Page 121 of Single Mom's Daddies
She steps behind me and runs her fingers through my hair, smoothing the mess I hadn’t realized was sticking up. Her nails graze my scalp, and I close my eyes, just for a moment, letting myself be handled. Her touch is quiet magic.
She walks around the bed and leans down to kiss Ivy’s forehead. “She’s okay?”
“She’s perfect.”
There’s another knock on the frame—light, almost sheepish.
Roman pokes his head in. “Hey…I just needed to check on the kids one more time.”
“I was thinking the same,” Nikolai says, appearing behind him with a sheepish shrug.
Saffron laughs under her breath. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“We’re fathers,” Roman says. “That’s worse.”
They step in slowly, both watching Ivy, then glancing at Saffron, and back to Ivy. The room glows with this strange, beautiful quiet. War outside. Peace inside. For now.
Saffron looks at me. Then the others. She softly clears her throat. “There’s one more kid to check on.”
Nik asks, “What do you mean?”
She lays a hand on her belly. “I’m pregnant.”
I didn’t…she didn’t…did she?
The world stills. Roman blinks. Nik’s mouth parts, but nothing comes out. I’m already on my feet. I cross the room in two long strides, drop to my knees, and kiss the place where her hand rests. I look up at her. “Are you sure?”
“Very.”
I look at her hand, still on her belly. There’s nothing there yet. But therewillbe. I press my forehead to her stomach and close my eyes. My voice is rough, cracked. “Thank you.”
I rise, slip an arm under her knees and another around her back, and lift her into my arms. She lets out a soft gasp, laughing quietly as she wraps her arms around my neck. “What are you doing?”
Roman chuckles. “I believe he’s stealing you away to the nearest bedroom.”
“Yes,” I say without looking back. “She should rest. Doctor’s orders.”
Nikolai snorts. “You’re not a doctor.”
“I’m a father,” I say, casting a glance over my shoulder, “and this time I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
Saffron rests her head on my shoulder, smiling into my neck. Her breath warms my skin. My pulse hasn’t slowed since she said it. Adrenaline makes the pain vanish.
A baby. Another baby. Ours.
My brothers follow us out of Ivy’s room, and Nik shuts her door silently. The three of us move together, like we always do—just with different cargo this time.
My room is quiet, dim, cool. I push the door open with my foot and step inside, laying Saffron down in the center of the bed like something priceless. Because she is.
She reaches up and pulls me down into her. Roman shuts the door behind us. Nikolai locks it. The bed shifts under their weight, but Saffron doesn’t break eye contact with me.
Not even for a second.
She’s not ours just in name. She’s ours in every possible way. And tonight, we will show her what that means.
36
NIKOLAI
