We kiss, and the applause is deafening.
Leo jumps into Maksim’s arms and together, we kiss either side of his face.
The reception is a blur of dancing and warm laughter.
There’s drinks, of course, that my parents and the Bratva indulge in happily. Leo insists on dancing with me for a few songs before handing me off to Maksim. At one point, I catch Lev smirking at Lettie across the table, and Matvey blushing furiously as she leans in to ask him something before nodding for them both to follow her. They soon disappear out one of the side doors.
Lord knows what the three of them are getting up to.
I don’t bother trying to figure it out, though, too much of my time being spent spinning around on the dance floor with my new husband. Maksim barely leaves my side all night, keeping his hands locked onto my body like the thought of letting me go is unbearable.
Later, when we slip away from the party and climb into the sleek jet waiting on the runway, I think that this is the happiest I’ve ever been.
The honeymoon feelslike something out of a dream, or maybe a high-budget TV show.
The jet takes us to a quiet coastal villa tucked into a cliffside in the south of France. The ocean yawns out beneath our bedroom window, the sea breeze tangling through the gauzy white curtains every morning when we wake up. We spend lazy mornings curled up in bed, tangled and naked, speaking in a language that has no words and only the gentle rhythm of Maksim’s body meeting mine.
He reads to me at night in Russian, teaching me his language. After my lessons, we make love at a slow and unhurried pace like we’ve got all the time in the world.
Because we do.
For once… we really, really do.
On the flight home, I feel queasy.
Maksim notices immediately and tries to downplay his own worry with a hand on my back and a glass of water at the ready after I’m done heaving over the small toilet. But I see the way he stiffens each time I press a palm to my mouth and bolt to the plane’s tiny bathroom.
“I think I’m just jet-lagged,” I say as I return.
He hums, unconvinced.
It’s not until two days later when we’re back home and in our room that I realize something might be off.
I sit on the edge of the bed and run the numbers. Then I run them again. By the fourth time, I’ve pulled out my phone to order a pregnancy test to be delivered right to the estate’s doorstep, my nerves through the damn roof.
When I take the test, I don’t remember crying, not at first, anyway. It’s not sadness that I feel when those two solid bluelines stare back at me, or even panic. It’s this big swell of emotion I don’t know what to do with, breaking me apart when Maksim finds me hunched over on our bed.
“You alright?” he asks, coming over to kneel in front of me.
That’s when he sees the test sitting in my lap and freezes.
“Ivy…”
My hand tightens around the plastic. For the first time, real fear threads through me.
Since getting back together, we never exactly discussed the whole having children thing. Of course, Leo is our pride and joy. That much is evident in how we both adore him. However, I’ve never bothered to ask if Maksim would be interested in expanding our familyagain.
Thankfully, I don’t need to.
Because right as I’m choking around the words “what do you want to do?”he breathes out a soft laugh and curls his fingers around mine.
“Oh, Ivy.”
The way he says it, says my name, relieves me instantly. He looks at me with reverence. There’s no fear in his eyes, no hesitation in the way he leans up and presses his lips to mine. He’s a man who knows exactly what he wants, and what he wants is me, and our family we’re creating together.
“A baby,” he murmurs.
I cup his face with one of my hands, smiling through my tears. “This one, you’ll actually get to raise.”
