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He laughs, and I love seeing him so happy. “He’s doing great. We survived the first night of being parents.”
Emily laughs in the background and Roman angles the camera so I can see my exhausted sister-in-law. She may be tired, but she’s beaming when she looks down at Luka snuggled in her arms. “Barely. I had no idea anyone could eat and go to the bathroom so many times.”
I laugh and then ooh and aah when I get a clear view of my nephew’s sweet face. He’s in a blue sleeper, looking unbelievably adorable. His green eyes look between his mom and dad, and it makesme so happy to know that he’ll never have the kind of childhood that we all had. He’ll never come home from school and find his mom with bruises on her face because her latest boyfriend got pissed. He’ll never have to deal with abuse of any kind or a hungry belly. He’s going to be surrounded by people who love him and by people who will do anything to keep him safe.
“I know, Alina,” Roman says in Russian, reading my expression when he turns the phone back around so I can see him. “He’ll never have to go through what we did.”
I’m hesitant to ask, but I force myself to say the words. “Have you heard from Mom lately?”
The sad look in his eyes isn’t because he’s heartbroken that our mom never really seemed to care about us; it’s because he knows that what he’s about to say is going to hurt me, and that’s the last thing he wants to do.
“It’s okay, Roman, just say it.”
He sighs and then meets my eyes again. “I haven’t heard from her in almost a year. The last time I talked to her, I told her about Emily and how we were still searching for you.”
“She didn’t care, did she?”
“It doesn’t matter, Alina,” he says, giving me a small smile. “We made our own family, remember? Fuck everyone else.”
Even though I feel the ache at knowing my mom doesn’t really give a shit about us, I still can’t help but smile at my brother. Our mom has always been absent. She was forced to work a lot of hours, which we understood, but it was the long string of shit boyfriends that we had a harder time ignoring. Our dad died when I was just a baby, so the only memories I have of men were the jackasses she seemed to be attracted to. Roman is the one who took care of me, and he’s right. We made our own family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m so glad you’re my big brother,” I tell him, making his smile grow.
“Me, too, Alina.” He turns his head a bit like he’s trying to look past me. “Where’s Matvey?”
“He’s making me breakfast with Finn.”
He gives another laugh when he sees the smile I can’t hide. “I’m happy for you,” he says. “We all are. There’s no one else I’d rather see you with.”
“He told me you gave him your permission.”
“I did, and when the time comes, I can’t wait to walk you down the aisle.”
My eyes tear up at his words. “I love you, Roman.”
I swear his look just as glassy as mine. He smiles and nods his head towards his wife and son. “They’re making me soft.”
“What are you saying about me?” Emily asks, not understanding a word of what we’ve been saying.
Roman smiles at her and switches back to English. “I’m telling my sister that I’ve become a giant softie because of you two.”
Emily smiles at him. “Yeah, you have, and it’s adorable.” She darts her eyes to mine. “You should’ve seen him counting Luka’s toes last night. So freaking cute.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Roman says, but I can tell he’s not the slightest bit upset about being teased. He’s too busy being happier than I’ve ever seen him.
“Will you get to come home tomorrow?”
“Yeah, we’ll be back tomorrow evening.”
“Good, I can’t wait to hold him again. Give him a big kiss from me.”
“I will. We’ll see you tomorrow. Tell everyone we said hi. I’m going to put a bunch of photos in our group chat.”
“Please do. I can’t wait to see them. Love you guys.”
“Love you too,” they both say, giving me big smiles while Emily holds Luka’s little hand so he’s giving me a wave before they hang up.
“What are you smiling so big about?”
