“Yes,” I whisper while turning my head to give him better access. I wrap my arms and legs around him, because that sounds like one of the best plans I’ve ever heard.
With a groan he sets to work, determined to give me everything I need. By the time he’s finished, I’m too tired to even open my eyes. My body feels limp and heavy when he pulls me against him, cocooning around me so I fall asleep feeling completely safe and loved.
Three Months Later
I come out of the bathroom to a mix of excited gasps and muffled sobs. Smiling at every woman in the Melnikov family and my mom who’s already dabbing at her eyes, I say, “Can someone help zip me up, because there’s no way I can manage it on my own?”
My mom and Simona quickly come forward. They’ve become close friends over the last few months, and it makes me so happy to see it. I can’t bring myself to be happy that I was kidnapped, but there’s no denying it sped up the bonding between our families.
“You look beautiful,” Simona says as my mom zips up the back of my dress. I’d chosen a white satin, off-the-shoulder dress. It’s not so tight that I can’t walk or be comfortable, but it’s form fitting enough to show the small bump, which is exactly what I wanted. I love this little baby bump, and I wanted to showit off. Plus, it drives Niki crazy every time he sees it, and I really want to knock him on his ass today.
The sapphire and diamond jewelry he bought me look gorgeous with the gown, and when my mom helps me with my veil, my own eyes start to get watery. Natalya came over early and helped weave in little crystals and pearls into my hair, and I’ve never felt so much like a princess before.
“You can’t start crying,” Cindy warns me. She’s in full pregnancy mode now, adorably rounded stomach and emotions that are all over the place. She’s not going to last five seconds out there before she’s crying her eyes out.
“Make sure you bring some tissues with you,” I warn her. “As soon as you see me start crying, you’re going to lose it.”
“I will,” she agrees. “I already warned Sasha.”
“Good,” I say, making her laugh before she pulls back to look at me.
“You look amazing. I knew we’d be sisters one day, and now our kids are going to grow up together.” Her lip trembles as she tries to keep it together. “It’s perfect.”
“It is,” I agree, never thinking in a million years that my life would end up feeling like this. I always hoped for someone like Niki, to be a mom and to raise a family and be a teacher, and I sometimes still can’t believe it’s all happening.
I would’ve married him the second he asked me, but we both agreed that waiting until my summer break would be better. Plus, he wanted me to get set up with a new advisor and make sure I’m all ready for next year. Dr. Morgan has been a godsend. She’s stepped into the role of my mentor so easily, and she’s helped me tweak my schedule and already given me advice on student teaching next year. She’s perfect, but I don’t want to think about school on our honeymoon. I want to enjoy it and not have to study. Next year is going to be intense, and I’ll be having a baby in the middle of it. Lucky for me, my mom and Simonahave made it abundantly clear that they’re more than happy to babysit anytime we need them to. I couldn’t ask for better parents and in-laws.
Before I can get even more emotional than I’m already feeling, I take one last look in the mirror, adjust my veil so it’s falling exactly how I want it to, and then turn to face everyone.
“I’m ready,” I tell them, and their cheers are probably loud enough to travel across the large house and reach Niki’s ears. When he’d showed me the house his family owns in the country, I’d immediately fallen in love with it, and when he’d mentioned that several family members have gotten married here, I’d asked if we could do it too. It’s an hour from the city, but it feels like a world away with all the acres of woods and lack of traffic and people.
I also love the idea of getting married in a place that meant so much to him as a kid. I’ve heard enough stories and seen enough photos to easily be able to picture him and his cousins running around here when they were little. I love that our kids will get to do the same thing.
My mom hands me my bouquet, and the scent of the hyacinths has me bringing it to my nose for another inhale. The light shade of blue matches the maid-of-honor dress Cindy is wearing, and it looks gorgeous on her. Niki’s family is so large and we thought it would be best to keep it a bit simple, so Cindy and Max will be the only two up there with us.
There’s a knock at the door, and when I see Danil poke his head in, Simona gives a soft laugh and walks over to him.
“Couldn’t wait?” she asks, but he doesn’t answer. He’s too busy running his eyes over his wife. When he wraps her in a hug and whispers something in her ear, she laughs and pats his chest in acalm downkind of way. If he’s anything like his son, I can easily imagine what he’s just said to her.
He laughs and kisses her before turning to look at all of us. “You all look beautiful,” he says, and when his eyes meet mine, his smile grows. “I think you’re going to stop my son’s heart as soon as he sees you, Sav.”
Danil’s quickly become like a second dad to me, and when I take a step towards them, he wraps his other arm around me and kisses the top of my head.
“Can I send your dad in? He’s so excited he can’t sit still. If I leave him out there for too long, Vitaly will just start pouring him shots, and we all know where that will lead,” he says, and we all laugh at the memory of my dad getting tipsy last weekend because he decided to sit next to Vitaly at supper.
“Yeah, I’m ready for him.” I give them both a hug and then wave to the others as everyone starts leaving the room to take their seats. My mom stays with me, and when my dad peeks his head in, the look on his face has me getting weepy again. “I’m never going to make it through the ceremony if everyone keeps looking at me like that.”
“Go ahead and cry,” my mom says. “It’s your wedding. You can do whatever you want.” She smiles and hands me a tissue. “Make sure you bring one for Niki.”
“I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up,” my dad says, looking like he’s about to start crying too. “It feels like it was just yesterday that you and Cindy were dancing around the house and talking about how disgusting you thought boys were.”
“We were seven,” I say, laughing at the memory.
“Well, if you had to start liking boys, I’m glad you picked a good one,” my dad says. He gives me a hug and kisses my forehead. “It’s a relief to know you’ll always be safe.” He grins down at me. “You’d have to be a real idiot to piss off this family. You know, I finally got your mom to watchThe Godfatherwith me.”
“Mom,” I say in mock horror.
My mom shrugs. “It’s actually a really good movie.”
