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I start crying. This is a dream come true. My baby so happy and excited to see his father.

Demyan’s face goes blank. Shock blooms and then the kind of happiness that makes me cry harder.

He scoops Sasha up and smothers him with kisses ,and through my tears, I start laughing.

My heart swells. This moment burns into my memory. It’s perfect, it’s everything. It’s real.

My boys.

And I feel privileged to witness such a sweet little moment between father and son.

Demyan lifts his head and beams at me, then whispers something to Sasha, who screams with delight and nods.

They come up to me and Sasha wiggles. “Daddy has a secret for you, Mama. He loves you.”

“Sasha,” Demyan says with a laugh. “You’re not supposed to tell secrets.”

“Sorry.” And he wiggles more, sounding completely not sorry. “Dino said ice cream!”

He announces this to anyone who’s listening and manages to get down, and then I’m in Demyan’s arms. He holds me tight, kissing me hard.

His lips are soft, demanding, his tongue like whiskey and home.

When he breaks the kiss, he whispers, “You’ve no fucking idea how happy I am to see you,Lyubimaya.”

“Demyan.” I kiss him again.

He takes my face in his hands and it reminds me of when Sasha did it and I want to cry again. Demyan wipes my eyes.

“Hormones,” I mutter.

He kisses my nose. “I was so worried. I thought…”

“I’m fine.”

His hand grazes my stomach. “And the baby?”

“I’m sure the baby’s fine, too. I’ll have a checkup when we’re home.”

Demyan nods, then looks at the others. “Time to go.”

We get in different cars. I’m with Demyan and Sasha, but we don’t go to the hotel. Instead, we continue to travel farther from the city and along the coast, finally turning into a gorgeous hidden resort, the kind that’s small, its own thing.

“This is where we’d be coming tonight, anyway. Just the wedding party. I booked it out. It’s like an exclusive getaway a lot of famous people use when they want privacy and luxury. But… see down there? That’s where we’ll be honeymooning.”

There’s a natural-looking outcrop with what looks like a small house on it, surrounded by the azure water.

I stare at Demyan.

“All this…?”

“The hotel was for you girls.” Then he looks at me as we pull up and he gets out, letting Sasha clamber over me. My boy goes running off into the afternoon light, staff already appearing, with one following him. “He can’t get anywhere dangerous.”

Demyan’s jaw clenches and he sweeps me up into his arms.

“One thing you need to understand. I’m protective. I’m hands on. I can’t live without you, Erin. You need to know that. So we’re going in. Everyone else can party and Olga’s here. Plus, Sasha has plenty of adults that dote on him.”

“I know?—”