Page 7 of Tied to Hope
“It is a highlight of my day,” he answered.
Brie was grateful that both men found the natural act of breastfeeding beautiful and not an act to be hidden.
She loved the connection it gave her with Hope. She’d never experienced anything else like it—that intimate exchange between mother and child—and it was something she deeply cherished.
When Titov came out with four glasses, Brie smiled, grateful to him for including her. After the evening feeding, Hope normally slept through the night, and Brie had extra milk stored for occasions such as this.
While she finished nursing, Brie insisted the men take another shot together. She enjoyed the open talk and intimacy that vodka seemed to bring out in both Sir and Rytsar. She was positive they had volumes to say to each other.
Instead of getting emotional, however, the men started ribbing each other. When Titov threw in a few embarrassing moments involving Rytsar, he soon had Brie laughing so hard that she accidentally broke the suction with Hope and her nipple popped out.
Apologizing to her little girl, she quickly helped Hope latch on and then glanced up to see Sir and Rytsar staring at her. She noticed their looks changing from ones of admiration to longing.
She needed that connection with them as well and blushed under their dual attention.
After Hope had finished, Brie turned her over and gently rubbed her back until she let out a healthy burp, which incited a round of proud applause from the three men.
Grinning, Brie looked over at Titov. She was again hit with a deep sense of gratitude.
“Would you like to hold her?” she asked.
He shook his head vigorously. “I’m no good with children.”
“Nonsense,” Rytsar stated. “Hold her.”
Titov scoffed.
“Did you not risk your life to save her in Tatianna’s name?”
Brie saw a flicker of pain in Titov’s eyes at the mention of his sister.
“Hold her,” Rytsar insisted.
Titov sat down next to Brie and looked at her dubiously as he held out his arms. Brie carefully laid the baby in his arms. Hope stared up at Titov with curiosity and a milk-dazed smile.
“She is so…perfect,” he said, staring down at her.
Brie was touched by his reaction to her daughter. When Hope’s eyelids became heavy and she grew sleepy, Brie smiled. “She’s safe tonight because of you.”
Titov continued to stare at Hope with a far-off look, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. Brie suspected that he was thinking about his little sister. Brie hoped that his knowing that he had saved their daughter from a similar fate gave him some peace.
“Would you like me to take her?” Brie asked after several minutes.
At first, she didn’t think he’d heard her until he answered, “No. She looks so peaceful.”
Sir smiled, gazing down at Hope. “Yes, holding a sleeping child does have a calming effect I’ve never appreciated until now.”
“I am content to hold her,” Titov told Brie. Looking down at Hope, he added, “I couldn’t save Tatianna, but…”
“You saved this little one,” Rytsar said, clasping his shoulder. “And me.”
Titov glanced up at him. “I could do no less.”
Rytsar shook his head. “Nyet. You could have run to save yourself and left me to my fate.”
“Your fateismy fate.”
Titov looked back at Hope lying in his arms, gazing at her with a look of puzzled wonderment. “Just as this little girl is tied to Tatianna now.”
