I follow him toward the bedroom, thinking maybe my mother knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe she wanted Kelly to see what he was stepping into, to choose us with full knowledge of what we are.
“Alexei?” he asks as we walk to the bedroom room.
“Da,zaychik?”
“Did you break that vase?”
I let out a sigh. “Nyet, I didn’t do it. One of those assholes did, and they’ll never admit it.”
He pulls out a present that looks like a complete disaster from under the bed. Wrapping paper crumpled and taped at crooked angles like he wrestled it into submission. I love it already.
He bites his lip and walks over to me, holding it out. “I know it’s not much. I hope you like it.”
I hesitate for a second, then reach for it. My hands are careful as I unwrap it, peeling back the mangled paper slowly like it might fall apart if I’m not gentle enough.
The frame is wooden. A single rabbit burned into the corner, mid-jump, tiny pawprints trailing behind it.
It’s us. The first picture we ever took together. Kelly’s pressed up against me, smiling at me with the sweetest expression I’ve ever seen on his face. I’m holding Clover up between us, but I’m not looking at the camera. I’m looking at Kelly. At that smile, as if nothing else in the world existed in that moment except him.
At the bottom of the frame, engraved into the wood:I love you to the sun and back, forever and always - Kelly.
I can’t breathe right. Can’t think past the fact that he made this. That he chose this photo, this frame, these words. That he’s standing here giving me proof that I matter to him.
I grab him, pulling him into my arms hard enough that he stumbles forward. I breathe him in like oxygen, bury my face in his neck, hold him so tight I’m probably hurting him, but I can’t let go.
I don’t know what I did to deserve him. Don’t know how I got this lucky. But I’m never letting him go.
He’s mine. Completely.
I gift him a custom stethoscope with his name engraved on it, sea green like his eyes. And the keycard. It’s for the front door, the gate, everything. Because this is his home now, and he belongs here with me.
Epilogue
Kelly
Seven Months Later
Ican’t believe I got a job at the biggest veterinary clinic in New York.
I suspect Alexei had something to do with it, but I don’t care. I get to learn way more, work with exotic animals and perform complex surgeries. It’s going to be incredible.
My new boss seems nice, though that’s not hard considering Gary set the bar pretty low.
The last few months have been perfect, mostly.
Though I did have to sit Alexei down and explain that he can’t kill someone because they spilled coffee on me or because they said no to giving me extra napkins, but I’m not really sure if he got the memo.
I walk through the house and look around trying to find him, but it’s empty. I listen for sounds and come up empty until I hear the rhythmic pounding of a hammer coming from outside.
I slide the door open and step into the garden where Alexei has been building a fenced area for Clover so she can run around outside without us worrying about her escaping.
He even added a small waterfall, which is so over the top.
I try to muffle my steps while I approach him. He’s crouched shirtless with his tattoos on display, wearing a backward black cap and black jeans that hang low on his hips. His muscles strain each time he leans forward to pick up another nail and slam it into the wooden fence.
I try to walk as carefully as possible without alerting him, but he stops mid-swing.
“Your sneaking around is as good as your cooking.”
