Page 96 of Born into Chaos

She has the nerve to laugh and swat my hand away. “Get your ass in bed, Vitya. You’re under my care now, remember? Take a nap and I’ll heat up the lasagna Lucia made.”

“You were already a handful, but now that you’ve been given this bit of power, I can tell you’re going to be unbearable.”

She laughs and gives my ass a smack, a hard one, and then gently nudges me across the hall to our bedroom.

“Rest up, Vitya. I promise I’ll make it worth your while later.”

When she sees how much her words have perked me up, she laughsand gives me one last gentle shove. I think about fighting it, but the truth is I’m fucking exhausted. I step into the room that’s now becomeourbedroom, grinning like an idiot when I see the improvements she’s made. She’s added a few colorful blankets to the bed and another picture of the two of us. She’s put it right next to the photo of my brother and me.

Kicking my shoes off, I don’t even bother undressing. I just collapse onto the bed and quickly fall asleep.

Chapter 15

Svetlana

When I check on Vitya, I’m not at all surprised to find him sprawled out on the bed in a deep sleep and snoring softly. I don’t have the heart to wake him, so I just cover him in the blanket I’d brought from my old bed and kiss his cheek before turning the lights out and leaving the room.

I eat a plate of lasagna and keep the rest in the oven to stay warm and then spend the next few hours with Samantha. If our brief kidnapping has left any lasting emotional scars, I’m not seeing any signs of it. She’s smiling and laughing even more than usual, and she’s so affectionate with everyone she meets. My parents and brother are already completely in love with her, and I’m sure as soon as she’s old enough, she’s going to take complete advantage of that and use it to get her way in all things. After my dad conquered her crib, my mom told me he ordered another one just like it so they could set up a nursery at their place for when they babysit. I’ll never stop being thankful for how amazing my family is.

Vitya doesn’t wake until after I’ve already bathed Samantha and gotten her ready for bed. She’s making quick work of her bottle when he walks into the nursery and finds me in the rockingchair. My dad and uncles surprised me with it, saying it was the most comfortable rocker in the world, and I have to agree with them. It’s going to make her nighttime feedings so much easier.

“You didn’t wake me,” he says, and I smile at how pouty he sounds.

“Of course I didn’t. You need to rest as much as possible. I did save you some lasagna, though.”

He leans down and kisses me before kissing Samantha’s head. Sitting on the ottoman, he faces us, stroking her soft hair as he smiles and watches her finish her bottle.

“She still has one hell of an appetite.”

“She does,” I agree. “It’ll be interesting once she starts eating solid foods.”

He raises his blue eyes to mine. “I’m stocking the shelves with organic, healthy baby food.”

“Jesus, Vitya, what’d she ever do to deserve that?”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “Don’t forget you can’t eat sugar for a month.”

“I’m not sure I remember saying that,” I tell him, fighting a grin.

“A deal’s a deal, sweetheart. You can’t go back on it now.”

I sigh, already thinking about the cupcakes in the pantry. He’s right, though. I gave my word, and I’m going to stick to it. “I can’t believe that out of all the times I begged you to wake up, that’s the moment you chose to open your eyes.”

He just laughs and says, “You’ll learn to love the good stuff. I bet at the end of thirty days, you won’t even want to eat your processed desserts anymore.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I have a wicked craving for a root beer float right now.”

“How about an apple and some organic peanut butter?”

I look at him like he’s lost his mind. “You understand that this is why people hate health nuts, right? An apple as a substitute for a root beer float? You can’t be serious.”

“You might like it.” He smiles even bigger when he sees how sad he’s making me. “I’m just kidding,pcholka. I might have some frozenyogurt in the freezer. I promise you’ll like it. It even has some dark chocolate chunks in it.”

“Isn’t that sugar?”

He gives me a wink. “I think we can make an exception for sugar that’s in something much, much healthier.”

I try not to show how relieved I am, but he sees it written all over my face and gives another laugh, keeping it soft so he doesn’t get Samantha all excited. She’s already starting to close her eyes and letting the bottle slip from her lips. It’s been a busy day for her, and I’m hoping she’ll sleep through most of the night.

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