Page 26 of A Baby for the BRATVA Boss
Joyful.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Yury
Snow falls outside the window, soft and relentless. The same way it did the night she first stepped into my life.
The fire burns low, throwing amber light over the nursery. Sophia sits in the rocking chair, a blanket draped across her lap, our twins pressed against her chest. Two perfect, sleeping miracles. Both dark haired, both of them making small, sighing sounds that fill the house better than music ever could.
She hums under her breath, a tune I don’t know. Something soft, maybe from her mother. Every now and then she looks up at me, eyes shining, and the world stops moving.
A year ago, I didn’t know peace could look like this.
I should be working, there are messages waiting, people needing my signature, decisions that could shift empires, but I can’t look away from her.
She’s wearing one of my shirts again, sleeves rolled up, collar slipping down one shoulder. Her hair’s longer now, a dark curtain that brushes the twins’ tiny fists as they dream. Shesmells like milk and vanilla and the faint trace of pine that’s seeped into every room this season.
Three months old, and they’ve already ruined me.
I cross the room quietly, careful not to wake them. She smiles without looking up. “They’ve just fallen asleep,” she whispers.
“I know.” I rest my hand on the back of the chair, lean down until my mouth is near her ear. “You should too.”
She laughs softly. “I will. When they let me.”
I brush a kiss over her temple, and she tilts her head toward me like she can’t help it. That small, instinctive trust still wrecks me.
“You’ve been staring at me all evening,” she murmurs.
“Because I can.”
She glances up, playful and tired all at once. “You’re still the most possessive man I’ve ever known.”
“I told you I would be.”
Her laugh fades into a soft sigh. She adjusts one of the babies, her hand gentle but sure. “They have your eyes.”
“They have your mouth.” I trace a fingertip over our daughter’s tiny cheek. “Your strength too.”
Sophia’s eyes soften. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
I sink to my knees beside her, one hand resting over hers. Her fingers are slender, warm. I notice then, the faint change in her pulse. She’s glowing in that way she did before. There’s a subtle difference in her scent, in the way her body’s already preparing for what’s next.
She hasn’t noticed yet. Too busy living the life we built. But I see it. I feel it.
“You’re pregnant again.”
Her eyes lift, startled. “What?”
I brush my thumb over her knuckles. “You are. I can tell.”
She laughs softly, shaking her head. “I think I’d know, Yury.”
“You will. Soon.” I lean in and kiss her shoulder, tasting the warmth of her skin. “I can feel it in you.”
