Page 133 of Fractured Empire

“Ooooo.” He looks somehow floored by the information and like he’s recalling being told that before.

“Hi, Mama,” my wife says with a small crack in her voice, smiling as her mother sits by the side of the bed.

“How are you, my sweet girl?”

“Tired and hungry,” she quips, laughing a little at her own reply. “But so happy.”

“You okay, Mommy?” Bastian asks, holding her arm as if to ground himself in the moment.

“I’m amazing.” Kissing his head, she sighs happily. “Especially now that my favorite boys are here. I missed you both so much, did you miss me too?”

Of course, they both jump at the chance to tell her yes.

I can’t even complain that they don’t mention missing me too. They’re far too focused on their mother and I can’t blame them. Katya is the star of this show. And every moment of our lives, really.

“Do you want to meet your sister?” I ask, leaning over the small bed on wheels that she’s resting in. “You have to be very quiet because she’s been sleeping, okay?”

Both of them vow their agreement in a whisper, and Katya’s mom lets out a little gasp as I pick up our daughter. Passing her off to my wife, I let her hold our girl so the boys can get a close look, and she can be in the moment with them.

“Wooooow,” Leo murmurs, peering down at the baby with his big blue eyes. “Dats our sister?”

“It is sure,” Katya says tearily. “What do you think?”

“She’s so small,” Bastian points out softly.

“She’s so pink,” Leo counters in a comically hushed tone.

Katya snorts at his assessment and nods. “She is a little pink, isn’t she?”

“What’s her name?” Bastian wonders, tilting his head down at her.

My wife looks at me and nods, parting her lips in an encouraging smile.

“Her name is Luna,” I reveal, answering them but looking straight at my father. “Luna Viktória Moretti.”

Leo is the first to react, cooing, “Ooooo, pretty.”

But not a second later, it’s Dante Moretti opening his mouth to speak. “Luna?” he repeats, the sound barely loud enough to catch.

“Just like you always said,” I reply thickly. Luna was the name Dad had always kept in the back of his mind in case he had a baby girl one day.

Obviously, he didn’t get to name Jade, and he never sired another baby girl before he stopped having children, but I used to think it was an adorable name for a sister.

Or a daughter.

“Son, I…”

“Why don’t you hold her,” Katya offers, lifting our daughter off of her lap slightly. “She looks just like Leon, I think. But we haven’t had a chance to argue over who she inherited more of her features from yet.” The teasing joke is enough to keep my father from doing something completely out of character like crying in front of us or getting too emotional that he has to flee the room.

When my daughter is finally in his arms, he looks down at her and a muscle in his jaw bounces. He’s barely holding it together and fuck, I’m right there with him.

“She’s beautiful, Katya,” he tells my wife before looking back at me. “Her name suits her.”

Neither of us can speak for a minute, too busy trying to keep our composure.

“Viktória is for my favorite flower,” Katya announces, trying to keep the mood light. “Leon buys me these beautiful red roses from a shop called Victory in town. In Slovak, Viktória is spelled with a K, like how Jade and Dmitri’s baby is named Viktor. I thought the nod to the roses I adore while giving our girl a little touch of Slovakia would be sweet.”

“So sweet,” Katya’s mother gushes happily, getting up to hug her daughter and by proxy, our sons.