Chapter 31 #3
I'd had people set up a transparent tent by the spring beforehand, with a warm lamp burning inside.
She stood at the valley entrance, not moving forward for a long moment.
"Matvey..." She turned to me, voice barely above a whisper. "Did you arrange this too?"
I nodded and pulled out the box I'd been keeping warm against my chest inside my coat, walking over to her.
"For you."
She hesitantly accepted it. The moment she lifted the lid, she froze completely.
Inside lay a necklace. The pendant was a half-bloomed edelweiss, petals layered with diamonds to create depth, with a warm red gemstone nestled at the center.
It was her design. I'd seen it in her sketchbook.
"This is..." Her fingertips trembled badly. "I thought no one ever paid attention to my sketchbook."
"I had it made from your original drawing. Didn't change a thing." I said. "You're genuinely gifted at design."
She looked up. Her eyes immediately reddened.
I'd never been good at handling these moments. Everything stuck in my throat refused to come out smoothly.
"Riley." I drew a deep breath. "When I proposed... I did it terribly."
She went still.
"I just shoved the ring at you and told you the last person who wore it was my mother." I held her gaze, forcing myself to continue. "I didn't tell you how much I wanted you. Didn't say what I'd become without you. Didn't say... I've never loved anyone the way I love you. Not in my entire life."
"I spent half my life learning how to make people afraid. No one ever taught me how to make someone... happy."
I took the necklace from the box and fastened it around her neck myself. The edelweiss pendant settled right between her collarbones, the warm red center stone pressing against her skin like it had grown from her body.
"Riley." My voice came out wrecked. "Marrying you was the best thing I ever did."
She smiled through tears and threw herself into my arms. I bent down and kissed her.
The aurora still burned overhead. The snow valley glowed with shifting emerald green beneath us.
My aurora was in my arms.
We visited many more places. By the final stop of our honeymoon, Riley's belly had grown noticeably round. After we returned to New York, several more months passed. Riley's due date arrived.
I took her to the best private hospital in all of New York and brought in the city's top doctors.
I thought if I prepared for everything, I wouldn't be afraid. But when the delivery room doors opened before me, I realized I was wrong.
I'd seen blood my entire life. I thought no scene could shake me anymore. But watching my wife drenched in sweat on that delivery bed, her breathing so labored—I felt a helpless panic I'd never known.
"Matvey..." She weakly reached for me. "It hurts... it hurts so much..."
"I'm here." I rushed over and gripped her hand. "Riley, I'm right here."
She squeezed my hand hard enough to break it, but I wished she could transfer all her pain to me instead. I'd rather be the one lying there.
"Don't be afraid." I bent down, pressing my forehead to her sweat-dampened one. "Our babies are almost here."
"You're doing so well. You're the bravest woman I've ever known."
Those were the longest hours of my life.
I held her hand without letting go for even a second. I stayed with her, hearing her suppressed cries of pain, watching her pour every ounce of strength into bringing our children into this world.
"Waaah—"
A loud cry rang out, immediately followed by a second.
"Congratulations, Mr. Bykov, Mrs. Bykov! One boy, one girl, both very healthy!" The doctor announced joyfully.
My eyes burned instantly.
Looking at the two wrinkled little bundles the nurse carried over, I couldn't force out a single word.
They were mine and Riley's children.
I carefully, carefully took the two tiny bundles from the nurse's arms.
Holding these two small lives that felt like they might break if I squeezed too hard, my palms broke out in sweat. I barely dared breathe. They were so small, so fragile.
But these two little things had effortlessly seized my entire heart before they'd even opened their eyes to see the world.
"Look..." Riley was nearly exhausted but smiled with utter contentment. She lifted her hand and gently touched both babies' faces. "Matvey, look how much they look like you."
I bent down and kissed her sweat-soaked forehead.
"No." My voice broke. "They should look like you."
"Like you—kind, strong, never willing to bow to fate."
That night, we stayed with our newborns and gave them names.
The boy was Niko, the girl Lillian.
Niko meant "victory." I hoped this boy would overcome any obstacle he faced, just like his mother, with courage.
For Lillian, I hoped she could be like her name—a lily blooming in sunlight without a care in the world. I would use everything I had to shield her from every storm in this world. I would never let her taste the bitterness her mother had endured.
I used to think my life was destined to be a lonely road paved in blood. I thought I'd die alone like my father.
Riley pulled me back from that path. She gave me a place called home.