He cared. He’d always cared. And I couldn’t wait for the rest of my life to show him how mutual that feeling and sentiment was.
“Come here,” he said, urging me to stand with him so he could soap me up.
Closing my eyes and welcoming the slippery feel of his hands on me as he moved the suds, I let out a contented sigh. He guided me to hold on to him so I wouldn’t fall, and I lazily leaned against him.
“What are you thinking?” he asked in a slightly playful and teasing tone as he rinsed me off.
“I’m almost too sleepy to think,” I joked.
“You’re welcome.”
I kissed him and kept one arm looped around his neck to ground myself.
“I’m thinking about how amazing it is to choose a new life.”
His responding look was a sober and intense stare. Like he was seeing through my soul.
“I didn’t have a choice to go with you in the beginning, but I do now. You asked me to marry you, and that’s a choice I made. One I’d make again a million times over.”
“Me too,” he admitted gruffly. “Once I could stop worrying about how loving you could be a distraction, I chose to live fully as I embrace all these changes going on.”
He kissed me like it was a promise, that we’d always choose each other mutually from here on.
“I already had, though,” I added. I hadn’t needed his proposal to convince me where my heart lay.
I’d been committed to him since the moment I declared that I was no longer John Morovov’s daughter.
“I chose you. I will choose you, Adrik, forever. Because I can’t imagine being with anyone else on this earth.You’remy family, the one I needed to accept.” I placed his hand on my still-flat stomach. “Ourfamily.”
He dipped me back for another deep kiss, and I felt like we were both signing our souls to each other as we finally saw eye-to-eye on how we could start a brand-new future together.
35
ADRIK
Alot could happen in a week. Seven days could seem like a long wait or a quick rush. It didn’t seem like nearly enough time for me and Elena, though. There was no way we could stay sane and accomplish all the tasks that were ahead of us in one measly week.
“You don’t have to rush through it,” Maksim told me, oh, so wisely. “It’s not like she’s going to go into labornow.”
He’d taken the news of my engagement and the baby on the way quite well. All of my brothers and cousins had. Lev already had the head’s up, since he’d overheard me asking the doctor for the test kit, but he’d managed to keep his mouth shut and didn’t tell the others. His surprise was slightly less, but like the others, he had been happy and congratulated me when I told them all at lunch that I was marrying Elena and that we’d be welcoming a child soon.
While I was the first of our generation to find a woman to keep and to start a family, they would all be in my shoes somedaysoon too. For now, though, they were rallying behind me and Elena and ready to officially welcome her to the family.
“She doesn’t want to wait,” I reminded my brother, raising my brows.
“Okay.Shedoesn’t want to. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a say in it.” He shrugged. “There doesn’t need to be a rush with this if you don’t want it like that. Planning an appropriate wedding in four days is a lot.”
I frowned at him as we walked through the garden and outdoor patio and entertainment space behind the main house. “But shedoeswant to get married this week.” Even though my proposal to her was hasty, and catalyzed by the idea of her carrying my child, there was no outer influence that meant I had to bind her to me legally. Sure, it was ideal to be married before the baby was born, but we had months.
“And I’m past due in giving her what she wants,” I added. When I proposed, I meant it when I vowed to give her whatever she desired in life. Anything. Nothing was off the table because while I could compromise with her and give her an avenue to continue being a people pleaser—with me—I wanted to ensure she never had to feel obligated to earn anything.
After Morovov belittling her for probably her whole life, I intended to provide for her and our child in any way I could. I planned to spoil her, pamper her, and always reward her for what she wished for.
And if that meant marryingthisweek, sooner than later, that was what we were going to do.
“Pussy whipped already,” Alexei said from my left, piping up for the first time as he walked with us. He shot me an amused smirk, but it fell from his face when I punched his shoulder.
“Just you wait.”
