Page 77 of Devil's Bride

***

“Oh my god, congratulations!” Arielle shrieks and almost side-hugs the air out of Irina.

It’s been two hours since our daughter was born. Irina and the baby were moved into a private room and the doctor cleared us for visitors.

The joy in the room is thoroughly contagious. Nikolai and Mikhail stand behind Arielle, expressing their own happiness, and from completely out of nowhere, Damien enters the room with two large baskets. One filled to the brim with fruit and the other with covered plates that no doubt contain food.

“Celebrations are in order,” he announces, dropping a basket in the corner of the room. “I can’t believe I’m an uncle now.”

“It’s normal, I can’t believe I’m an aunty either,” Arielle concurs with a dramatic sigh and helps Damien with the other basket. “It’s intriguing, isn’t it?”

The door opens again and this time, it’s Irina’s mother. She’s holding three large bouquets of flowers, and she’s grinning from ear to ear. “Oh my god, is that my grandbaby?”

She moves up to Irina’s side with a motherly smile, adoration in her eyes as she coos over the baby. The corners of her eyes crinkle deeply when she brushes the baby’s cheeks gently. “Ah, she’s so beautiful.”

“I know, right?” Irina murmurs. “So beautiful.”

“She has her mother’s eyes,” Irina’s mother says.

“I think she looks more like her father,” Irina says. And someone snorts.

It sounds a lot like Nikolai. “There’s no way. He’s not even half as beautiful as she is.”

They laugh, and I feel the heat of their gaze boring holes into my back. But I can’t move. Can’t say a word. So many thoughts rush through my mind all at the same time, but the most I can do is fucking stare.

I’m in too much wonder to do anything. The fact that my wife just birthed a whole new life, and that little girl is mine…it feels surreal. in a beautiful dream and I don’t ever want to wake up from it.

A slow smirk appears on Mikhail’s face and he slides a hand into his pocket. “It’s happening to him.”

“What?” Dimitri raises a brow. “What’s happening?”

Arielle backs up to stand beside Nikolai. “Reality check. He’s taking a lot of time to process this. Maybe too much time?” She looks at the silver watch on her wrist. “Hey, Alexei?”

They laugh, and a warm kiss on my cheek brings me back.

“You can come back now.” I blink and see Irina smiling up at me. Knowing her, she sees the war of emotions raging in my eyes.

“Our princess has finally arrived and she’s fine,” she says. “We are both fine.”

I look down at the small bundle nestled in her arm. Small and cute, with wrinkly skin and a red face. She has quieted down and is now more interested in squinting—probably trying to recognize everyone as fast as she can while her grandmother is already doing a great job at making sure her first word is “Grandma.”

“... and this is Uncle Nikolai,” Nikolai takes over. “I’m your Daddy’s little brother. Oh, and here’s Dimitri. You can consider him as your personal bodyguard. If he ever lets anything happen to you, Daddy might get his dick chopped off.”

“Nikolai!” Irina playfully hisses. “Language.”

“Sorry! I should have said, chop his head off.”

They laugh and Nikolai backs up again, with raised hands. “In my opinion, the sooner she gets acquainted with how the world works, the faster she gets to navigate it.”

Irina rolls her eyes and that’s the signal they need to start a full banter while the others watch with amused expressions.

“She’s barely a day old. She can barely navigate how to use a diaper.”

“That’s what you think. Just wait until her dad has her in shooting range next week, taking gun lessons.”

“He might prefer to start with combat tomorrow,” Mikhail adds.

“That’s all nonsense,” Mrs. Volkov interjects, and they fall silent. The twinkle in her eyes betrays her seriousness when she says, “I’m willing to bet he’s going to teach her lesson one tonight, Identifying the Enemy.”

---