Our bodies still, but he doesn’t stop kissing me. It’s a slow, lazy kiss, the kind that makes me feel drunk on him, and when he does finally pull back, there’s an adorable grin on his sexy face.
“God, I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too,” I say, brushing back his tousled hair.
His hands run gently over my body before resting on my belly. Using his arm as a pillow, I stay snuggled up against him, feeling completely safe and cocooned by his body. Unable to keep my eyes open, I let them drift shut, while Vasily tightens his grip on me and kisses my head.
Vasily
“Vasya?”
Nina’s worried voice immediately pulls me from my sleep. Instantly awake, I run my hands over her naked body. “What’s wrong, baby?”
She groans and when I feel her belly contract, my heart starts racing as fear and excitement course through me.
“It’s okay,” I quickly tell her. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I jump up and pull on the clothes that are still on the floor from last night before grabbing hers and helping her into them. The sun is just starting to rise, and there’s enough light for me to see the fear in her eyes.
“Baby, look at me.”
Her dark eyes find mine and lock on.
“I’m going to get you to the hospital,zolotse, and we’re going to meet our son.”
Even though she still looks scared to death, she smiles and gives me a soft nod. Ruslan runs in, sensing that something isn’t right and comes to offer his support. He rests his head in Nina’s lap and gives a soft whimper while I run to the closet to grab the bag that’s been packed for weeks. Grabbing my phone, I send a message to Volodya, letting him know it’s time. I’m not at all surprised when he immediately responds with anI’ll meet you at the hospital and let Valeri know. I send a quick text to Andrei and Ilya, telling them to keep an eye on things here before putting my phone away.
“Good boy,” I tell Ruslan, patting his head and then gripping Nina’s hand when she has another contraction. The pain on her face kills me, and I’ve never felt so helpless in my life. There’s nothing I can do to take this pain from her. All I can do is be here with her as she goes through it. Cupping her face, I kiss her forehead and hold her until it’s over.
“You’re doing amazing, baby.”
She gives me a small smile, already looking like she’s more than ready for this to be over. I can’t say I blame her. Throwing the bag over my shoulder, I bend down and pick her up, carefully carrying her down the stairs and out to the car. We run into a surprised Katya in the driveway, and as soon as she sees us, she gives an excited squeal that sounds like it should be coming from someone way younger and runs over to us.
Squeezing Nina’s hand after I put her in the car, she says, “You’re going to do great, Nina. We can’t wait to meet Dmitri.”
Nina smiles and thanks her, clutching her belly and waving a goodbye when I get in the driver’s side and start the car. The guards at the gate smile and wave, giving Nina a thumb’s up that makes her laugh.
“I guess I look like a woman in labor,” she says, running her hands over her belly as she takes deep, calming breaths.
I gently pat her stomach and smile. “We don’t often go for a drive this early.”
“True. Looks like our son shares your favorite time of the day.”
I smile at the thought of a little son who enjoys the same things I do. God, I can’t wait to meet him, to feel him in my arms and kiss his little head. The drive to the hospital seems to take forever, and I have to resist the urge to drive recklessly. Once we get there, it doesn’t take long for us to get situated in a room. The contractions are coming faster, and every time I see Nina’s face scrunch up in pain, a part of me dies. I hold her hand, comforting her as best I can, and by the time the doctor is telling her to push, I feel like I’m hanging on by a damn thread. I don’t know how she does it. I’m in absolute awe of her.
“You’re doing so good, baby,” I tell her, brushing back a strand of sweaty hair and kissing her forehead.
On the last push, she lets out a scream that I feel in the marrow of my bones before falling back in an exhausted heap against the pillow. We both start crying when our son’s screams fill the room right before he’s placed on her stomach.
“Vasya,” she whispers, staring at our beautiful boy with a look of pure joy on her face.
I laugh and touch our son’s face, gently stroking his chubby cheek and head full of dark hair. When he opens his eyes, we both laugh to see they’re the same blue as mine. He flails his arms and screams again, and when the nurse helps position him so he can nurse, he quickly latches on before letting out a big sigh and calming down.
“He’s so perfect,zolotse,” I say, not even caring that tears are still running down my cheeks. I kiss her face and wrap my arms around my family, my whole world. I kiss our son’s head and tell him I love him in Russian.
“I never knew I could love someone so quickly,” she says, whispering so she won’t disturb him.
“I know.” I stroke his small hand, smiling when his fingers clasp around one of mine. “I wasn’t sure it would be possible to love someone as much as I love you.” I turn to her and kiss her. “I’ve never been so happy in my life, baby. Thank you for loving me and giving me a family, for making me a daddy.”
She smiles and kisses me back. “I love you, Vasya. Thank you for saving me and for giving me more love than I ever thought possible. I can’t wait to experience every second of this amazing life with you.”
We sit and watch our son start to fall asleep, memorizing every detail of his perfect little body. Dmitri Medvedev, a son I never thought I’d have, but one who’s so quickly filled my heart with unconditional love for him. With my wife and son in my arms, I have everything I could ever need. This may not be the life I thought I’d have, but it’s so much better than anything I could’ve imagined. I hug Nina tighter against me, more than ready to step into the role of daddy. My wife and son are everything to me, and I’m going to make damn sure that they’re always protected and loved.
