Page 100 of Secret Bratva Baby
“I thought—I-I’m so happy to be alive.”
Luka sets Lily down, and she spots me, immediately trying to run towards me, but he notices that I need a moment, and he grabs her again and starts tickling her. “That’s my mommy, you can’t have her,” he shouts.
She laughs loudly and scolds him, “No, it’smy mommy.”
I brush the back of my hand over my cheeks. Jade pulls her sleeve down and wipes my tears away properly, leaving splotches on her sleeve. “Everything is going to be amazing, Rose. But don’t keep this inside. You went through something terrifying. Allow yourself to feel it, instead of letting it destroy you.”
I nod. “You’re right. I need to do that. And I will. But for now, I’m just so happy to be here with all of you.”
Lily bursts away from Luka’s grip and she flies towards me at a ridiculous speed, crashing into my leg, almost knocking me over.
I kneel down and grab her.
She’s just a little girl, a baby in my eyes. But when she looks at me, she looks much older and wiser than I could image. She smiles gently, reaching up she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me as tight as she can. “Mommy, you beautiful,” she whispers. “I love you.”
“Oh, my sweet baby girl, I love you too. I love you so, so much,” I whisper back to her, endlessly grateful. Overwhelmed with so much love for my daughter and my husband that I can’t stop the tears again.
But these are filled with joy.
And my heart is filled with joy too.
Luka wraps his arms around both of us.
“Who wants ice cream?” he asks.
“Me,” Lily yelps, jumping against him. Her face is a baby again. The wiseness in her eyes is gone, and she’s back to beingmy little baby girl. I don’t want her to grow up too fast. I want to protect her from that, so it makes me smile.
“I want banana ice cream,” I say.
“Ew.” Luka pulls a face at me.
“Ew, Mommy.” Lily copies him.
“Hey, you can’t say eew until you try it.”
“We’re getting bubblegum ice cream,” Luka tells me.
“Yes.” Lily nods, agreeing with her father even though she has no idea what bubblegum flavor tastes like.
“We’ll get both and have ice cream wars. Whichever flavor Lily thinks is the best wins.”
“We might have to buy one of each of whatever they have.”
“Whatever it takes for a fair competition.”
Jade waves to us from the top step as we pull away from the house.
Lily is humming a song from her car seat, swinging her legs happily.
Everything is perfect.
Epilogue - Luka
It’s been three months since Rose came home.
She’s had a few difficult nights, plagued by nightmares, where she woke up gasping for breath. And she’s had a few quiet moments crying in the bathroom, sitting on my lap, and letting her emotions out in the safety of my arms.
But other than that, she’s so incredibly strong.
