Joey tugged a sheet over my bottom half with one hand. “Bring them here, tiger. Get one of those towels ready for this little one so you can take him while I help Tanner get his shirt off. Then we’ll do a little kangaroo care and hope the doc gets here to help with the cord cutting.”
“What’s kangaroo care?” I felt a little boneless, and Joey had to do most of the work in getting my shirt off.
“This.” He took my son from Tony and unwrapped him. He was still sticky, but Joey laid him on my chest and covered us both with the towel. “Your body heat will help him regulate, and your heartbeat will soothe him.”
“Oh.” For once in my life, I was actually speechless. His hands were so tiny. He made a tiny sound, like a tiny burb. A sound that wanted to be a burp, but wasn’t quite ready. And then he sighed, his whole body moving with the effort.
“Look at him. He’s beautiful, our teensy-weensy Alexei,” I whispered.
Tony and Joey had managed to get Ivan to his feet, his eyes now open. They helped him to the bed and he knelt next to us, staring wide-eyed at Alexei. “No wonder he came out so fast.” He slurred, sounding almost drunk. “He’s so tiny.”
“He’s perfect.” Joey stood over us, Tony’s arm wrapped over his shoulder.
“Doc’s here!” someone yelled up the stairs.
“Oh! He’s too late,” I said. “He shouldn’t have come all this way for nothing.”
Joey laughed, brushing a hand over Alexei’s back with a soft smile. “Don’t you worry, Tanner. There’s plenty left for the doc to take care of. And we’re going to let him do it. We’ll see you all in a few hours. Try and get some rest, okay?”
“I’m sorry,” Ivan blinked back tears. “You wanted me here, and I fainted on you when you needed me.”
“You saw Alexei being born, and that’s all I care about. If it had been as painful as I feared, that would have been a different story. You would have been in major trouble, mister.”
Ivan rubbed a finger over Alexei’s dark, damp hair. “I’m glad it wasn’t painful. But you realize River’s probably going to hate you for that, right?”
“I’m sure future pregnancies will be different.” I yawned. Even though I hadn’t had to do much work, I was exhausted.
“You want to risk it?” Ivan stared deep into my eyes. “Other than the migraines, this pregnancy seemed perfect compared to the horror stories we’ve heard.”
“Absolutely. Even if this had been the birth from hell, I’d risk it over and over again with you, Ivan. I want a big family. I want our kids to have what you have. Siblings. Companionship. Trouble. All of it. I don’t ever want them to worry that they don’t have someone to belong to.”
Ivan leaned forward to kiss my nose. “You know you belong to us, right? And that’s never going to change for the rest of our lives.”
I nodded. I did know it, but it was beautiful to hear it. “Just no fainting in the future, okay? I have a one faint policy. If you faint again, you’re carrying the baby next time. Deal?”
Ivan laughed. “Deal. No more fainting. I want to be present for everything.”
A knock on the door indicated the doctor had arrived. Our quiet moment disappeared, because Joey was right—there was plenty for the doctor to take care of—but that was okay. We’d have more quiet moments. Maybe not for a while now that Alexei was in the world instead of in my body, but I was more than happy with the trade.
14
Ivan
After the excitement of my son's unexpectedly early birth, we got a later start with the O’Malley kid than planned. Funny how a new baby trumps silly little things like impending mafia wars.
I would say that my father might have a different opinion, if it weren't for the fact that he'd spent the morning hogging Alexei. Sure, his flimsy excuse that Tanner needed rest and I should be at his side made sense…
But I was on to his sneaky ass. The old man just wanted alone time with his newest grandchild. By the time we met with Liam, it was nearly three o'clock. And then we had to wait for Artem's ass to arrive.
Fucker.
Actually, he wasn't all that bad… for a Stanislav. At least he'd actually asked to see Pavlo as soon as he arrived. Even more telling was the way Pavlo had lit up the second he saw him and ran the rest of the way down the stairs, flinging himself into his brother's arms.
I gave my head a shake as the car came to a stop, making a mental note to ask Pavlo later about his brother. Maybe that entire family wasn't complete shit. Maybe… but then again it could be they just had a couple of good apples on an otherwise rotten tree.
Vasily punched my thigh. "Get your head in the game, Ivan. I know it's hard to be here and leave Tanner and Baby Yoda today, but this is the last stop on the list Liam gave us."
I swung my fist to the side, getting him in the gut. "Quit calling him Baby Yoda, dillweed. Alexei is way cuter than that Muppet. Baby Yoda wishes he had Alexei's eyes."
Vasily grunted, his lips twitching as he fought a smile. "Hmmf. Probably, he is a Novak, after all. You’ll have to forgive me if I wait until he keeps his eyes open longer than a few seconds to make up my mind." He smiled finally, reaching up to ruffle the back of my hair. "Seriously, bro. I hate that this has to happen today of all days, but the sooner we get out of this car, the sooner this ends—one way or the other, since we'll be out of leads anyway if this one doesn't pan out."
Misha drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, watching us through the rearview mirror. "Sheesh. Try not to sound so positive, Vasily. Shit, you need to try some yoga or something. Maybe get someone to realign your chi. Instead of being so pessimistic, you oughtta try affirmative fucking dialogue. 'Let's get going, we saved the best lead for last.’ Or, 'thank fuck for Liam O'Malley and his ability to track down rare foliage'… shit like that. You’d be surprised how much it would help your sour-ass moods."
Joey pulled down his shades, glaring at Misha over the top of the lenses. "I know you think you're funny, but if I hear you suggesting we paint blue stripes on our faces or bellow like fuckin' gladiators, I'm decking you. O'Malley style. I won't stop until I see blood."
I snorted a quiet laugh and reached for the door handle. "Thanks for that, guys. I'm ready now. But before I get out, I have one question—if Joey wants us to channel Braveheart, are we all shouting ‘Freeedommm’ or do we need to call someone to drop off some spears? Would big sticks work?"
Misha flipped me off and flung his door open. "Just for that, I'm forwarding all my daily affirmation emails to every one of you negative bastards. Don't push me or I'll add the joke of the day email I get and toss in some random cat videos for shits and giggles."
We stopped joking around and closed the doors quietly, even though we were a half-mile away from our destination. The other two SUVs had already parked behind us and the guys were all waiting—impatiently, judging by the look on Boris's face. Although, that could be just because he didn't appreciate getting stuck in the other car with Artem and Liam like a glorified babysitter. George, Leo, and a handful of our most trusted men looked ready for anything.