fluttering in my chest, this tightness in my throat.
They could just as easily be from the anticipation of joy.
"Now or never," I tell Dr. Reyes, forcing a confidence I don't entirely feel.
She nods and presses the wand against my abdomen, moving it slowly over the small bump that's only just beginning to show. The screen lights up with fuzzy gray shapes that mean nothing to my untrained eye.
And then we wait for the sound—the heartbeat they promised would be there.
Nothing comes.
The silence stretches, becoming a physical presence in the room. One second. Two. Three.
My chest tightens. My breathing stops. I grip Ruslan's hand so hard my knuckles turn white.
"I don't—" My voice cracks. "Why can't we hear anything?"
Dr. Reyes doesn't answer, her focus entirely on the screen as she adjusts knobs, moves the wand. The silence grows heavier with each passing moment, crushing the air from my lungs.
Seven years of being hunted. Seven years of living in fear. And in this moment, this absence of sound terrifies me more than Kristofer ever could.
"Please," I whisper, not sure who I'm begging. My eyes burn with tears I refuse to let fall. Not yet. Not until I know.
Then it happens.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The sound fills the room like thunder in my ears—fast and strong and impossibly real. My baby's heartbeat.
"There it is," Dr. Reyes says, her professional demeanor softening with a smile. "Strong and steady, exactly what we want to hear."
I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't do anything but listen to that miraculous rhythm pulsing through the room. Tears spring to my eyes, blurring my vision of the screen where a tiny blob—our baby—flickers with life.
"That's..." My voice breaks. I clear my throat and try again. "That's our baby's heartbeat?"
Ruslan's grip on my hand tightens. When I look up, I see tears in his golden eyes too, though he'd probably deny it later. Those tears make me love him even more.
I'm going to be a mother. The realization crashes over me like a wave, washing away years of fear and uncertainty. For so long, I've been running from death. Now, I'm creating life.
" Jamie would be a good mom ," was something my mother once said when I was babysitting the neighbor's kids.
I'd brushed it off then, too focused on theater and college plans to think about motherhood.
But now? Aurora Dragunov is going to be a mother. Not Jamie Fields. That girl is dead. But me, this version of myself who found love and strength when I least expected it.
The heartbeat continues, strong and insistent, demanding to be heard. Demanding to live.
"It's real," I whisper, mesmerized by the fluttering on the screen. "It's really real."
Ruslan bends down, pressing his lips against my forehead. "Of course it's real, zarechka ."
The jubilant relief washing over me suddenly stalls as Dr. Reyes's expression shifts. The smile melts from her face, replaced by a concentrated frown.
"Hmm," she murmurs, brow furrowing as she adjusts the ultrasound wand against my belly. "Something doesn't quite seem right."
The joy that had just flooded my system drains away, replaced by ice-cold fear. I instinctively squeeze Ruslan's hand tighter, searching his face for reassurance.
"What is it?" I manage to whisper. "Is there something wrong with our baby?"
Dr. Reyes doesn't answer, too focused on manipulating the wand across my abdomen, pressing slightly harder in different spots. The heartbeat we'd been listening to suddenly sounds... different.
It's not slower or weaker, but almost like it's overlapping with itself.
An echo.
"Dr. Reyes," Ruslan's voice is tense, commanding. "Tell us what's happening."
She continues to mutter under her breath, adjusting knobs on the machine. The longer she stays silent, the more my panic rises. I've survived stalkers and murderers, bratva wars and kidnapping. But this helpless waiting, lying here while something could be wrong with my baby.
It's unbearable.
"Please," I whisper, tears threatening again. "Just tell us."
Ruslan shifts beside me, his patience evaporating. "Dr. Reyes," he says, his voice carrying that undercurrent of authority that makes everyone around him straighten up. "Answer us now."
Finally, she turns the screen around to face us properly. "I wanted to be certain before I said anything," she explains, pointing at the grainy black and white image. "Look here."
I scan the screen desperately. I can make out the little blob that's our baby. I see tiny appendages that must be hands, the curve that forms little feet.
And then I see it.
"Wait," I breathe, my eyes widening. "Is that...?"
"Two," Dr. Reyes confirms with a nod. "There are two babies."
"Twins?" Ruslan sounds stunned, his golden eyes fixed on the screen.
"Yes, Mr. Dragunov. Mrs. Dragunov is carrying twins."
The room spins around me. Two babies. Two heartbeats. Two little lives growing inside me.
"That's why the heartbeat sounded like it was echoing," Dr. Reyes explains. "We were hearing both of them at slightly different rhythms."
"Twins," I repeat, the word feeling strange and wonderful on my tongue. My hand drifts to my belly, barely showing at this stage. "Oh my god, Ruslan. We were just joking about this!"
Dr. Reyes continues to manipulate the wand, her eyes fixed on the screen with professional concentration. She adjusts the angle and presses a little deeper against my belly.
"Would you like to know the sexes of the babies?" she asks.
“You can tell already?"
"It's still early, but the positioning is good. I'm fairly confident." She smiles. "Would you like to know?"
I look at Ruslan, searching his face. "Do we want to know?"
His golden eyes meet mine, warm and intense. "Whatever you want, zarechka ."
I nod at Dr. Reyes. "Yes. Please tell us."
She points to the screen, indicating the first baby. "This one here..." She moves the wand slightly, focusing on a specific area. "This is your boy."
A boy. Our son. I can already picture him with Ruslan's strong jaw and golden eyes.
"And this one..." She shifts the wand again, bringing the second baby into clearer focus. "This is your girl."
Tears spring to my eyes again. "One of each?"
"Fraternal twins," Dr. Reyes confirms. "A boy and a girl. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Dragunov."
Ruslan lets out a deep, rumbling laugh beside me. "Well, zarechka , you got exactly what you wished for. Two people inside of you."
"I did, didn't I?" I can't help but laugh through my tears. "I just mentioned twins, one of each, and here they are."
"Care to make any other wishes while your powers are still active?" he teases, pressing his lips against my forehead.
"Twins," I whisper, staring at the screen where our babies float in their separate sacs. A boy with Ruslan's brooding scowl. A girl with my hazel eyes. Both of them already so loved, so fiercely protected.
Dr. Reyes wipes the gel from my belly with careful movements, her professional smile still in place.
"Both babies are developing right on schedule," she says, helping me sit up as the nurses begin powering down the equipment. "I'll want to see you again in four weeks for a follow-up."
She taps a few buttons on the ultrasound machine, and the printer attached to it humming to life. "Would you like some photos?"
"Yes," I breathe, still trying to wrap my head around it all. Twins. A boy and a girl. "That would be lovely."
Ruslan nods in agreement, his hand resting protectively on the small of my back.
"I'll print several copies," Dr. Reyes says. "You'll probably want to share them with family."
The photos slide out one by one, grainy black and white images that somehow contain my entire future. I stare at them, tracing the tiny shapes with my finger. Two little beans floating next to each other, already complete with the beginnings of arms and legs.
"That's our son," I whisper, pointing to the first baby. "And our daughter."
The words echo in my mind like the overlapping heartbeats we heard moments ago.
It's overwhelming. The fear that gripped me when we couldn't hear the heartbeat, the powerful relief when we finally did, and the shock of discovering that I'm pregnant with twins.
And now these tangible proofs of their existence in my hands.
The tears come without warning, hot and fast. Seven years of running, seven years of telling myself that Jamie Fields was dead along with any chance of a normal life.
And now here I am, looking at pictures of my babies—babies that Ruslan gave me—growing inside me.
"I never thought—" My voice breaks. "I never thought I'd have this."
Ruslan gathers me in his arms, pulling me against his chest. His warmth surrounds me as I sob into his shirt, clutching the sonogram pictures between us.
"You deserve this happiness, zarechka ," he murmurs into my hair, his strong arms holding me like I'm something precious. "We both do."
Dr. Reyes gathers her equipment and smiles at us. "I'll give you both some time alone to process. Congratulations again."
The door closes with a soft click, leaving Ruslan and me alone in the makeshift examination room. I'm still clutching the sonogram photos, unable to tear my eyes away from the tiny shapes of our son and daughter.
"I need to tell the girls," I say, finally looking up at Ruslan.
"The girls?" His brow furrows slightly. "My nieces?"
"No." I laugh lightly, shaking my head. "I meant Eleonora and the other wives." I rub my belly gently, still in awe that there are two babies growing inside me. "They'll want to throw a baby shower, and honestly, it gives them another excuse to get out of their houses and away from their husbands for a while."
Ruslan's face softens. He cups my cheek, his golden eyes warm with pride. "Look at what you've done, zarechka . You've given these women hope when they felt hopeless. You've built something meaningful for them."
"I just treated them like people," I whisper, leaning into his touch. "Not possessions."
"And with that simple act." His thumb traces my cheekbone. "You've completely upended their world. They never expected someone like you in our world."
I look down at the sonogram photos again, at our two tiny miracles.
"Is that what you love about me?" I ask softly. "That I can bring power back to the powerless?"
Ruslan tips my chin up, making sure I'm looking into his eyes when he answers.
"No, Aurora. I don't love parts of you. I love you ." He presses his forehead against mine. "Every single thing that makes you who you are."
"I love you too," I whisper, my voice thick with emotion. "So much it scares me sometimes."
He slides down onto his knees before me, placing both hands reverently on my still flat belly. "And I already love them as well."
Then, he presses two gentle kisses, one on the left side, and another on the right. One for each baby.