Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Those were words I thought would never belong to me.
When I found out that Alina was pregnant, I was a little apprehensive. I’d always known it was a possibility, but I’d never given it much thought. I just assumed it was always going to be just us, and I was good with that. But with each doctor’s visit and ultrasound, I became more and more enamored by the idea of having a family with her.
But when I imagined raising our firstborn, I had always envisioned a son. Never considered the chances of us having a girl. Not even when the ultrasound showed we were having one. It didn’t truly set in until the day Evie was born, and that was when my whole world was turned inside out.
She was everything good in the world wrapped up into one beautiful, perfect package. She had her mother’s eyes, big and bright enough to make a man forget his own name. But she had my strong will, God help us all. She was just over two, and she walked around the apartment like she owned the deed to the building.
Her hair curled at the ends like Alina’s, and every time I looked at her, I thought maybe the universe didn’t hate me as much as I thought. Let’s just say, the kid had me wrapped around her little finger, and she used it to her advantage.
I was sitting at the table, going through some emails, when I heard the shuffle of little feet come up behind me. She marched up to me with no hesitation. No fear or doubt. Just pure determination jammed into twenty-five pounds of pure joy and utter chaos.
She gave my pants leg a tug and demanded, “Ice keem.”
“Ice cream?” I don’t even try to fight the smile as I scooped her up. “Vanilla or chocolate?”
“Yes!” she answered, beaming.
“You got it, pretty girl.”
“Sergei! She’s already had a snack,” Alina fussed from the living room. “She doesn’t need ice cream!”
I looked over to my daughter, and she looked at me. We could pretend all we wanted, but we both knew exactly how this was going to go.
“She’s clearly starving, babe,” I called back. “She’s literally wasting away before my eyes.”
Evie gave me a cheeky smile as she repeated, “I starbin’, Mama!”
“You are no such thing.”
“Uh-huh,” she argued
“We’ll just get a little.” I carried her over to the fridge and grabbed the tub of ice cream. “Not enough to matter either way.”
“Sergei!” Alina warned with a mix of exasperation and laughter. “You’re spoiling her!”
“It’s my job to spoil her.”
I gave Evie a wink, then put a few scoops of ice cream into a cup. I returned the ice cream to the freezer and grabbed a couple of spoons before heading over to the sofa. Alina glared at me as I sat down with our sweet girl and started feeding her the ice cream.
“Your momma’s mad at me.”
“Because your father doesn’t listen.” Alina ran her hand over her ever-so-pregnant belly and grumbled, “He’s going to turn you into a little monster if he keeps giving you every little thing you want.”
Evie shook her head, and with her mouth full of ice cream, she fussed, “I'm not a mom-ster.”
“No, not yet.” Alina let out an exasperated breath. “Are you planning on spoiling our son like you spoil her?”
“I wouldn’t say I was planning on it, but it’s definitely a possibility.” I turned Evie to face her mother as I told her, “I can’t help it that we make such cute kids. Hell, how am I supposed to say no to those dimples?”
“You run two casinos, boss people around all day, bark orders, and crawl all over anyone who doesn’t do exactly what you say. And you’re going to tell me that a couple of dimples is all it takes to turn you into a pushover?”
“Well, that and her momma’s eyes.”
“Oh, good grief.”
“It’s true. There’s only so much a man can take.”
Alina let out a groan, but she didn’t continue scolding me. I considered that a victory and kept feeding our daughter her ice cream. Once she was done, Alina got up and extended her hands to Evie. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get you cleaned up and ready for bed.”
Evie didn’t protest. Instead, she reached out to her mother and melted into her arms. Our girl loved her mother, and that made me love her even more. “Good night, Evie girl.”
“Night, Daddy.”
Damn. She could say it a million times, and hearing her call me daddy would still make my chest tight. Alina carried her into the nursery and got her ready for bed, and I used the time to tie up a few loose ends at work.
When I was done, I went to the bedroom and changed out of my clothes before crawling into bed. I hadn’t been there long when Alina walked in. She stepped into the closet and came out in her nightgown.