My dad grins. “You should keep everyone away from Chort.”
“He’s sweet to Maude,” my mom says, bringing up the mystery that’s dumbfounded all of us. The Doberman is deadly to everyone, but took an instant liking to Cindy and the little Beagle puppy they adopted. I’m hopeful one day he’ll learn to love the rest of us, but I’m also not willing to go give him a hug and see what happens.
“I thought my nephew was getting married today?” My Uncle Matvey peeks his head into the room, grinning at us while my Aunt Alina smiles and waves.
“You look so handsome, Damien,” she says, running over to give me a quick hug.
“Thanks, Aunt Alina,” I say, hugging her before she steps back to look at my dad. Her eyes are glassy, filled with tears that are seconds away from spilling over when she grabs my dad and hugs him. He hugs his sister back while sharing a look with Matvey over her shoulder. My family’s been through a lot, but the two years they spent searching for my aunt and always fearing the worst was a pain that won’t ever leave them, not even after all this time. Some pain never truly goes away, and they’ll carry the scars of this trauma forever. It’s not what it once was, though, and when my dad kisses my aunt’s head and then my uncle quickly pulls her back into his arms, I see the look in their eyes. It’s not a defeated look. It’s awe survived hell and made it through to the other sidekind of look. There’s a strength to it, and so much fucking love. It makes me proud to be a Melnikov, and even prouder to have my wife take our last name. She’ll always be a Medvedev, but now she’ll also be a Melnikov.
“Okay,” I say before I get too emotional. “I’m ready to get married.”
My Uncle Matvey grins and smacks my back. “We’re happy for you, Damien.”
My aunt nods and gives me a huge smile. “Sitka looks beautiful. I caught a glimpse of her earlier. She’s gonna knock you on your ass, honey.”
I grin and say, “She always does.”
Since Luka’s my best man, we both hang back while the others leave, and soon Ev and Sasha join us. Sitka chose Talia as her matron of honor and Yulia and Allie as bridesmaids, so I’d had to limit myself to three choices. My brother was always going to be my best man, and Sasha’s had my back since he was pushing down bossy little girls in elementary school to defend my honor, and without Ev covering my ass this trip, Sitka’sbrothers would’ve probably tried to kill me way sooner than they actually did. It felt right to have them stand next to me while I say my vows.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Sasha says, looking down at his bare feet.
Ev laughs and straightens his bowtie. “You’ve just got to wear it with confidence. Everyone else is in their bare feet, too, so at least you’re not the only one.”
“It does look cute on Cyn,” he says.
“Trust me,” I tell him, “you’re going to be glad you aren’t wearing socks and shoes. The sand would drive you crazy.”
“Just as long as my feet stay dry, I’m fine going barefoot,” Ev says.
I look down at my own bare feet and shrug. “I’m getting used to not wearing shoes. I’m going to miss this when we’re in the city.”
“Our families used to take us to the farmhouse all the time when we were little,” Luka says. “I say we start the tradition again once your kids are born.”
Sasha nods and then nudges Ev. “We’ll still let you tag along.”
Luka laughs. “Someone needs to babysit while we all sneak off for a quickie.”
“It’s hilarious that you think I’ll have enough free time to babysit while you all go off to make more babies,” Ev says.
“You can’t study all the time,” I tell him.
“Yes, I can, and if I want to succeed at this, then I’m going to have to,” he says.
Sasha looks over at him. “I think you should just stay firmly on the bad side of things. It’s much easier that way. You’re killing yourself by studying all the time, and once you become a lawyer, you’re going to have to spend your days around other lawyers and cops. Where’s the fun in that?”
Ev raises a brow at him. “It’s not supposed to be fun. It might turn out to be really fucking useful one day, though. Maybe it’ll be your crazy ass I’ll be saving one day.”
Sasha grins and huffs out a laugh. “My ass is never getting caught.”
“But if it does,” Ev counters. “I’ll be saving it.”
“Okay, but until then, you can still be the favorite uncle and babysit,” Sasha tells him. “You can’t hide out at the university.”
“Agreed,” I say. “You’re still a Melnikov. Family time is mandatory.”
“Fine,” he says, “but try to space the babies out a bit. I can only change so many dirty diapers at one time.”
“No promises,” Luka says with a laugh while we all follow him to the door. “I like my wife pregnant too much to wait too long.”
