"Then marry me."
She blinks. "What?"
"Marry me." I take her face in my hands. "I was going to wait. Buy a ring. Do it properly. But I just told you the worst thing thatever happened to me, and you're still here. You're still looking at me like I'm worth loving. So fuck waiting."
"Leonid—"
"I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to put babies in you and watch you grow round with them and build the family you've always dreamed of." I press my forehead to hers. "Marry me, Lily. Please."
She's crying again. Laughing and crying at the same time.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I'll marry you." She throws her arms around my neck. "Yes. Yes.Yes."
I kiss her. Deep and desperate and tasting like tears and forever.
The tests arrive twenty minutes later.
Twelve of them. Lily looks at the bag and laughs until she can barely breathe.
"You're absolutely insane," she says, taking them into the bathroom. "You know that, right?"
"I prefer thorough."
"Insane."
She closes the door. I pace the hallway like a caged animal, running my hands through my hair, trying to remember how to breathe.
Please, I think.Please let it be real.
Three minutes pass. The longest three minutes of my life.
The door opens.
Lily is standing there, holding a test in each hand. Her face is wet with tears, but she's smiling. Smiling so wide it looks like it might break her.
"Positive," she whispers. "They're all positive."
I'm on my knees before I know I'm moving.
My arms wrap around her waist, my face pressing against her stomach—against mychild—and I'm crying. I, Leonid Morozov, who hasn't cried since I was twelve years old, am sobbing like a baby against the woman I love.
"Spasibo," I choke out. "Spasibo, solnyshko.Thank you. Thank you."
She sinks down to the floor with me. Wraps her arms around my neck. Holds me while I fall apart.
"I love you," she says.
"I love you too." I pull back, look at her face, memorize every detail of this moment. "Both of you. I love you both so much."
She takes my hand. Presses it to her stomach.
"Hi, baby," she whispers. "It's your mama. And your papa is here too. And he's already completely obsessed with you."
I laugh. I’m happier than I've ever been.
