Page 26 of My Russian Protector

Her jaw drops and her eyes glaze over. She stares at me for a long time then smiles.

“Yes, I love you, too. Yes, I’ll marry you!”

I open the box and show her the ring that I purchased this morning. Her eyes grow wide and she breathes, “It’s beautiful.”

I remove the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger.

EPILOGUE

ALEX

Five Years Later

It’s been raining and I shake my head as I ascend the shiny blacktop driveway. Andrei and Anton left their bikes out again. I get out of the car and grab the tiny bikes by the sopping handlebars to drag them into the garage so I can park my car. The bigger they get, the more chaotic things seem, but I wouldn’t trade my boys for anything.

I enter the house through the garage door and the boys, already dressed for bed, rush to greet me. I lift Anton in the air as Andrei jumps up and down, shouting, “Me, too! Me, too!” I set Anton down and give Andrei his turn to fly.

“Where’s mommy?” I ask, taking each of them by the hand.

“Kitchen,” Andrei, the oldest, replies and they pull me in that direction.

Anna is making dinner and spins around to greet me. “How was work today, Daddy?” she asks.

I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close, “Not as good as coming home to you.”

“Dinner’s ready. I got the boys ready for bed early so we could all sit down together.”

It’s important to Anna that we have structured family time every day, and I support that. She doesn’t want our boys to ever have to question our love for them.

I put the boys in their chairs and sit down at the head of the table. As Anna sets our plates, I look at our beautiful children. They have Anna’s light hair and green eyes, but they’re both big for their age so they’ll likely be built like me. I imagine what big, strong men they’ll become and I smile. Anna returns to the table, and I slap her bottom as she leans forward to serve the boys. They both giggle and she turns her head to flash me a devious grin.

After all this time, I still look forward to ending my day by devouring my hot wife. Two kids later and she’s still the sexiest little thing that I’ve ever seen.

We finish dinner and I take the boys upstairs to put them to bed and read them a story while Anna cleans up the kitchen. Halfway through the picture book, both boys fall asleep. I cover them up and kiss their foreheads then turn off the light and head back downstairs to Anna.

She’s set a glass of brandy on the table for me and a cup of tea for herself. It’s our nightly ritual. She dims the lights and walks to the table, but before she can sit down, I grab her and pull her onto my lap. She puts her arm around my neck and kisses my cheek.

“How was your day, princess?” I ask.

“I went into the city for an appointment then I came back and spent the afternoon with the boys outside. We came in when the rain started,” she replies.

I remember the bikes in the driveway and shake my head. There’s no reason to bring it up. She does so much to keep our lives in order that I don’t need to chastise her for one little mishap.

“I was thinking that we should plant a vegetable garden this year. Do you think it’s too late to get started?” she asks, bringing me back to the present.

“No, it’s not too late. We can do that,” I answer.

“Great, it will be so nice to grow our own food,” she kisses me again.

I run the conversation back in my head and ask, “Why did you have an appointment in the city?”

“I didn’t want to say anything to you until I had confirmation. I went to the doctor today.”

“Are you alright? What’s the problem? You know you shouldn’t hide things from me,” I take her chin in my hand and look into her eyes.

“I’m not sick. Well, I’ve been a little sick but only in the morning.” She holds her breath and looks like she’s about to burst.

“Are you pregnant, princess?”

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