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“Yeah, of course,” Alina tells her, unhooking Finn’s leash so he can walk around and explore. Emily scratches his head before he sniffs around and then follows us into the kitchen. When Alina sees all the bags on the counter, she looks up at me. “What is all this?”
“We can’t have your dog eating off our fancy plates, now can we?”
We look over to see Vitaly walking over with Katya. She laughs at her husband. “We don’t have fancy plates.” Katya smiles at Alina. “Don’t listen to him. He’s the one who spent an hour in the dog food aisle, trying to find the best stuff. Finn is going to be eating like a king.”
“Beautiful dog,” Lev says while everyone else gathers around to meet Finn. Ralph had said it was fine to treat him like a pet as long as everyone remembered he still had a job to do. His main focus should always be Alina, and he should always be able to get to her if necessary. I’d texted them all the info while Alina had been getting lessons from Ralph, and Vitaly had volunteered to get all the supplies.
Vitaly motions towards all the bags. “It’s a good thing I had Roman’s minivan to load all this stuff into. I also put several dog beds throughout the penthouse so he can nap wherever he wants, and I wasn’t sure about toys, so I kind of just bought anything that looked fun.” He looks over at Roman. “It handles like a dream, by the way. If your stubborn ass would try driving it, you’d know that.”
“I’m never driving it,” Roman says, bending down to pet Finn. “You’re getting my Porsche back.” He pets the dog’s head and then points to Vitaly. “He’s the one you’re allowed to bite.”
Vitaly laughs while Finn licks Roman’s finger.
I walk around the island and start pulling out stuff to make sandwiches. Alina hasn’t eaten yet, and she needs some lunch. Seeing the sonogram pictures on the fridge has me looking over at Lev. “The appointment’s today, right?”
He grins and reaches over to lay his hand on Jolene’s stomach. “Yeah, we need to leave soon.”
“Don’t worry,” I tell him. “It’ll be a girl.”
He scrubs a hand over his jaw, running a thumb over the lip ring in the corner of his mouth, trying like hell to hide his smile. We all know he’s hoping like hell they’re having a little girl.
He kisses his wife’s head. “I’ll be happy no matter what.”
She laughs. “Yeah, but if it’s a boy, we’re in big trouble. You’ve already bought an entire closetful of pink baby clothes.”
Lev smiles and shrugs. “We’ll have a girl eventually,malinkaya. I’ll make damn sure of that.”
We all laugh while Jolene blushes and rolls her eyes at her husband.
“I’m telling you, we need to keep the minivan,” Vitaly says. “We’re going to need three or four of them to cart around all the babies we’re going to be having.”
Alina laughs, but I notice the way she ducks her head and reaches for Finn. The dog immediately sits next to her, leaning his weight against her leg in a move that’s designed to comfort her. When she looks back up, I give her a wink and start to make our lunch.
After Jolene and Lev leave, we take our food downstairs, but instead of sitting in my lap like usual, Alina sits down next to me.
“I just want to try,” she starts to explain, but I hook a finger under her jaw, tilting her face up to mine.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,malishka. You’re always welcome in my lap, and I love feeding you. That will always be an option for you. I don’t care where we are or who sees us, if you need in my lap, then I want you in my lap.” I smile and kiss her lips. “But if you’re ready to try eating on your own, then we can try that. Whatever you need, that’s what we’ll do.”
She grips my wrist and gives it a squeeze. “It might not work.” Her voice is whisper-soft and hesitant.
“Then I’ll feed you and we’ll try again some other time. No pressure, baby.”
She nods and I give her one more kiss before letting her go. Finn sits at her feet, waiting and watching. I take a bite of my own sandwich, not wanting her to feel like she’s under a microscope, even though I am watching every move she makes. She looks at her food, gives a soft sigh, and then picks up her sandwich. Sensing her growing anxiety, Finn rests his head on her thigh and turns those big eyes up at her. The cute, puppy-dog look is enough to pull a soft laugh from her, and she pets his head while she takes a bite, and then another, and then another.
I’m too afraid to break whatever magic spell is going on, so we eat in silence until her plate is empty. When she’s finished her last bite, she looks over at me, and the proud grin on her face has me fucking beaming at her. Setting our plates aside, I pull her into my lap and kiss her.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,malishka.”
“All I did was eat, you know, like every other normal person does.”
“Hey, don’t you dare downplay what just happened.” Cupping her face, I kiss her again and wrap my arms around her. “This is huge, sweetheart, and I’m so goddamn proud of you.”
I hold her for a few more minutes before we get up to take care of Finn. We get all of his things set up, making sure he knows where allhis comfy beds are located as well as his water and food dish. He takes it all in stride, but I swear the dog’s eyes light up when we take him out to the rooftop and he runs past the pool and hot tub to the large patch of artificial grass that’s at the end of the terrace. He sniffs every inch of it and then looks back at Alina. She laughs and gives the command for him to use the bathroom.
“I guess this will work in between walks to the park,” I tell her, laughing when he starts running around again.
We stay outside for a few more minutes until not even my arms wrapped around her can keep her warm, and then we go inside to wait with the others for Lev and Jolene to get back. Alina and I are sitting on the couch with Finn sprawled out on one of his dog beds when the elevator doors open. As soon as I see Lev’s face, I know they’re having a girl. His huge smile says it all.
