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“Hearing it from Mariya isn’t ‘secondhand.’”
She doesn’t deny it, which means my guess was correct. I’ll have to have a chat with my little sister about what we do and don’t share with our mother.
“Besides, I was going to tell you when the time was right. I’ve been busy.”
I close the door as she mutters under her breath. As soon as I open the driver’s side door, she keeps talking. “The time was right when you decided to propose. You used the ring I gave you, didn’t you?”
“You told me to save it for the right woman. Luna is the right woman.”
“She’d better be,” she snaps. “It’s going to be hard to go back now that she is pregnant with your child. Not hearing about the engagement was bad enough, but now, I don’t even know the mother of my first grandchild.”
I start the car, my teeth clenched. “I’m sure I have Mariya to thank for letting that information slip, as well.”
My mother turns to me, thinning eyebrows raised to her dark hairline. There are strands of gray sticking out that she must have missed during her last dye job. “So it’s true? You got this woman pregnant? She’s having your baby?”
“Babies,” I correct.
The way her jaw falls open tells me Mariya hasn’t slipped that information to her yet. When her eyes light up, a grin spreading across her face, I know my failure to share is all but forgiven.
“Twins?!” She beams.
I nod. “Twins.”
The smile makes her look at least ten years younger. “That’s wonderful news. Two babies. Wow. What a blessing. That’s a good sign. You wouldn’t be having twins if this wasn’t meant to be.”
My mother has always erred on the side of mysticism, buying into what she calls “signs from the universe.” I want to push back. If the universe is sending any signs lately, it’s that the universe is fucking done with the Kulikov family. We’ve been shot at and kidnapped and rendered comatose.
So no, Luna getting pregnant has nothing to do with the universe and everything to do with the two of us being so eager to fuck that we didn’t even discuss birth control.
But it’s not the time for cynicism. Especially since Luna and I are actually meant to be. Not because of some bullshit like fate or destiny, but because she’s incredible. She’s the only woman I could ever imagine standing by my side.
I chose her. She chose me.
The universe had fuck-all to do with it.
“Babies are a lot of work, Yakov,” my mother warns, shaking her head. “You have no idea. I was so young when I had you. I didn’t know what I was doing. It was hard. And you’re having two. Two! You are going to need so much help.”
“I can hire a nanny.”
She snorts. “You can’t have a stranger taking care of your children. Not my grandbabies. Babies know their own blood. They can sense it. If you want them to grow up and be loyal to the family, they need to be taken care of by their own kin.”
“Babies eat and sleep and shit. They don’t know anything about kin.”
“You did!” she insists. “I couldn’t keep a nanny. You cried and cried unless I was holding you. Same with Nikandr.”
She hasn’t mentioned him since she stepped off the plane. I’m now sure that was on purpose. As soon as she says his name, it’s like the air in the car is sucked out.
Her fingers are thin. The backs of her hands are blue from the veins running so close to the surface. She clenches and releases the fabric of her pants a few times before she speaks. “Has there been any change since we last talked? Is Nik… Is he still?—”
“Same,” I bite out. “No change.”
She blows out a ragged breath and then shakes her head like she’s clearing away the thought. “Babies are a lot of work. You’ll need some help. Family help. Your cousin, Katerina, was always good with kids.”
“Katerina’s husband runs a hedge fund. I can’t hire her to be my nanny.”
“Of course not,” she says. “She has five of her own kids, anyway. She’s busy. No, you need someone with more time on their hands.”
I bite back a smile. My mother is many things, but “subtle” is not one of them. She wants me to invite her to stay with us once the babies are born.
