I send another voice message to my cousin Max, and the one he sends me back is exactly what I expected. His familiar voice rises over the sound of his daughter’s giggles when he says, “Sounds good, Damien. Guest rooms are ready to go. Can’t wait to see you both.”
Lyra ends it with a happy squeal before the message stops. She’s nine months now, and I’m looking forward to spending some time with her. All my cousins’ babies are my nieces and nephews, and Lyra is the one I get to see least since she spends half the year in Oregon. It’ll be nice to get in some bonding time.
That’s what the focus of this trip is, time to relax with family and friends, not some sneaky attempt to make my move with Sitka Medvedev. It would be insane and a horrible idea all around. Her dad is psychotic on the level of Sasha, her two brothers are the same brand of crazy, and she lives on the other side of the country. Plus, the girl is a massive bookworm. Every time I see her, she’s reading. It’s not just a pastime for her. It’s an obsession. She loves those books, and it would take me hours to read even one page of them. There’s no way in hell she’d ever go for a guy who requires a ruler, a bottle of Tylenol, and plenty of time just to read a short paragraph. She’d laugh her ass off, and I can’t risk that happening.
I willneverrisk that.
Starting my motorcycle, I feel a twinge of regret at not being able to bring it with me, but the Medvedev family have extras. They always let me borrow something when I’m there. Last time I visited, Bran and his older brother Dmitri showed me several roads that wind through the forest, and I’m eager to ride them again. The scenery out there is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous, the complete opposite of the bustling city I grew up in, and I love it. I love that I can step outside, walk half a mile, and feel like I’m completely alone. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to just disappear.
Turning into the underground parking garage, I park next to my dad’s Porsche and then head up to the penthouse. I’ve thought about getting my own place, but right now there doesn’t seem to be much point. The place is huge, more than enough space for me to feel like I have my own apartment, and it’s not like I’m bringing women home. Outside of my family, I keep to myself, and that’s the way I like it. Plus, there’s no denying it’s safer this way. We have a strong grip on the city, but things change, and when they do, it’s usually quick and violent. Safety in numbers and all that.
As soon as I get through the security Niki set up, I step inside and immediately grin when I hear Luka’s son scream my name.
“Uncle Damien!”
I laugh as Roma comes barreling towards me as fast as his three-year-old legs will take him. When he’s close enough, I scoop him up so I can give him a hug. He wraps his arms around me and then pulls back so he can look at me. He looks just like my brother except his eyes are more blue-green instead of solid green like Luka’s. I got our mom’s eyes, so brown they’re almost black, but we all have the same dark hair, and when I ruffle Roma’s, he tips his head back and laughs.
“Will you watch a movie with us?” he asks as if there’s any chance in hell I’d ever say no to him.
“Only if we get to make snacks,” I tell him.
He claps his hands and nods while I carry him into the kitchen. My mom is already in there, pulling out a tray of cupcakes while my dad sits at the island with Luka’s daughter in his lap. Mira smiles when she sees us, but at nine months there’s not much more she can do. I still go over and kiss her head, which earns me an even bigger, very slobbery smile.
My dad laughs and wipes her face with a cloth. “She’s teething really bad right now. We told Luka and Lara we’d watch them so they could have the night off.”
“I can see that,” I say, laughing at the amount of drool and giving my niece another smile before looking at my dad. “Ev agreed to come with me to Oregon, so we’re all set. I let Max and Bran know, too. You sure it’s still okay to leave?”
“It’ll be fine,” my dad says. “You and Ev both need a break anyway. If we need you, we’ll call, but I doubt that’ll be necessary. Just enjoy your break.”
I nod while my mom comes walking over.
“I’m glad you came home early,” she says, giving me a side hug while she smiles at Roma. “We’re about to watch a movie. I’m just finishing up the snacks.”
She grabs the un-iced cupcakes, cuts a few of them into smaller pieces for Roma and puts them in a bowl since he prefers them that way, just like his dad. She ices the rest of them and then pours milk into a childproof cup and grabs a jar of baby food so Mira won’t feel left out. With our hands full, we make our way to the living room. My dad and uncles all lived here when they first came to America, so the couch can easily hold all of us.
Roma hands me the remote, and I quickly pull up his favorite streaming channel. I recognize all the logos, and picking his profile is easy because we set it up together. I click on the dinosaur image he chose and when the selection pops up, I look over at him.
“Which one do you want?”
Communicating with Roma is easy because he can’t read yet. I feel like we do things the same way, so when he points his finger and says, “The cat one, like Pip,” I know exactly which one he wants. He claps his hands when I click on the cat that looks just like the one his parents adopted before he was born.
I grab a cupcake and refuse to think about the day when Roma starts reading, easily surpassing me without even realizing it. I hope for his sake he does. I hope he’s the brightest kid in the whole class and that no one ever teases him about a goddamn thing. I hope he takes after his dad and not me.
When he starts to get sleepy, he crawls into my lap and gets comfortable. My mom looks over and gives me one of her sappy smiles. Her eyes dart between my dad, who’s holding a sleeping Mira, and me with Roma curled up in my lap.
“That’s the cutest thing ever,” she whispers before grabbing a blanket to tuck around Roma. She brushes back his dark hair and sighs. “He looks just like you and Luka did when you were this age.”
“Until he opens his eyes,” I say.
“Then it’s all Luka,” she agrees. Keeping her voice low, she sits in between me and my dad and grabs a cupcake. “You all packed for the trip?”
I snort out a laugh. “I haven’t even started.”
She looks appalled but then shakes her head and says, “You’re a grown man. I’m not going to treat you like a child and pack your bag for you.”
“I appreciate that,” I say.
She manages to stay silent for another few minutes, mostly because she spends it chewing, before she says, “Don’t forget your charger.”
