EPILOGUE #2
“Yes, I do. What you just described isn’t okay. I don’t care how much he loves you or how much he provides. You deserve time between pregnancies. You deserve to have your own life. If Taras can’t see that, then we need to have a conversation.”
“Zoya—”
“And you need to set some rules like waiting at least two years before the next baby. Or taking a class. Finding a hobby that you enjoy in your free time. You’re allowed to ask for those things.”
She looks down at her hands. “What if he says no?”
“Then we’ll deal with it. But you have to ask first. You have to tell him what you need.”
“I’ve tried. He says we’ll wait, but then a year passes and he starts talking about the next baby. And I give in.”
“Why?”
“Because I love him.” Her voice cracks. “I know he’s doing this out of fear. He’s scared I’ll leave and part of me feels like I owe him.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” I say firmly. “Taras chose to pull you out. You didn’t ask him to. Loving someone doesn’t mean being pregnant every single year. It doesn’t mean giving up everything you want just to make him feel secure.”
She wipes her eyes. “I know. I just don’t know how to say that without making him feel like I’m ungrateful.”
“You tell him exactly what you told me. That you love him and you love your life. But you need more time between babies. You need something for yourself. If Taras loves you the way he says he does, he’ll listen.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll talk to him. And if that doesn’t work, Alexei will.”
She laughs through her tears. “Alexei would actually do that?”
“Absolutely. You’re my friend. Alexei knows what it’s like to love someone so much you want to keep them close. But he also knows that loving someone means giving them what they need, not just what makes you feel better.”
She nods slowly. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”
“Good. And if you need help, I’m here.”
“Thank you, Zoya.”
“Always.”
We sit in comfortable silence for a moment. Then Anya turns to me with a small smile.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“How do you keep Alexei from getting you pregnant again? I mean, that man is just as obsessed with you as Taras is with me. But you only have one child. How are you managing that?”
I laugh. “It’s not like Alexei doesn’t want more kids.
Trust me on that. I can tell from the way he looks at your daughter that he wants a girl.
When I was pregnant with Yuri, he was happy we were having a boy, but he’d already bought all these girl clothes before we even knew.
He told me he wanted a baby that looked exactly like me so he could spoil her.
Been around boys his whole life. He really wanted a little girl. ”
“But you haven’t had another one yet.”
“No.” I pause. “My birth with Yuri was really hard, Anya. I almost lost him during that birth, and I almost died right along with him.”
Her eyes widen. “I didn’t know that.”
“We don’t really talk about it.” I look down at my hands. “During a checkup at eight months, the doctors found a complication where my birth canal was too narrow and warned us the birth would be rough. It was worse than rough, and I ended up in labor for nearly forty-eight hours.”
“Oh my god, Zoya.”
“Since then, Alexei’s been really careful about it. He said we should wait a few years before trying again. He even brought up getting a vasectomy.”
“He what?”
“I told him no. I don’t want that. I still want a little girl. I don’t want Yuri to be an only child. But my body needs time to recover. I need time before I can even think about going through that again.”
“And Alexei’s okay with waiting?”
“He doesn’t have a choice.” I smile. “He loves his son. Even though those two aren’t really on the best terms right now.”
Anya laughs. “I’ve noticed. What’s going on with them?”
“The pranks have been nonstop, with Yuri hiding bugs in Alexei’s dress shoes and caterpillars in his coat pockets whenever he gets the chance. Last week during a meeting, Alexei had a caterpillar walking across his head and nobody said a word until it was halfway to his ear.”
“Oh no.”
“Alexei tried to lecture him about it, but Yuri shot back that it was Alexei’s fault for upsetting me, so he had it coming.”
“Making you cry? When?”
I let out a long sigh. “Alexei and I got into a huge fight a few months back when I was stressed about exams and he kept pushing me about something, and I ended up breaking down in tears. Yuri walked in on it, and from that moment on he’s treated his father like public enemy number one.”
“And the pranks are his way of getting revenge?”
“Exactly. Alexei keeps trying to explain to him that we’re fine now, that mommy and daddy made up, but Yuri doesn’t care. He’s decided that his father made me cry so now he has to pay.”
Anya grins. “That kid is something else.”
“He’s just like his father. Stubborn and vindictive.”
She’s still laughing when movement catches my eye. I glance over at the trees where Taras and Alexei are still talking. Yuri is creeping up behind them. He’s crouched low, moving slowly, his hands cupped together like he’s holding something.
I know Taras spots him from the brief glance downward, but he pretends not to notice and keeps right on talking to Alexei without missing a beat.
My stomach drops.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
“What?” Anya follows my gaze.
Yuri creeps up right behind Alexei holding handfuls of sand, except it’s not just sand since there are little black dots crawling all over his palms and moving through his fingers.
“Is that—” Anya’s eyes widen. “Are those soldier ants?”
“ALEXEI!” I scream. “YOUR SON! ANTS!”
Alexei spins around just as Yuri throws the sand at him.
He moves faster than I’ve ever seen, his hand shooting out to grab Yuri by the wrist and yank him backward before any of that sand makes contact.
“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” Yuri screams, his whole body thrashing violently in Alexei’s hold with his face going crimson as his legs flail and kick at the air.
“You little—” Alexei growls, holding him at arm’s length.
The scene draws attention from everyone nearby, including a woman with a stroller who stops walking to watch, a jogger who slows down looking worried, and a man from a bench who stands up to see what’s happening.
“LET ME GO!” Yuri shrieks even louder, his body jerking and twisting so wildly that Alexei needs both hands clamped around him to maintain his hold.
The man from the bench begins walking straight toward them. “Hey! Leave that child alone!”
“He’s my son,” Alexei says through gritted teeth.
“That doesn’t look like your son,” the man says, getting closer. “That kid doesn’t even look like you.”
He’s right. Yuri has Alexei’s nose, but everything else is mine. My eyes. My mouth. My face shape. With his long eyelashes and soft features, people have mistaken him for a girl more than once.
“I’m telling you, he’s my son,” Alexei snaps.
“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” Yuri screams again, with tears streaming down his face.
A crowd starts forming around them, and one woman lifts her phone to record while another man moves closer to intervene.
“Let the kid go, man,” the second man says. “We’ve already called the police.”
Alexei’s jaw tightens. He looks at Taras, who’s trying very hard not to laugh.
“A little help?” Alexei says.
Taras shrugs. “He’s your son.”
“He’s only my son when he does bad things?” Alexei shoots back. “But he’s her son when he does good stuff?”
I sprint towards them running over. “YES!” I shout. “IT’S TRUE! THAT’S MY KID! THAT’S MY HUSBAND!”
Everyone turns to look at me.
“He likes to play pranks,” I say quickly, out of breath. “He’s very naughty. My husband wasn’t trying to hurt him. He was trying to stop him from throwing ants at him. Please, everybody calm down.”
The man with the phone lowers it slowly. The woman with the stroller relaxes a little.
“You’re sure?” the first man asks.
“I’m sure.” I walk over to Alexei and Yuri. “Baby, tell them. Tell them this is your papa.”
Yuri stops thrashing. He looks at me, then at Alexei, then at all the people watching. A slow grin spreads across his face.
“That’s my mommy,” he announces. “And this is my dad.”
Alexei sets him down immediately. Yuri runs over to me and wraps his arms around my legs.
“Sorry for the confusion,” I say to the crowd. “Everything’s fine.”
They disperse slowly, still looking suspicious.
Alexei brushes sand off his jacket, glaring at Yuri. “You almost got me arrested.”
Yuri grins up at him. “Did I?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Anya walks over, still laughing. “That was incredible.”
Taras finally lets himself smile. “The kid’s got guts.”
I look at Anya and notice the way Taras immediately moves closer to her, his hand resting on the small of her back protectively. She leans into him without even thinking about it.
Alexei steps closer to me, his hand sliding around my waist. “Your son is a menace.”
“Our son,” I correct.
“Right now, he’s yours.”
Yuri tugs on my hand. “Mama, can we go get ice cream now?”
I look down at him. “After your playdate. If you’re good.”
“I’m always a good boy.”
Alexei snorts. “Sure you are.”
Yuri sticks his tongue out at him.
Alexei looks at me. “See? This is what I deal with.”
“Maybe if you stopped making me cry, he’d stop being mean to you.”
“I haven’t made you cry in months.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
“Then tell him.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Anya laughs. “You two are so cute.”
“Yes we are,” I say.
THE END