"You don't have to if you don't want to," he adds quickly. "Please don't leave us, though. Even if you don't want to be my mother, you can still stay." Noemi is crying openly now, not even trying to stop it, and I reach over to put my hand on her arm. "I mean, Papa's house is big and there are lots of rooms too." He soundssad now because his young mind doesn't realize how the adult brain works. Noemi isn't rejecting him.
"A boy only gets one real mother," I say softly, and as I do, I kneel beside her. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't need a woman in his life to care for him." I reach into my pocket and pull out the thin gold wedding band my father gave my mother the day they got married, left to me years ago when he passed on, and I hold it in my palm and meet her gaze, though her eyes still overflow with tears. "Will you accept both of us?" I ask her, not exactly sure how to phrase it.
"It was my idea," Sasha says. "So you can marry me too… And you'll be my newmamochkaand you'll be Papa's…" He scrunches his face up and looks up at me with a question in his eyes.
"Wife," I supply, and Sasha grins.
"You'll be Papa's wife then." But when he looks at her, his lip trembles like he's afraid, not happy.
Noemi laughs through her tears, wiping at her face with her free hand. "You wonderful boy. Of course I want you too. I've wanted you since the day I met you."
She pushes back from the table and turns to Sasha, pulling him into a hug that he returns fiercely, his arms wrapped around her neck and his face buried in her shoulder. I watch them hold each other and my chest tightens as I clear my throat of the emotion welling up.
Noemi looks at me with her wet, shining eyes, and I know it's my turn as she pulls away from him.
"I'm not good at this," I tell her. "I don't know the right words to say or the right way to say them. But I know that I love you, and I know that my life is better with you in it. So I'm asking you, Noemi Dragunova, will you marry me?"
She's crying again, or maybe she never stopped, and she's nodding before I even finish the question.
"Yes. Yes, of course, yes," she sobs as she dives into my arms. I stand up and pull her up with me and kiss her so deep, it makes Sasha fake a gagging noise that breaks us apart laughing. I turn to look at him gripping his neck with both hands as if choking himself. This kid has such a personality, and I love that I'm getting to know him so well.
"Can I leave now? I want to go to Yuri's house and read books." Sasha is on his feet again, and I don't blame him. Who wants to stand around watching their parents kiss?
"Yes, go to the front and wait for Inessa," I answer, and he's off like a flash.
"She's coming now?" Noemi asks, turning to me with eyebrows high.
"I arranged it," I admit. "I thought we might want some time alone after…"
She raises an eyebrow at me but she's smiling. "Very presumptuous."
"I prefer optimistic."
Somewhere in the front of the house, the doorbell rings and I hear the low rumble of Lazar's voice and Sasha's cheers, and I pull Noemi back in for another kiss as the song shifts from theclassical overture that was playing to something softer and more soothing.
"Dance with me," she says, pulling me into the center of the room, positioning my arms around her waist and resting her head against my chest. We sway together, not really dancing, just moving to the music and holding each other.
"He's going to be the real romantic of this family," she murmurs against my shirt. "You could learn a lot from that boy."
"I already have." She lifts her head and looks up at me, and all I see is love in her eyes. "I love you," I tell her, because I can now. The words don't stick in my throat anymore.
"I love you too," she breathes and then pulls my face down to hers and kisses me.
The food is forgotten, as are the candles and music, and Noemi is all I can think about again. When I walked into that school and took her from her classroom, I never imagined I'd fall so hard so fast. But now as winter turns to spring and new life is blooming out of the earth outside, new things are blossoming inside this house too.
I have a son who is bright and funny and kind, and soon, I'll have a wife who is every bit as charming and compassionate as I could ever dream of.
And now I know what life is supposed to be about.
I'll never take that for granted again.
32
EPILOGUE
NOEMI
The cathedral doors swing open and the summer sun hits my face, warm and bright and perfect. Fyodor's hand is wrapped around mine as we walk out onto the stone steps together as husband and wife, and the crowd gathered outside erupts into cheers so loud, I can feel them in my chest.
