“Look at you,” I tell him, grabbing onto his hands and squatting down so we’re face to face. “Way to go, little man.”
He smiles even bigger and lets out a loud squeal. I look up at Niki. “Which one is this?”
He shrugs and shouts, “Hey, Sveta, is this Jake or Seryozha?”
She walks over and rolls her eyes at Niki. “I think it’s hilarious that you think I’ll just instantly know.”
Niki looks horrified. “You can’t tell the difference?”
Sveta laughs. “They’re identical, Niki. I don’t have super powers just because I’m a mom. Their personalities are starting to really come out, though, so I’m guessing this is Jake.” She smiles when he recognizes his mom’s voice and lets out another squeal. “He’s the more curious of the two right now.” Glancing up, she finds her husband and yells, “Vitya, you put Jake in the red shirt, right?”
“Yeah, Seryozha’s in blue,” he hollers back and then gives her a wink.
She squats down next to me and reaches out to tickle Jake’s tummy. He throws his head back and laughs, and I fall in love on the spot.
“He’s so beautiful,” I tell Sveta.
She gives him the sappy kind of grin that all moms get. “Yeah, he’s a keeper. He and his brother tore me up coming out, but they’re worth it.”
“Wow, Sveta,” Damien says before giving an exaggerated dry heave that makes his cousins laugh.
Sveta just grins up at her cousin. “I had to have a few stitches.”
This time I’m not so sure the dry heave is pretend. She’s still laughing when he walks off. Her elbow nudges mine and she gives me a wicked grin. “Sometimes it’s just too easy.”
I laugh and nod my head in agreement, and when her daughter runs over, Sveta gives her a big hug. Samantha leansover to kiss the top of her brother’s head, and she’s rewarded with another big, gummy smile.
“Grandma said the food is ready,” Isabella says, and Sveta gives an exaggerated sigh of relief that makes the kids laugh.
“Thank goodness,” Sveta says. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
“None of us doubt that,” Val says. “Dad brought three different cakes for dessert, so that should keep you happy.”
“One of ‘em better be chocolate with sprinkles,” she mutters as she grabs Jake and then reaches out her hand for Sam. “Come on, honey. Let’s go find Grandpa. He’s always got the good stuff.”
While everyone starts to make their way towards the delicious smells that are wafting over to us, Niki takes my hand and pulls me aside.
“You doing okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of people, but they’re all so sweet, and they make it really hard to be nervous, or at least too nervous,” I say. “All the kids help. I love being around them.”
“You’re great with them. You’re going to be the best kindergarten teacher, Van.”
I smile, touched by his words, and when he leans in to kiss me, I quickly meet him halfway and press my lips to his. It’s far shorter and more chaste than I want it to be, but there’s a promise in the quick brush of his tongue, and I know he’ll be kissing me how I really want as soon as we’re alone again.
He cups my face, and I feel him smile before he pulls back. “Come on, baby. Let’s get some food.”
We find seats at the end, squishing in between Cindy and Sasha and Luka and Lara. Damien and Evgeny sit across from us, and everyone else is lined up down the length of the enormous table that I’m guessing they had specially made just sothey could host family dinners. There are several high chairs and it’s loud and chaotic and I absolutely love it.
The mix of Russian and English going on around us provides enough cover for Cindy to lean in and ask, “You two look like you’re getting pretty close.”
“Not as close as I’d like to be,” I say, making her laugh. “I’m going to spend this upcoming four-day weekend at his apartment.”
Cindy is one of the sweetest people on the planet, so I’m not at all surprised when her eyes grow a little misty. She tries to blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I’ve known her my whole life, and I know she’d be just as emotional and happy for me without the tiny baby growing inside her.
“I knew we’d be sisters someday. The universe is obviously righting a horrible wrong. I’ve always known something got messed up and they gave me to the wrong mom.”
She tries to make a joke of it, but I know how much her childhood still hurts her. Her mom and stepdad had been abusive alcoholics, and she’d spent a large part of her childhood at my house in order to avoid them. Thankfully, her stepdad split a few months ago, and her mom is very slowly getting her life together. Cindy’s hopeful that one day they can have a relationship, and I hope for her sake she’s not wrong.
