“Come in, you two!”
Katarina perks up as her dad kisses her on the head and murmurs to her in soothing, fast-paced Russian. Whatever he says, she sniffles and laughs a watery snort. Mom comes to me for a tight squeeze, tears in her eyes, as she watches Ivan coo over how much hair my son has.
“Oh, Henry. He’s magnificent. Katarina, darling, he’s huge! You’re such a trooper. I hope you’re alright…down there.”
“Would the two of you like to hold him?” Kat ignores my mom’s inquiries about her vagina and offers up the newest Sinclair grandchild to Mom.
“Well, since he’s Ivan’s first, I think he should have the first grandparent hold.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that…”
“Here, let me help.” I gently lift the sleeping bundle from Katarina’s chest, cooing when he stirs and moving to pass him to Ivan, who Mom has helped arrange on the couch for his first hold. “This is your grandpa, yes, he is. This is Dadushka. Yes, that’s right. Don’t poop on him yet, you just met him!”
Ivan expertly notches the baby into his elbow, providing excellent head support and immediately soothing him in Russian. Mother looks on proudly. “I taught him that with a weighted doll! Granted, not quite as heavy as…Wait! Did the two of you decide what you’re going to call him? Obviously, Henry Charles Sinclair the fourth, but a nickname?”
I look at Katarina, offering the chance to explain our son’s name, and she smiles.
“Well, we played around quite a bit with the 'four' aspect, then once we started looking at 'IV', we realized with your name, Dad…”
Ivan looks up in shock from where he had been mesmerized by his grandson.
“We started calling him “Eye-vee”, then when I really started speaking to him in Russian, I couldn’t help but call him Vanya and Vanyushka…so I think we’ve officially settled on those.”
Mom squeezes Ivan’s shoulders as he cries, trying not to jostle the baby.
“I…thank you both. I’m so happy for you two,” he says, then looks at Mom. “I’m so happy for all of us. This is more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
Waiting for my siblings to burst in here and make noise and bother my son, I find myself agreeing with Ivan. I have more than I could have ever dreamed.
Ivan stands with Vanya to go talk to Katarina, and Mother slides over to me on the couch.
“Darling, I do have something for you. Your father left a letter for you, for the day you become a father yourself. I have it here, if you want it now.”
Taking a deep breath, I pop open the wax seal and see the familiar script.
Chapter thirty-seven
Turning into the driveway of the Sinclair estate always makes me feel a trove of emotions, especially now, sitting next to the man who’s stolen my heart. A heart that I would give him freely, if only it still belonged to me. Memories flash across my mind as we get closer to the home I used to share with my Henry. It seems like a lifetime ago, yet like yesterday, when the two of us moved in and grew in love as we built our family.
“The kids are going to be so glad you’re staying with them for a few weeks to help with little Vanya. Kat couldn’t stop talking about how lucky she is to have you. I know her mama, Irina, would be so happy to know that her little girl has someone who truly loves her.”
“Oh, Ivan, I could never replace her mother! I hope you know that I don’t intend to try to replace Irina in any capacity.”
Ivan takes my hand in his and places them on my thigh. “My love, I know you don’t. What you have with Katarina is special in its own right. You don’t have to replace someone to be special, you know? There is room for Irina and you…in both of our hearts…”
“I think it’s harder for me to see that, being an only child and all.” I chuckle, squeezing his hand.
“I hope you’ll come around to it one day, l’vitsa, because until you do, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to have you the way I desire.” He parks, making quick work of getting around the car to open my door and help me out.
“Thank you, Ivan, for everything. I’ll see you soon?”
“I’m going to swing by Sasha and Lucy’s house for a bit, then go back to our—your place for the night to finish up some work. I’ll be back tomorrow before the kids get here, love.”
A chaste kiss to my brow is his only affection before he walks away, and I stand frozen in the doorway, watching him drive off. “The kids,” he said.Our kids. The irony of the matter isn’t lost on me that his claim to this estate is now just as strong as my own. Perhaps even stronger, considering the lady of the house ishisdaughter.
Closing the door behind me as I walk into the foyer, I look around. Everythinglooksthe same. Kat’s renovations to the living areas have been minimal. She claims she fell in love the moment she walked in and didn’t want to change a thing. However, for the first time, itfeelsdifferent.
Even after my dearest and I moved closer to the city, the estate remained the lifeblood of our family. I was worried things would change when Henry inherited it at his father’s passing, but they never did. Of course, he was hardly here in the first place. It wasn’t until he married Kat that he decided to finally settle in, but even then, it still felt like my home. Maybe even more with the life my newest daughter brought back to these walls. But now, with the birth of the newest Sinclair heir, I feel more like a page in the history book of a building that will long outlive me.
