Page 105 of Born into Chaos

“It smells delicious, Katya,” I tell her, leaning down to give Sveta’s mom a hug.

“Thank you. I hope you like it. Seemed like the perfect day to make a roast. Did you hear it might snow later?”

“Really?” Sveta asks, her eyes lighting up at the thought of seeing the snow fall.

“Mom got some hot chocolate and marshmallows,” Val says. He looks at me and explains, “Every time it snowed when we were little, Mom would make us hot chocolate so we could drink it while we looked out the window and watched it come down.”

Katya looks over at Samantha. “I can’t wait to do that with her. And Christmas cookies,” she says, looking just as excited as Sveta does.

Okay, maybe her sweet tooth isn’t just from her dad.

“I’ve got a good recipe for some homemade granola.”

The four Melnikovs look at me like I’ve just sprouted horns.

“Why would we ever do that?” Vitaly asks, looking genuinely confused. He kisses Samantha’s head and whispers loud enough for me to hear. “Your daddy is weird. You need to come to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for all the good snacks.”

I don’t even bother arguing. Samantha doesn’t have a chance in hell. I’m just going to have to make sure she gets enough fruits and vegetables and regular dental check-ups to go along with all the sugar.

Just to be sure, I say, “When you babysit, you can’t just let her mainline pixie sticks.”

Vitaly tries to look offended. “As if I would ever do that.” Looking down at Samantha, he smiles and adds, “I’ll teach you how to tip them back and down them in one go like a lady.”

“There’s gotta be a better way to phrase that, Dad,” Val says with a laugh.

Vitaly just frowns at him and then shakes his head when the rest of us join in. “Get your heads out of the gutter.” When he sees that Katya is laughing just as hard, he raises a brow at her. “Really,ptichka?”

“You’re the one who said it,” she tells him, but then she steps closer and kisses him, and he quickly forgets why he was upset in the first place. He’s just as in love with her as I am with his daughter, and so I’m not at all surprised to see him snake his arm around and grab her ass.

Val sighs and looks over at me. “You see what we have to put up with?”

Vitaly breaks the kiss with a laugh and lets go of his wife’s ass so he can point a finger at their son. “You should be thrilled we love each other so much, and one day you’re going to be the one who’s grabbing some woman’s ass in the hallway, except when you do it, I’m not going to cause a fuss like you are. I’ll just smile and give you anI told you solook.”

Val grins. “I’m going to hold you to that one day.” He looks at me and Sveta. “You’re my witnesses.”

“We all heard it,” Sveta agrees, smiling at her brother.

Vitaly looks between his kids. “I never go back on my word. You two know that, so remember it all you want.”

Turning his attention back to Samantha, he baby talks to her as he turns his back on us. “Come on, sweetheart. I want to show you the new toy I bought you today.”

Katya grins and says, “He went baby shopping again today.”

“You two don’t have to keep buying things,” I tell her, but she just waves off my concern.

“Don’t even try and stop us. We’re having way too much fun with this,” she says while leading us into the kitchen.

“This looks amazing, Mom,” Sveta says, joining her at the island while I grab a knife and stand next to her, finishing up the tomatoes Katya had been in the process of cutting. Vitaly and Sveta may be sugar fiends, but I’ve noticed that Katya always makes sure to squeeze in vegetables at every meal.

Katya checks on the roast and says, “Danil and Niki are going to stop by later at some point.”

Sveta grabs a carrot, and when she takes a bite, I give her a wink,letting her know I’m pleased with her food choice. She gives me a playful eye roll and says to her mom, “Anyone else coming over?”

“No, I don’t think so, but you know this family. You never know who’s going to show up.” She pulls the large roast out of the oven and sets it on counter. “That’s why I always make extra.”

We finish getting everything ready, and when it’s done, we transfer it all to the table. Vitaly is already bringing Samantha in to join us. She’s grinning and happily babbling away as she sits in the brand-new toy that her grandpa has gotten for her. It’s one of those saucer seats that Sveta’s been talking about wanting to get. A toy activity tray circles around her so everywhere she looks there’s something to play with. Her cute little legs stick out from the bottom. I notice she’s also wearing unicorn slippers.

When I look up at him, Vitaly just smiles and says, “I didn’t want her feet to get cold.”

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