“I’m totally going to kick your ass the next time we do this.”
“We’ll see,” I say, giving her a wink and pulling her vest off before tossing her on the bed. “But I won this round,lisichka, and now I want my reward.”
When we finally pull ourselves out of bed and shower, we’re both starving and in desperate need of replenishing some calories. I cook us breakfast while Holly picks up the discarded wrapping paper that Nutmeg has been having a blast shredding. We let him have his presents last night, and so far his favorite thing seems to be a small fish that’s stuffed with cat nip. He keeps pawing at it and cradling it against his body like he’s in love with the damn thing. It’s pretty cute, and I laugh at him while I finish up the French toast.
I pile two plates full and then bring extra powdered sugar and syrup to the table because I know my wife well enough to know she’ll need it. When she sees it, she shoots me a big grin and comes up to give me a kiss.
“This looks amazing, Sasha.”
“It’s not nearly as tasty as you,lisichka.”
She blushes and gives me another kiss before sitting down and covering her French toast in syrup and spooning out enough powdered sugar to make my teeth hurt from just watching her. She laughs when she sees the look on my face and takes a big bite, moaning in exaggerated appreciation.
“Careful, sweetheart, or I’m going to bend you over the damn table.”
Her blue eyes darken a bit at my words, and I smile at how neither one of us seems to be able to get enough of the other. I manage to get through breakfast without claiming my wife again, but that has more to do with the fact that I think her poor pussy needs a rest than anything else. Picking her up, I carry her to the couch, grabbing her photo album on the way. I sit down, keeping her on my lap and hand her the album.
“Tell me about your family.”
She gives me the sweetest smile before relaxing her body into mine and opening the book to the first page. I laugh at how damn cute she was as a baby. Dark hair, big, blue eyes, and a mischievous smile that reminds me so much of the one she just showed me before she’d run off naked down the hall.
“Our kids are going to be beautiful,” I tell her, making her laugh.
“You sound like your Uncle Viktor.She will give you many sons,” she says, imitating his deep voice and accent.
“I would pay good money to see you do that impression in front of him.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to happen,” she says with a laugh. “You’re right, though. Our kids are going to be beautiful.”
I smile and hold her tighter, listening as she tells me all about her parents. There’s a sadness in her voice, but I can hear the happiness too. She laughs at memories of her and her dad dressing up for Halloween and the time he taught her how to ice skate and she fell so hard on her ass that she was convinced she’d broken her tailbone. I smile at the vivid images she puts in my head, and by the time we get to the end of the album, it seems like a weight has lifted from her.
“Thanks for asking me about them, Sasha.”
“I want to know everything about you,lisichka.”
“It makes me sad when I think about how much I miss my dad, but with you I have something to look forward to. I know we’re going to create our own family and make our own memories, and I know that would make him so happy. All he ever wanted was for me to be happy, and that’s a big part of why I tried so hard to remain positive and upbeat over the last year. I didn’t want to disappoint him, and their deaths taught me to not waste a second of life.”
I cup her face and kiss her, savoring the taste and feel of her. “I’m not going to waste a single second with you, sweetheart. You make me happier than I’ve ever been, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, making memories and raising a family. You make me want everything I swore I’d never want.” I laugh and say, “Everything changed the second I saw you,lisichka. I knew there was no going back.”
“I felt the same way when I saw you, Sasha. I had no idea it was possible to feel this strongly about another person. I didn’t realize that love could be so all-consuming like this.”
“Me either,” I admit. “We have our whole lives ahead of us, baby. This is only the beginning.”
She smiles and rests her head on my shoulder. Her fingers run through my beard as I hold her and think about how damn lucky I am. My little fox may have been an unplanned surprise in my life, but she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and far better than I deserve. I’ll happily spend the rest of my life loving and taking care of her because she’s everything to me, and I could never go back to a life without her. I kiss the top of her head, knowing this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had and that the next one will be even better.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Holly
“Oh my God, they look so stinking cute,” I say, laughing at the sight of our boys in their Christmas sleepers with dancing reindeer on them.
Aleksandr laughs and picks up Dmitri while I grab Dominic. We’d named them after our dads, and even at three months, I swear I’m already starting to see their different personalities shine through. When we found out we were having twin boys, I thought Aleksandr was going to die from pure happiness. Later, when we’d left the doctor’s office, he’d said it must’ve been all that naked laser tag we’d been playing, which had made me laugh so hard I’d nearly peed my pants in the damn parking lot.
When we’d told Uncle Viktor, he’d patted me on the back in anAtta girlkind of way that had made me laugh and cringe a bit, and Shelly was so excited to become an aunt that she’d broken down in the world’s longest fit of happy crying.
Our boys look at us, their big, green eyes following our every move. We carry them upstairs to the bedroom across the hall from us that we’d turned into a nursery. I hold Dominic closer, kissing his baby-soft, dark hair and watch the way Aleksandr talks to Dmitri in Russian and kisses his chubby cheek, making him smile and look at his daddy like he’s a god. I can’t say I blame him. I think I look at him the exact same way. He looks over and gives me a wink before kissing Dominic’s head and telling him he loves him in Russian. We want our kids to be bilingual, and I’m doing my best to learn the language, but it’s damn hard. I’m guessing they’ll pick it up before I do.