Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“We need you,” I tell him. “We need all of you.”
“You have it,” he assures me. “There is nothing without you. Tomorrow, I take you home. And I will make you mine all over again. Every day, for the rest of my life, Solnyshko. That is my promise to you. I will make you fall in love with me every day for a lifetime.”
“A lifetime,” I agree. “Because we are in this together.”
He kisses me on the forehead, and then Franco too.
“Together,” he echoes.
Epilogue
Talia
Some would say that happiness is fleeting.
I say that happiness is terrifying.
But it is also real. And possible.
And that doesn’t mean that everything is perfect all the time. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t still lows. Or struggles. Or moments when the memories try to claw their way back into the present and blacken everything around you.
But I know now that if you just wake up every single day ready to do battle- ready to fight for what you have- then you have a real chance to hold onto it.
Alexei and I fight for each other every day. Without fail.
We argue. And we both repeat old patterns. But in the end, we always find our way back to each other. Because we promised we would.
He is my solace and I am his sun, and Franco is the entire universe around us.
Since Katya and Sergei’s betrayal, Alexei is much more careful about who he lets into his home. And we never go anywhere without him. Without his protection and his diligent security measures.
Some would say that it is not right. To live so far away from everyone else. To be at home all the time. But this is our kingdom. He’s my king, and I’m his queen. And we would do anything to protect each other. And we are happiest here. Where we have each other.
Mack and Lachlan come to visit often. Keeva and Franco will grow up together. The way that Mack and I did. But with people who love them. And they will never know the horrors that Mack and I knew. Or even Alexei. Because as a parent, I have realized one thing. So profound in its simplicity that it sometimes knocks me off balance.
My love for Franco is unending. And my mother’s simply was not. She was broken in a way that I could never truly be. I am not like her. I will never be like her.
Because I have them. And for me that is all I ever need to know to keep fighting. To keep living. To keep cherishing every moment I get to spend with them.
When I watch Alexei now, speaking Russian to his son and earning smiles, I’m smiling too.
So is Magda, who has embraced the role of Babushka with gusto. Even Nikolai has earned his way back into Alexei’s orbit. He is everything I could ask for in a brother-in-law and uncle. Always spoiling Franco when he comes to visit.
Today, he arrived with a blinged-out kid size hummer for Franco to cruise around the yard in. The only problem is that Franco isn’t even crawling yet.
“It would be nice for him to have a cousin,” I tell Nikolai.
He looks at me and shakes his head. I still don’t know what’s happening between him and Tanaka. She never leaves his sight, but the cold front between them is obvious to anyone.
“Maybe someday,” he says.
“Maybe someday what?” Alexei asks as he passes Franco to me and pulls my body into his.
“I was telling him that he should start having some babies too.”
Alexei shakes his head. “He could not handle it.”
Behind him, Tanaka is smiling.
“Lunch is ready,” Magda interrupts us.
“Nikolai, take Franco downstairs?” Alexei asks.
Nikolai takes him from me and everyone moves downstairs apart from Alexei and I. I already know what he wants. It seems like we always have visitors now. And sometimes, these stolen moments are all we get.
He reaches down and wraps his arms around my body, kissing me and groping me while he has a chance.
“Wear black for me tonight,” he says. “And let’s go to bed early.”
“What about Franco?” I ask.
“Uncle Nikolai can have some practice,” he answers.
I smile up at him, curious how long he’s been planning this.
“Okay, Lyoshka. For you, I wear black.”
I move to go downstairs, but he stops me again.
“I haven’t told you yet today,” he murmurs as his lips find mine. “But I love you, Solnyshko. Always.”
The truth is, he does tell me that every day. Sometimes, he wakes up in the middle of the night just to tell me. To remind me that he has given me the one thing I never thought he could.
His heart.
I do not take that for granted.
Even when we fight, we always remember to never take each other for granted again.
So I guess in the end, maybe there’s a little hope left for all of us. Even me.
The End