Millie
I’m nervous about having Katya for dinner right after she’s been told such horrible news about Stepan, but I feel like she needs somebody to be here for her, especially since her mother is so emotionally distant.
I’ve met Svetlana a time or two, but she never seems like she’s truly all there. While this might make the blow of losing her husband easier for her, it certainly doesn’t make her a good confidante to her daughter.
Not only do I want to see Katya and support her, but I also want to introduce her to Nikolai.
He’s far less traditional and heavy-handed than her father would want him to be, and that’s precisely why I’ve decided to introduce them. She needs somebody empathetic and sweet in her life, not somebody who is going to show her off like a pig at the state fair.
Viktor drives Millie to our penthouse from their meeting location, and as they arrive, I can see that she’s very broken up over the death of her father but is extremely happy to see me still. She fights back tears as she nearly runs towards me, and I have to warn her to be gentle with me due to my injuries.
“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. I forgot about that,” she says as she reaches her arms around me, gently pressing her hands into my back as the closest approximation of a non-painful hug that I can handle.
“How are you? How is the baby?” she asks, her question completely genuine and riddled with concern for me despite just losing her father.
I would hug her to death just for her endless consideration. “We’re fine. Just a little banged up,” I reply.
“What caused the crash? You were in the hospital for like a week,” she asks, her eyes wide as she notices a particularly nasty yellow bruise on my right arm.
I glance questioningly at Viktor, uncertain how to proceed. I’d feel absolutely rotten explaining that her father was the one who almost killed me in multiple ways. I don’t even know exactly what Viktor told her.
He shakes his head slightly, and that is enough indication for me to keep my mouth shut.
I’d rather not get into it. Even just thinking about it makes the pain feel worse,” I lie.
She shrugs, and before I’m able to say anything else, I get a notification that Nikolai is waiting for me to open the elevator for him downstairs.
“You’ve heard Viktor talk about Nikolai, right? I thought you two would have a lot in common, so I invited him here for dinner. Is that okay?” I ask her.
She nods emphatically. “Oh, for sure. I feel like having more people here will keep me from falling apart,” she replies, laughing as she says it, though I can see her beginning to cry again.
When Nikolai arrives, he’s brought flowers for me as a get-well gift, and I’m secretly hoping that Katya notices how much of a sweetheart he is. I know she immediately catches his eye, and it’s almost endearing the way he tries to act more formally in her presence. I’ve never seen him behave that way, and that’s how I know he instantly likes her.
Since I’m in no position to actually cook for anyone, Viktor takes over the task of making dinner for us all, and he ends up going to the freezer and taking out the ravioli I had made when I planned to tell him about the baby.
“Oh my god, you kept those?” I ask, shocked that he had the presence of mind to do so. Even as a businessman and a mafia boss, he can sometimes forget basic housekeeping tasks like saving leftovers instead of throwing them away.
“Of course. I mean, I was confused as to why you made them and then disappeared, but they looked like they took you a lot of time. I can make a sauce for them, and we can all eat them,” he replies, and my chest feels warm.
Enjoying this meal with all of my favorite people despite such tragedy makes everything feel so worth it.
EPILOGUE
Months later, Viktor is finally bringing me to the hospital to deliver our baby. Even though my whole body is vibrating with excitement and anxiety, I feel an inner peace knowing he’ll be right by my side the entire time. I’ve planned for this moment in my head a billion times, watching videos and speaking to all kinds of professionals about what to expect, and I still feel completely unprepared.
The nurses are all pleasant and accommodating, for the most part. Of course, there is one woman who seems to find it funny that I’m so nervous about having my first baby, and Viktor screams her out of the room as soon as he feels like she’s disrespecting me. As embarrassing as it is to see him fly into a rage in semi-public, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride that the man I love will protect me from anyone, even a bitchy nurse.
I’m in labor for eleven hours before we meet our baby girl, and the way that Viktor looks into her little face for the first time will stay with me forever. His eyes caught the light like I’ve never seen before, as if the sight of his baby has opened up a whole new dimension of love inside of him.
He’s overwhelmed by it, and I see him cry for the very first time ever. This little baby has brought this man to his knees just by her existence.
Spending time in the hospital again brings back memories of the crash. It reminds me of the darkness that enveloped me for the week that I spent being awoken twice per night to be given antibiotics and to have my vitals taken.
Throughout the two days after I deliver the baby, Viktor is right by my side the entire time, taking on all of the challenges of a newborn baby to give me the chance to rest. Even though I’m sore all over and feel absolutely exhausted, I can’t imagine not having him here to take care of me.
When we finally arrive home, I smell that familiar apartment smell again, the smell of my true home. This is the way things should be.
I’m taken back by how easily the baby and I are able to integrate into normal life together, and after I’ve given birth, Nikolai agrees to take over the bakery in order for me to spend time with our baby while she grows up.
I’ve never felt luckier in my entire life. If I hadn’t been living this way for over a year now, I would believe it was too good to be true, that a life like this is only a fairytale for people like me.
We’ve been home for three weeks now, and I’m about to go to sleep when I see Viktor asleep with our daughter on his shoulder, both of them passed out completely in the perfectly undisturbed atmosphere of our living room.
It brings tears to my eyes; it’s like we have our own little ecosystem all the way up here at the top of this building. Even though so much has taken place, I feel so safe with Viktor around all the time.
He’s been able to delegate many of his work-related tasks, legal and otherwise, to his associate Slava. At first, he wasn’t so certain that it would be the best idea, but Slava seemed particularly interested in taking over Viktor’s workload when he learned that I’d had a baby
As somebody who was never able to be there for his own children, he wanted to give back somehow. I felt like that was really compassionate of him.
It’s the first snowfall of the year, and I’ve woken up at five in the morning by accident after waking up from a nightmare. I decide to sneak out to the kitchen for some tea to calm my nerves, and as I step into the kitchen, I can’t believe how beautiful the city looks as the snow falls. The snowflakes catch the light of the city skyline in the most haunting, ethereal way, and I can’t believe how lucky I feel to be seeing this from where I’m standing with a hot cup of tea.
I feel so beyond privileged by this, to have a man that loves and protects me as well as our perfect baby girl. To be able to see all of this from our home in the clouds, to know that I’ll never have to worry about Erik or Stepan ever again. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that I could never express in words.
And all of this over a rent increase.