Forced Marriage Vows

22. Mikhail

CHAPTER 22

Mikhail

I ’m pacing the length of the apartment, waiting for Sierra and my son to show up. She agreed to bring him over today and Anastasia and I have done our best to prepare. My wife is leaning against the wall, watching me with an amused glint in her eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you nervous before, babe. It’s cute.”

I’m too distracted to even bother with a reply.

“Relax, Mikhail. You can’t be this frazzled when he arrives. Kids respond to a person’s energy,” she says soothingly.

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

“You’re his father. He has no choice but to love you,” she says automatically.

I give her a look. “Like I keep telling you, solnyshko . That’s not how it works.”

Especially not when her view on that is based on her experience with a psychopathic murderer. Her eyes narrow into a glare, which makes me feel bad because I never meant to upset her. I need her right now. I’m about to apologize when the doorbell rings.

“Breathe, Mikhail,” my wife says to me. “It’ll be okay.”

And then she opens the door. They walk in, and as soon as I catch sight of him, I’m completely floored. My first thought is that he’s so tiny. He’s holding on to his mother’s hand, wearing a green T-shirt and jeans with black sneakers.

He looks exactly like me, so much that it almost hurts. Jalen has short, thick black hair, and his eyes are the exact same shade of blue as mine. He has his mother’s nose. He looks healthy, strong—maybe a little small for his age, but what do I really know about kids?

I plan to learn, though. It only takes a couple seconds in his presence for me to decide that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

Both mother and son take light tentative steps toward me. Anastasia stays against the wall, offering me encouraging smiles.

“This him?” Jalen asks once he’s in front of me.

I’m startled by the sound of his voice. Actually, I think I might be feeling a little lightheaded. Get it together, Morozova.

“Yes, this is your father, sweetie,” his mother replies. “Say hi.”

“Hi,” he says dutifully.

I swallow all my feelings of trepidation before slowly lowering myself down onto one knee in front of him.

“Hey, Jalen. My name’s Mikhail.”

His face scrunches up as he tries to pronounce my name.

“Mik.. Mikhi.. Mikey?” he finally settles on, making me chuckle. “Your name is hard.”

“It’s Russian,” I tell him.

“Russian?”

“Yeah, it’s a country in Europe. My family’s from there. You’re Russian too, little man.”

He looks up at his mother, “Mommy, I’m Russian?”

“Yes, you are, honey.”

“Cool,” he says before his blue eyes come to rest on me once again. “I can call you daddy?”

I think something inside of me melts. I can’t remember the last time I shed a tear but I’m damn near close to doing so as I look at my little boy.

“You can call me whatever you want, Jalen,” I tell him, swallowing the lump in my throat.

He grins. “Cool.”

I think he likes that word. He takes a look around the penthouse.

“Your house is cool.”

“Thank you. Would you like a tour?”

He frowns, thinking something over. “What’s a tour?”

I smile. He’s absolutely adorable. “It means I’m going to show you around the house. I have an even bigger house, as well. You’ll get to see it soon.”

We should have moved into the mansion by now. Everything is set, except for the fact that its original owner is still on the run. It doesn’t feel right moving in until Igor’s been found.

“Okay. Mommy, can Daddy take me on the tour?” he says, tugging on his mother’s hand.

My chest threatens to explode at the sound of the word “daddy.”

“Of course, honey,” Sierra tells him, letting go of his hand.

“Before we have the tour, there’s someone you have to meet,” I tell him, looking at my wife. She immediately steps forward. There’s a slight sheen to her eyes as she leans down beside me. “Jalen, this is Anastasia. She’s my wife.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jalen. You can call me Ana. I think we’re going to be pretty good friends.”

“I like friends,” my son states. “Hi, Ana. Now the tour.”

He’s a little bossy. Definitely my kid. I chuckle as I stand up, and when I offer my hand, he accepts it without hesitation, wrapping his entire fist around two of my fingers.

I feel grateful that Sierra decided to bring him to me at a time when he wasn’t old enough to have noticed my absence. If she had waited longer, he could have grown to resent me.

But now I have the chance to build a relationship with him. One I can be proud of.

“You two enjoy the tour. Sierra and I will have some drinks while we wait for you,” Anastasia says, urging us along.

Sierra nods in agreement and I’m glad she seems to trust me. Which is necessary if we’re going to have a successful co-parenting relationship.

Our first stop is my bedroom, which has a carefully placed puzzle set where he can’t miss it. His eyes brighten as soon as he steps through the door.

“Puzzle,” he exclaims, immediately heading for the box filled with two-hundred pieces.

His mom told me he’s recently developed the habit of taking puzzles apart and putting them together. I knew I had to see it for myself. Plus, it’s the perfect way to bond.

“You wanna put it together?” I ask.

He doesn’t even reply, sitting on the floor and trying to take the box apart. And failing, his small hands struggling to rip it open. I guess we’re doing this on the floor, then. I settle down in front of him, gently coaxing the box from him. A couple minutes later, we’re putting together the face of some cartoon mutant turtle Anastasia insisted we buy.

Jalen’s excited. He tells me about some of the friends he plays with and his grandmother, who he seems to absolutely adore, while we put the pieces together. He’s extremely intuitive, in a way that I’m sure is pretty advanced for a three-year-old. His mom was right about him being smart.

“Do you have a grandma?” he asks when we’re midway through finishing the puzzle.

“Do I have a mother? Like how your grandmother is your mother’s mother?” I question.

Jalen blinks. “Yeah, that,” he says in agreement.

I grin, messing up the front of his hair with my hand.

“My mother isn’t here anymore, son,” I tell him softly. “But you have a grandpa. My dad. You’ll meet him soon.”

“A grandpa,” he says, a note of wonder in his voice.

There’s no way of telling how my father will react to the news that he has a grandson, but I want to believe he’ll see this as an opportunity to do the right thing for once. It might be too late to repair our relationship, but he could try to be better for Jalen.

“You also have an uncle,” I state. “His name’s Anthony. But you can call him Uncle Ant. He’s Anastasia’s brother.”

“Ants are bugs,” Jalen states, wrinkling his nose.

“This Ant is a doofus,” I say, chuckling. “But I promise you’ll like him. He’s excited to meet you.”

“Cool.”

We finish our puzzle in under one hour. Jalen’s hungry, so we pop back into the living room to see what the women are up to. They’re in the middle of preparing lunch. Jalen and I help set the table. It’s nice, getting to enjoy a meal together.

I do the dishes after and Sierra offers to help, which tells me she wants to discuss something about Jalen. Anastasia gets the cue, ushering him toward the living room.

“Come on, Jalen. It’s my turn to hang out with you,” she tells him. “Do you like cartoons?”

“Yes!”

“What’s your favorite one so we can watch?”

“SpongeBob,” he replies without missing a beat.

Anastasia rolls her eyes before shooting Sierra and me a smirk. “Of course it is.”

I watch them both as they disappear through the door. She wasn’t kidding when she said she liked kids. There’s a certain glow about her and I’m beyond grateful for how she’s handling this entire situation.

I lucked out with the woman I chose to marry.

“You’re in love with her,” Sierra says once we’re alone.

I arch an eyebrow. “And you know that how?”

“Please, anyone with eyes can tell,” she states. “You love her. I can’t say I blame you. She’s a wonderful woman. I’m happy for you, Mikhail. Truly.”

“Thanks,” I murmur. “Let’s talk about when I get to have him.”

“He’s not a toy, Morozova,” she says with a slight smile. “But I was thinking you could see him whenever you wanted during the week. I’m still not completely comfortable with him sleeping over, so we’ll have to work up to that. But once I am, he can sleepover on some weekends.”

I frown. That is so not what I had in mind.

“That doesn’t sound bad, but I doubt it’ll work long-term. Eventually, you’ll both have to move into the mansion.”

Her lips part in surprise. “You want to have your son, baby-mama-slash ex-girlfriend, and your wife living in the same home?”

“Anastasia won’t mind.”

“Be that as it may, you have to understand how weird that sounds. I’m not moving into your house, Mikhail.”

“I need to keep him safe. I can’t do that if Jalen is apart from me.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Then I think you’re going to have to figure out how because I’m not budging on this. He’ll spend a couple nights with you and nights with me as well. That’s how co-parenting works. I’m not moving in with you; that’s non-negotiable.”

A muscle throbs in the middle of my forehead. But I suppose we can revisit the matter later. For now, I’ll have to make do with ensuring her house and Jalen are heavily guarded at all times. When I establish myself fully as Pakhan, no one would dare to go after my son.

“Alright, that’s subject to change in the near future. We should also talk about money? I’m happy to cover all your living expenses for as long as is needed. Both you and Jalen.”

Sierra blinks. “Wow, that was the richest, snobbiest thing statement ever.”

“Excuse me?”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t need your money, Mikhail.”

“I’m going to take care of my son,” I say firmly.

She considers that for a couple of moments. “You don’t need to pay for our living expenses. I have a job; I’ve got that quite handled. But you’re free to buy him whatever you think he might need. And when he starts school, you could cover his tuition if you’d like.”

“I’d like.”

She smiles. “Would you look at that. Maybe we’ll get through this without me wanting to murder you, after all.”

“Don’t hold your breath, Colby.”

When she and Jalen leave later that evening, I get a hug from him before they go.

“I’ll have another puzzle ready next time you come around, buddy.”

“Okay, Daddy,” he says cheerfully. “Bye, Ana.”

“Bye, Jalen.”

He leaves with his mother and I feel a certain hollowness in my chest as I watch them go. I already miss him, which is crazy because I spent three years without a clue about his existence. Anastasia wraps her hands around my waist, peering up at me.

“You were amazing.”

“No, you were,” I correct, my heart thumping in my chest.

I lean down to give her a lingering kiss, savoring her softness before I pull back to rest my forehead against hers. I feel hopeful. Which is an emotion I hadn’t even realized I didn’t feel until now when it’s been returned to my life.

The thing about hope, though, is that most of the time, it can turn to dust.