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"hey andrei, i think we need to break up."
"what? wait anastasia!"
you pressed the red button at the bottom of your phone that caused your room to go silent.
you quickly rushed to every social media and blocked him.
you sighed as the tears crept into your tired eyes, "what am i going to do?"
life was different now.
andrei was a 20 year old nhl superstar.
and you...
well you were a 20 year old university student with a 2 year old.
little baby maxim already had an idea he was missing something that most other kids had. he would go up to young men you knew and ask them if they were his 'daddy'. though he was already smart enough to tell, you dreaded the days when he would ask you verbally where his dad was. you would have to answer that eventually, but that wasn't now.
he looked eerily similar to andrei. it was like the universe was taunting you.
"maxy, bring your shoes over so when can go to the park." you spoke to him quickly in russian.
the little toddler ran away. soon enough, he was running back with two little shoes in his hands. he handed them to you and you put them on for him.
as soon as his shoes were put on, he sprinted off towards the door. you followed and walked him out to the car. you placed him in the car and strapped him into his car seat.
"mommy, park!" he smiled and pointed out the car window at the little park in your russian hometown.
"yes, i know max. we are going there." you responded.
his smile grew as he squirmed in his car seat.
you parked your car and made your way to the back door of the car. you unbuckled maxim. he was set free and running towards the playground. you walked quickly behind. his run was the equivalent to your long strides.
he ran straight to the little swing.
"swing?" he looked up to you with puppy eyes.
you nodded and picked him up, placing him in the swing.
"WEE" he wailed as you pushed him higher and higher.
you couldn't help but laugh at the child.
after some solid time, your arms were beginning to get tired, "okay maxy, i'm done pushing you let's find somewhere else to go."
he pouted for a quick second, but as soon as you got him out of the swing he was energetically rushing towards the baby playground. you sat down on the wooden bench that was a short way away from the structure he was on so you could watch him.
you saw that your mother texted you and you looked down at your phone for a quick second to answer.
suddenly, you heard a loud painful cry. you shot up from your spot on the bench and rushed towards max where a man was kneeled by him, helping him.
"maxim svechnikov, you need to be more careful." you said, "thank you sir."
you helped him stand up and brushed the wood chips off of his knees. after you helped him up, he was just fine and began to run around again.
"anatasia?" asked a familiar voice.
you turned to the side and saw that the man that had been helping max was andrei.
your eyes dilated, "andrei?"
"long time, no see." he smiled.
fuck, that was the smile that could kill you.
you nodded and sighed, "yeah."
"i missed you."
"i missed you too." you admitted hesitantly.
he smiled once again.
"is that my kid anastasia?" he asked suddenly.
you bit your lip and glanced at maxim who was on a small rocking duck.
"please don't lie anastasia."
"yeah, yeah he is." you said, "maxim. maxim svechnikov."
he smiled and looked over to max as well.
"he's handsome."
you chuckled, "yeah because he looks exactly like you andrei."
he laughed with you, "oh is that it?"
you rolled your eyes as you laughed quietly.
"what happened with us?" andrei asked.
your grin dropped from your face, "i didn't want to ruin your career. i was scared, so i broke up with you."
"you didn't need to do that-" andrei began.
"well it's a little too late for that now." you stood up.
andrei stood up as well and looked into your eyes, "no, no it's not."
"what?"
"come with me to carolina. we can come back to russia in the summers." andrei exclaimed quickly.
"andrei, i have school and all of my family is here." you hesitated.
"finish school in carolina. i want to try us again. i want to help raise him like a proper father." andrei pointed to maxim.
you bit your lip while you thought. it was a hard offer to let go, but it was also a hard offer to take.
"there hasn't been a day in these 2 years that i haven't missed you and just like when we were 18, i still want to marry you anastasia."
"andrei-"
"i want to teach him how to skate and how to treat a woman properly. i want to be in his life, but i want to be in your life just as much."
your voice softened as you looked from maxim to andrei.
"okay."
andrei grabbed your face and kissed you.
you felt a small tug on your leg. you disconnected your lips from andrei's to look down at the source.
"daddy?" max asked you, pointing at andrei.
"yes maxy. daddy."
he looked towards andrei, "daddy."
andrei's face lit up and he picked up maxim and twirled him around as he laughed.
"i've never stopped loving mommy and now i'll never stop loving you." andrei kissed max's forehead.
