Page 35 of Bratva Wolf

She throws up her hand with her palm, facing me as she continues to vomit.

I move to her and wrap her long hair around my fist, holding it back from touching the toilet. “What’s wrong? I’m not that bad a cook, you’ll see.”

She sighs hard and shifts next to the toilet as I pull her hair into three pieces and do a quick braid. She shudders. “I’m sorry. This is so gross.”

I pluck her off the floor and carry her from the bathroom,through the primary bedroom and into our bathroom. I set her on the counter and keep my hand on her as I wet a washcloth with warm water. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Red. You’re mine. Sick or well.”

She takes the washcloth and wipes her eyes, face, and mouth. “I wanted to give you the present, not this.”

I smile. “You can give me the present later.”

She shrugs. “I should give it to you now.” She tosses the washcloth into the clothes hamper near the door and drops her legs off the counter.

“It can wait until you’re feeling better.”

She puts her feet down on the floor and extends her hand to me. “Come on.” We walk towards the kitchen, and she leads me into the living room and the large Christmas fir we decorated earlier in the month. She reaches down and pulls a shoe-box wrapped package from under the tree and hands it to me. “I’ll preface to say that I didn’t plan to make this, and I doubt you did either.”

I sit down, pulling her onto my lap as I cradle the gift in my hand. I maneuver her to sit against the side of the sofa as I use both hands to unwrap the red foil paper. The anxiety on her body is thick like gravy. She puts her hand on mine. “I love you.”

I take my hands off the package and caress her face with my hands. “I love you, Red. You’re my future. You’re the woman my mother would have chosen from me.” My attention shifts to the package, I rip the paper and pull open the top of the box, setting it onto the ground. She shifts and holds her breath. The white tissue paper folds around a smaller box, and I pick it up as she smiles a hesitant smile.

My brain searches for ideas as to what could be in the two-inch by two-inch by nine-inch box. I grab the end of the box and slide an object out the end. A piece of white plastic is surroundedby a Ziploc bag. I turn the object over. It’s a pregnancy test. I’ve seen them in commercials. I press the plastic to see two pink lines.

She whispers. “I’m pregnant.”

A flurry of emotions surround my heart and bombard my brain. A baby. I’m going to be a father. Another Bravikov heir, as my father would call him. Or maybe a her. Shit. A girl. What the fuck do I do with a girl? It feels like seconds I’ve been pondering, and she stiffens. I’ve taken too long. I set it on the coffee table and wrap my arms around her. Her body softens and a whimper escapes. “I’m happy. Thank you, Scarlet, for making me a daddy.”

Her body begins to shake, and the whimper turns into a full-blown sob. “I was so afraid you’d be mad. I didn’t do it on purpose.” She’s rambling with tears gushing down her face, and I don’t know what to do. “I don’t know how it happened. I missed a few pills when I had the virus earlier in the month, but I didn’t think I’d get pregnant.” Damn! I lean to kiss her and she jumps up. “No kissing. I taste gross.”

I stand up and take her hand in mine. “Do you feel like eating?”

She nods. “Yeah. Just not eggs.”

“No eggs. Got it.” I lead her back into the kitchen, wanting to scream out to the world that I’m happy. Happier than I’ve been since before my mother died. “Just for the record, I don’t think you tricked me, and I’m thrilled you’re pregnant.” The stunned look on her face as she sits down on the stool squeezes my heart. “You’re going to be a great mom, Scarlet.”

“You never call me that.”

“I know. I guess I should start calling you Mama.”

She beams and I know everything is going to be just fine.

JANUARY

SCARLET

My new classes started this week. I still can’t believe Thane paid for it all. I have ten courses left that I now don’t have to spread into two years to pay for it. Beaming, I think about him. I argued. He spanked me. We fucked, and I agreed. That’s the way it works for us. He says he’s happy. I haven’t told anyone else about the baby. I just don’t want to share it yet. I walk up the path to the university building for my first full day of classes, with no side job to pay for it. Pretty good for a girl who wasn’t expected to graduate high school.

Tony catches me as I walk through the door. “Hey, Scarlet. How was your holiday break?”

I smile. “Good. What there was of it when you do the winter semester. And yours?” I’m being careful not to send mixed signals so I’m not as warm as I was before. I felt relief to take classes during the winter break without him.

“It was okay. Spent it with family. My grandfather spent most of his time busting my balls about nursing.”

I’m so lucky my grandmother has always been my number one supporter, well until Thane. I nod. “That’s sad. He should be proud that you want to help people.”

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