“And that needs to stop. From both of you.” Svetlana looks at Viktor. “Help me here.”
Viktor hasn’t moved. He’s staring at Anna like he doesn’t recognize her. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Papa—”
“Don’t. Just don’t.” He turns to me. “What happens now?”
“Now we move forward. The twins need to know I’m their father. Not their stepfather. Their actual father.”
“They think their father is dead,” Anna says quietly.
“Because you told them that.”
“What am I supposed to say? That I lied? That the man I told them was dead is actually alive and living in the same house?”
“You say the truth. However painful it is.”
“They’re four years old!”
“Old enough to know who their father is.”
Anna stands. “I need time. I need to figure out how to tell them.”
“You have until tomorrow.”
“That’s not enough time!”
“It’s more than enough. You’ve had four years. Tomorrow, I’m telling them. With or without you.”
“Luca, please. Give me a few days. Let me prepare them.”
“No. This has gone on long enough.”
“You can’t just drop this on them!”
“Watch me.”
Viktor steps forward. “Luca, be reasonable. The children need?—”
“The children need to know their father. That’s what they need. And they’re going to learn tomorrow.”
Svetlana places a hand on my arm. “Give her one day. Just one. Let her prepare them. Then you tell them together.”
I look at Anna. She’s pale, trembling, and her eyes are wet.
“One day,” I say. “Tomorrow evening. We tell them together. If you try to run or hide from this, I’ll assume you’re choosing a custody battle. Understood?”
Anna nods once.
“Say it.”
“Understood.”
“Good. You can go.”
She stands and walks to the door. Her parents follow. At the threshold, Svetlana turns back.
“Don’t make this worse than it has to be,” she says and leaves.
