As Maksim played with her belly, no amount of tattoos could cover his innocence. He was so simple in his joy that he seemed like a baby himself.
The intimate moment smelled like rain. Cold, refreshing, distracting rain that made you stare at it and reminisce about the past. As she watched Maksim, she remembered why she fell in love with him.
When they were together, he was static to the world– loud, confusing, alarming. But to her, he was a light. He was straightforward, warm and comforting. The world saw glares where she saw pouting, grumpiness where she saw shyness, arrogance where she saw solitude. Once she stopped questioning his differences, they grew on her.
"Maksim..."
"Hmm?"
"I..."
Her hesitation made him look up. "What?" he looked over his shoulder and palmed his holstered gun. "Did I miss something? Did they hurt you?"
"How did you even jump to that conclusion? Of course didn't!"
He pulled his hand from the weapon to reach for her and then frowned at it. He mumbled something about his hand being contaminated and needing to wash his hands to touch the bump. It made no sense to her.
"What is wrong, then?" he sat next to her but kept his hands to himself.
"I need you to understand why I left. I know the letter was convincing. I needed it to be, but Mak, none of that was true. I'm sorry for throwing you overboard just so I could keep on floating."
His hands fisted, but his face gave away nothing.
"I... I... I know you're in the mafia, and I saw you kill Snake."
That got a reaction. He grit his jaw, but she couldn't tell if he was angry at her for seeing what she wasn't supposed to, or at the dead man.
"God, the way his skull smashed..." she covered her face, as if that would protect her from the trauma. "My dad died the same way. Bloody and violently. Because of gangs. I promised I wouldn't go back to that life. I got a criminal record in high school. I didn't want to dishonor him in death, too. I didn't want you to make me, so I wrote the letter and I left. I'm really sorry. Am I rambling? I'm sorry. I'm nervous you'll still be mad, and nervous I'll have another PTSD episode. It happens sometimes, but I'm getting help. I don't like blood. Not after dad. I... I'll stop talking."
"It is alright," he interjected.
His hands remained fisted and his expression blank.
Finally, she popped the question. "Will you take away the baby?"
He paused before delivering, "no."
It was everything she wanted to hear, but it still wasn't enough. There was no confidence in him, no reassurance in his stony expression. It terrified her.
I can't tell him there's two. Not yet. Not until I'm sure he won't take them.
Feeling a surge of emotions, she mumbled something to excuse herself, and went to the bathroom where she breathed heavily to ward off the tears. She wasn't sure how long she was in there, but the sound of clattering made her peek outside.
There were two men in jumpsuits there, moving boxes into the room. They were out as soon as they were in.
"Your belongings," Maksim explained as he propped open a box.
She sighed. "Do I really have to stay here?"
"Choose, Raelynn. Do you want to live in a crime-ridden town, climbing four flights of stairs in a pest-infested building, pregnant with the baby of a man that has plenty of enemies that would love to snatch you off the street?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Can I talk to my roommate? Please?"
The cardboard ripped a little when he asked, "is this roommate male?"
"No."
She wasn't sure if he was jealous about another guy seeing the bump grow, or being close to her.
He pulled out his cellphone and held it out. "Call her. Tell her you're not going back. Send me the bill of the rent."
"No, thanks. I can pay my own rent." She picked up the piggy bang where the college fund was stuffed and placed it on her lap. It was her security-blanket. Proof that she wasn't worthless. Maybe she didn't finish college, had no credit and a criminal record, but she was a hard worker who didn't need a mafia kingpin to take care of her kids. If needed be, she could do it alone.
She angled the cellphone so Maksim could see she wasn't snooping through it and called Tiffany.
"Hello?"
"Hi."
"Where the fuck have you been?"
"Sorry. I– er, talked with the bump's father."
"What? He found out about the t–"
"Yes! About the baby. He knows. He's okay with it. Wants me to move in."
"Raelynn, say 'chocolate' if he kidnapped you. I swear I'll go get you."
Raelynn chuckled. "No. I'm fine."
"Aww, now I'm all sad. I'm going to miss you."
"I'll visit a lot. By the way, don't be alarmed if you find you door open. Maksim sent a few... er, friends, to collect my things."
"Did they take the ice cream too?"
Raelynn grumbled. "They better have brought my damn ice cream."
"I'll miss you, girl. Keep me updated, okay? You will always have a home with me."
"I love you," Raelynn said.
"I love you too! Bye."
Raelynn couldn't stop tears from blurring her vision. She sniffled and passed the phone to Maksim.
Awkwardly, Maksim asked, "are you alright?"
Maybe if they were still romantically involved, he would have pulled her to his lap and held her, but they weren't together anymore. The only tie between them was the knot at her abdomen.
"Yeah." She stared at the few boxes that arrived. There wasn't much. The crew seemed to have left behind every baby item she bought over the months.
"Can they bring over the baby supplies too?"
"I will buy new ones."
"There's no need," she argued. "Please? I worked hard to get those supplies. I can't just throw them out."
"Fine." He pulled the three boxes to the closet and left them there. "Get some rest. It's getting late."
"What about work tomorrow? We can't be seen riding the same car."
"We won't, because you will not work anymore."
"I'm not arguing about that. I already agreed to move in, and you will not take all of my liberty. I want to keep working for a few more weeks, and I won't argue about it."
She walked to the bed with the piggybank under her arm. She put the piggybank on the nightstand table and ignored the fuming Russian. As she laid there, she listened to the sound of water running. It streamed for about ten minutes, before the bed dipped as Maksim joined her on the bed. The lights were flicked off, but her sharp gasp brought fire to the darkness when Maksim grabbed and gently turned her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, now tucked under his head and pressing against his naked chest.
"I told you I will miss no more time of the baby's development. I want to feel him. This is not for argument."
She pursed her lips, but didn't argue.
She moved very little, probably five times in the hour, but that was enough to lift her shirt up her thighs. She didn't want to reach down to pull it down, because then Maksim would realize her sex was bared.
A twin shifted inside her, and Maksim moved a hand lower down the small of her back. When his fingertips touched her bare ass, she tensed.
Maksim tugged the shirt down, but not before getting a final stroke of the exposed skin.
Since she was more comfortable, she was able to drift off, and eventually fall asleep. The peace didn't last long, because at the dead of night her full bladder pulled her back awake.
She palmed Maksim's bicep– still unable to circle it completely, and squeezed.
"What?" a tired Maksim asked.
"I have to pee."
He released her. "Do you need help to get up?"
"No."
She slid off the bed, and the floor was so cold under her feet that it sent a sprinkle of irritation to her bladder. When she reached the toilet, she whimpered, because she knew it would be cold.
The hatred of sitting on cold toilets was one of her quirks. Usually, she would place toilet paper on the seat, but the extra rolls were on a shelf she couldn't reach.
"Maksim?" she whispered.
He swung off, looking magnificent even while slightly slouching from sleepiness.
"Can you get me that toilet paper roll?"
He took it down and frowned when she began to cut snips off the roll.
"What is this?"
"The seat is cold," she explained, as if it made perfect sense.
Maksim sighed and ripped off his joggers. Before she could ask what the hell he was doing, he pulled her to his lap and nestled his cock against the small of her back.
"What the fuck are you doing?" she blurted.
"You wanted a warm seat, didn't you?"
"I didn't mean your lap!"
"Hurry up so we can go back to bed. I have four meetings tomorrow."
"No! This is weird!"
He placed the slightest pressure against her bladder, and the gate flooded open. Once the pee started coming, she couldn't stop until she was empty.
"Good," Maksim said, ripping off some toilet paper and reaching down to wipe her before she could stop him.
"You– you."
He stood up, flushed the toilet, and washed his hands.
"Come to bed." He walked off, not caring that his dick was swinging, and got under the covers.