Page 102 of Doc

“Are you okay, Zaychik?” Ilyona asks.

I give her what I hope is a believable smile. “Yes, Mama, I’m fine.”

“You’re dancing around like you have ants in your pants. If you were a little kid, I would think you had to potty. Sory used to do that, you know? He was terrified of the toilet, so he’d hold it for as long as possible, and then whine and cry while hoppingfrom foot to foot, trying to make it to the bathroom. Lots of accidents in those days, let me tell you.”

I hope my blush isn’t too noticeable. Because while she’s not right, she’s not entirely wrong either, and the last thing I want is to clue my mother-in-law in on my current predicament.

Ilyona shows me how to fold and pinch the pelmeni before boiling. When she heard James does most of the cooking because I have negative zero interest, she decided that was a tragedy and dragged me into the kitchen with her to make one of Daddy’s favorite dishes.

I’m not big on dumplings as a whole, but Ilyona insists it’s just because I’ve never had the Russian equivalent.

I have to admit, if it wasn’t for my current…situation, cooking with Daddy’s mother would be fun. Getting to know her over the past three weeks has been fun. She’s full of Russian swears, and stories of Daddy and the triplets. Daddy likes to pretend her presence is an annoyance, and asks her every day when she’s going home, but I can tell he likes having her around.

“Maybe you should sit down and I’ll cook them.” She looks at me with concern etched on her face. “You’re supposed to be resting. I know it’s been about ten weeks since you got hurt, but that doesn’t mean you have to be pushing yourself too hard.”

“I’m fine, Mama. Promise. You’re right, maybe I overdid it, but I promise, it’s nothing to worry about.”

I just pushed my Daddy too far and now he’s skillfully punishing me without even being in the same room.

She makes a noise I’ve come to interpret as ‘she doesn’t believe you, but will let you get away with it anyway’. It works about eighty percent of the time on her son. He usually falls for her tricks, despite growing up with her. I, however, came into adulthood alongside Tennant and Cristian, so it’ll take a lot more than some motherly manipulation to get me to crack. Plus, Ireallydon’t want to scar us all by confessing what Daddy and I do behind closed doors.

Which is difficult enough as I miss the days of being able to play in the family room, or even in the kitchen, whoever decides to enter the room at that time be damned. If it was just the trips, neither Daddy nor I would care, they’re family like James, Enzo, and Kail are. Ilyona is different, there’s not enough therapy in the world for us to risk that. So, as much as I love having Ilyona here, I am also counting down the days to the end of the week when she finally goes home.

I help Ilyona boil a few of the pelmeni, trying to get a handle on how to make them. Though she assures me that the trips know how to make them, along with a few other traditional dishes.

“It is one of my only regrets,” she admits as we stand at the stove. “I thought I was protecting him. I knew he was different, not as hard or as vicious as Nisha always wanted his son to be. I thought by stunting him, and keeping those parts of his culture from him, it would help him see that there’s a life outside the Bratva. When I left…” She pauses and swallows, her eyes closing for a long moment.

“When Nisha pushed me away and I decided I’d had enough, I thought it would be best for us all. I hated that I couldn’t bring Sory with me, but there was no way Nisha was going to let him go. He belonged to the Bratva, and even Ivan was reluctant to let him go so far whenever I managed to get him for a few weeks during the summer. Though Ivan’s reasons were different from Nisha’s.

“Ivan knew what would happen if Nisha discovered he was gay. He tried his best to protect Soren, but he had the Bratva and his own son to worry about; I do not blame him for anything that happened.” She takes a shaky breath and I place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, he doesn’t blame you for anything. He understands. He knew what his father was like, and understood you didn’t have a choice in anything that happened.”

She nods and takes a shaky breath, using the bottom of her apron to wipe her watery eyes. “Thank you, Doc. You’re a good man, and I am so glad my son found you.”

I smile. “Me too, Mama.”

“Let’s finish up before we have a kitchen full of hungry boys. I remember how hangry the Novikovs get.”

I laugh and get the last batch of pelmeni in the pot.

“How are you doing, baby?”Daddy asks when we’re in our bedroom. “I feel as if I haven’t been able to get you alone all day.”

“I’m okay.”

He hums. “Did you have to empty the bag?”

I scowl at him. “Yeah, once after lunch. Let me tell you, its fucking awkward when your best friend asks why you’re taking so long, after he asks why you’re using the stall like you’re body shy.”

He laughs. “Aww, my poor baby. You should have told him, he would have liked to know.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

The bite of my words earns me a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to spend another day with it in?”

I bite my lip. “Please, Daddy. I’ve learned my lesson, no more drugging my Daddy.”

He hums and begins undressing me. When he slides my underwear off, he picks up my cock and inspects it.

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