The weeks waiting for the paternity results to come back were nerve-wracking and tedious. Both Dimitri and I were on end. With the stress of a newborn, Dimitri's work demanding his attention, and the court issues with Tasha, we both were short-fused and exhausted.
I adjusted on the floor and flicked the dangling toy above Sofia's head as she laid on her mat. Already a month and a half old and her eyes had already started to darken. We even got a smile from her when I pulled her from her bassinet this morning. I smiled as her eyes followed the movement. It was just me and her today. Dimitri had to be in the office and was slightly reluctant to leave, but knew the issue wouldn't go away until he went.
"Fia," I sing softly, her head swivelling towards me at the sound of my voice. She was already attentive and knew the sound of Dimitri and I's voices. I tickled my fingers on her stomach and kissed her forehead. My phone dinged on the coffee table and I took a quick look at Sofia again before picking my phone off the table.
Mia: I need baby crack! STAT!
I laughed and closed out of the messages and opened my camera, snapping a picture of Sofia before sending it to Mia. The moment Mia held Sofia I think something in her changed. She wouldn't put her down and always wanted pictures of her.
But I couldn't blame her. Sofia was pretty marvellous.
The front door opened and I rolled onto my side to look. A weary-looking Dimitri closed the door behind him with a sigh, giving me a tired smile. I returned it and toes his shoes off. He didn't even bother to wear a suit, which was strange since he always wore one for work. But today, it was jeans, a sweater and his duster.
I rolled back onto my stomach as Dimitri got down on the floor beside me, pulling his hair tie from his hair and running a hand through it. I leaned against him and kissed his cheek, slipping a hand into his.
"How did that go?"
"It went fine. I just didn't realize how tired I was until I got to work. I almost fell asleep while Ivan was talking. He threw his pen at me," Dimitri said, eyes focused on Sofia as she held his other finger in his hand, pulling it to her mouth.
Dimitri smiled at her and pulled his finger away from her, making her lip quiver slightly. I furrowed my brows as Dimitri go up, but understood when he walked into the kitchen and washed his hands. After that, he came back and ran his fingers over her hand. Sofia quickly wrapped her fingers around his pinky finger again and brought it back to her mouth, sucking on it.
"She's getting big," Dimitri said.
I snorted a laugh. "Well yeah. That happens when you're a newborn. They grow so quickly that it's like blinking."
Dimitri hummed in response and kissed my head. "I'm sorry about this morning."
Remember when I said that we were both short-fused and stressed? It was evident when Dimitri snapped at me this morning when I got frustrated about something frivolous.
"It's fine. I've snapped at you a few times in the last week over nothing. We're just stressed. Don't worry about it, Comrade," I replied giving him a small smile. Dimitri kissed my head again and sighed.
"What's bugging you so much? I can tell something is bothering you."
Dimitri rubbed his thumb over Sofia's chin. "I did hear back from Mason. I heard from him while I was at work."
"And?!"
"He said that the results will be given by the judge."
I furrowed my brows at him. "What does that mean?"
Dimitri shook his head. "I don't know. But I don't have a good feeling about this." Dimitri pulled his hand away from Sofia's mouth as her eyes started to droop.
"Is it the idea that you have a child that you didn't know about that bugs you? That you feel like you missed out? Is that the bad feeling?"
"Partly. I mean, regardless of what happened between her and I, I feel bad that he's ill. But the idea that I might have a three-year-old son that's sick bothers me more than not knowing about him. I just, I don't know. If he is my son, maybe I could have done something sooner if I knew?"
"I understand that feeling," I sympathized, kissing his shoulder. "When do you go to see Mason?"
"Tomorrow morning. Will you come?"
I nodded and looked at Sofia, finding her asleep with her hand still wrapped around Dimitri's finger.
It was refreshing to wear nice clothes and looking like I hadn't rolled out of bed. Dressed in a sweater dress and knee-high boots, I was comfortable enough but looked put together. We got there a little earlier than we meant to be, but it worked out fine.
"Hey! I didn't know you two were coming!" Mason exclaimed happily when he spotted Sofia and me. I smiled at him.
"Of course I'm here. And with the rate this girl eats, she isn't ever very far," I joked, pulling the edge of the sling away for Mason to look at Sofia. Mason smiled down at her.
"I'm not surprised. I vividly remember you eating three pizzas at Halloween your senior year," Mason laughed, "Can I hold her?"
I looked to Dimitri and lifted Sofia out of her sling. Dimitri rested his hand on my lower back and laughed at Mason as he made faces at Sofia.
"The judge isn't going to have an issue with her being here, is he? We're just not comfortable leaving her with a babysitter yet," I asked. Mason waved me off, reassuring me that it was fine as long as she was asleep, smirking at the closed-eyed baby in his arms.
"She looks like you so far," Mason said to me, swaying Sofia gently.
"For that, I'm grateful for," Dimitri said, pulling me closer to him and giving me a tight smile. I wrapped my arm around his waist and squeezed him gently. He was ridged and tense.
Mason took his eyes away from Sofia and looked at Dimitri and I. Mason could see the rigidness in Dimitri as well. Hearing voices and footsteps from down the hall, Mason handed Sofia back to me and I started to situate her back in the sling, trying not to wake her.
Dimitri dipped his head down and pressed his lips to mine. I leaned towards him and placed my hand on his neck, stroking my thumb softly over his jaw.
"No matter what happens, it'll be okay," I soothed as I pulled away, pecking his lips again. Dimitri nodded and pressed a kiss to my forehead before pulling away, only to find Natasha and her lawyer a few feet away. I let my hand slid down Dimitri's shoulder and squeeze his arm encouragingly after followed Mason into the courtroom.
Dimitri and I took our seats as Mason and Natasha's lawyers spoke to each other quietly. Watching their body language they both seem relaxed, but I guess they both needed to appear that way regardless of what they knew or felt.
Dimitri got settled in his chair but was still tense. I placed my hand on his knee and squeezed, trying to comfort him a bit. Dimitri placed his hand on mine as my eyes wandered the room, coming to a stop on Natasha.
Observing her subtly from here I noticed that she didn't look all that concerned. I figured she would have been concerned or worried about the outcome based on how resistant she was about doing the test.
I pulled away from my thoughts when we were told to rise as Judge Wakeford came in. I could feel the tension rising in the room as Judge Wakeford made his way to his chair. I slipped my hand into Dimitri's, whether it for my own comfort or to comfort him, I don't know. But I think it helped both of us.
"You may be seated," Judge Wakeford
We all sat down in almost perfect unison. I took a deep breath and looked over at Dimitri and Mason beside me before looking back to Judge Wakeford. Judge Wakeford did the standard introductions, explaining on record why were here. As he spoke I felt Dimitri's hand slip onto mine under the table. I gave him another quick glance and laced my fingers with his. We could pretend that find out he had a son wouldn't change much, but deep down we both knew that it would change things. Not necessarily for our relationship, but for our lives.
"We are in a set of peculiar circumstances," Judge Wakeford said folding his hands together. "Mr. Belikov, you are a partial match to Ms. Ozera's son. While you have a partial match, the lab dictates that you are not a close enough match to be the biological father."
I felt Dimitri relax beside me and squeezed my hand. I squeezed back as my eyes flicked across the room to Natasha. From the look on her face, you would have thought someone fed her a spoonful of shit.
"What does a partial match mean?" I asked. The judge looked at me with raised brows.
"With the levels on the results it means that Mr. Belikov is related to the child, but not his father."
I nodded and looked at Dimitri. Even with Judge Wakeford answering that question, there was still another underlying question. Who was the father and how was he related to Dimitri?
We were all dismissed shortly after that. Since Dimitri was deemed to not be the father, there was no need for any proceedings to continue today. Once we were out of the courtroom, I heard Dimitri sigh a deep breath.
"I need a moment," Dimitri said, kissing my forehead and walking down the hall. I looked after him worriedly when Mason came to stand beside me.
"You okay?"
I nodded my head and stroked the back of Sofia's. "Yeah. It is wrong that I'm glad he's not the father? That he's not stuck with her in his life?"
"No," Mason said. "You're allowed to feel relieved."
I chuckled humorlessly. "That's exactly how I feel."
I turned to find a bench behind us and sat down, letting out a sigh. I felt a weight off my shoulders, a weight that I was trying to hold for Dimitri, to help lessen the burden on him. I know that I couldn't take much, but anything I would take.
"Mason? How closely related would someone need to be for Dimitri to be a partial match?"
"Either a brother or his father," Mason replied quietly.
"A brother? Dimitri doesn't have any brothers. He has three sisters," I said.
Mason raised a brow at me. "That you know of. Adultery is more common than you think. The only issue now is that Tasha put Dimitri's name on the birth certificate and then filed for support. That's a completely different gong show."
"What happens now?" I asked, noticing Natasha standing a few feet away in what looked like a heated discussion with her lawyer.
"The easier part begins. This was the hard part," Mason comforted as Dimitri came into our line of view. I gave Dimitri a comforting smile as he approached, noticing the loosened tie around his neck. He returned the smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Mason, do you need us for anything else today?"
"No. We can pick this up later. Go home," Mason replied, patting my shoulder and shaking Dimitri's hand. Dimitri nodded and waited for me to stand up. We walked silently back to the main lobby, stopping at security to get our coats. I was grateful for not having to lug it around the whole time we were here.
"Here, I'll take her," Dimitri said thickly, holding my coat. I furrowed my brows. We didn't bring her carrier. I understood when he meant when he set my coat down on the chair and took off his before loosening the sling. I held Sofia tight to me until Dimitri got the sling off and maneuvered it onto him. I stretched up on my toes and tucked Sofia into the sling.
I pulled my coat on and did it up, watching Dimitri carefully as he pulled his on too, zipping it up to keep Sofia warm and snug.
"Are you okay?" I asked, resting my hand on his arm.
"Yeah," Dimitri said, "Just a lot for one day."
I nodded in understanding and slipped my hand into his, squeezing it as we left the courthouse.
I sigh and snuggled into my warm pillow, curling my arms around it. I frowned when it started to move.
"Stop moving," I mumbled, wanting to prolong my dozing. I was following the advice that everyone had given me. Sleep, or doze, when the baby sleeps.
"I'm sorry, that position was causing pain in my shoulder," Dimitri mumbled into my hair. I grumbled and rolled off him, curling up on my side. A moment later the bed shifted beside me, Dimitri rolling onto his side and pulled me to his chest. I hummed in content as Dimitri ran his nose along the side of my neck, kissing just below my ear.
It was nice to have a good cuddle. After the week we had with the paternity results, we needed some time to mentally reset.
"One of us should get up and make dinner soon," I mumbled, snuggling further into his chest.
"What if you and I go out for dinner tonight?"
I opened my eyes and shifted in his arms, rolling around to face him. His eye opened too and met mine, his hand slipping to my waist.
"What?"
"I thought maybe we could go out. We haven't had any time for just us since before Sofia was born. Just a few hours, maybe if you're up for it we could get a movie after," Dimitri persuaded, rubbing his thumb over my skin. I gnawed on my lip as I looked at him. The idea of having a few hours alone with Dimitri sounded really good. Don't get me wrong; I love every minute I'm with Sofia, but it'd be good for both Dimitri and me to have time together without the call for attention.
"Who will watch Sofia? It's a little short notice."
Dimitri smirked a smile a made me shiver. Rolling both of us so that he hovered over me, he pressed his lips to mine.
"I spoke to Abe yesterday. He said that he would come and watch Sofia. He said he wants as much time with Sofia as he can get before he goes on his trip," Dimitri said softly, kissing my jaw. I smiled and looped my arms around his neck, sliding my leg over his.
"Where for dinner?"
"Antonio's?"
I bit my lip and smiled. "That is a fantastic idea," I said, "I should probably go get ready."
Dimitri lowered his weight onto me and kept me from leaving. I raised my brows at him and chuckled.
"I may or may not booked a table for seven already," Dimitri explained, stroking his thumb over my chin. I looked at the clock to find that it was just half past four. Mentally going over how long it would take me to get ready, plus how long it would take to get there, we had plenty of time.
"And what do you intend to do to fill our time if you won't let me up?" I asked flirtatiously, wagging my brows at him. Dimitri looked thoughtful for a minute before dropping another kiss on my neck, and then another, hand sliding to my hip.
"I," kiss "can," a kiss up my neck "think of," a kiss to my jaw, "a few things," Dimitri said, placing a kiss behind my ear. I let my fingers slide up the back of his neck and pull his face to mine, letting my tongue slip into his mouth.
I think I could think of a few things too.
While things didn't stray too far, mindful that Sofia could wake up any moment, but I couldn't say that a good old fashion make-out wasn't pleasant.
Finally, we got out of bed forty-five minutes later when a fussy cry carried over the baby monitor. Dimitri pulled away and winked before getting out of bed. I sighed and rested my arms above my head on the pillow, sighing about having to get up.
"You should be happy I was the one who got her. She had a bomb in that diaper," Dimitri said from the doorway, holding a freshly diapered baby. I laughed and shook my head, pulling myself from bed. Dimitri grinned at me as I walked by him, kissing Sofia's head as I passed into the bathroom.
I washed myself down and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around myself and padded into our closet. I flicked through clothes and tried on a few things, but was slightly disappointed looking in the mirror. It was unrealistic for me to think that I would have my previous figure back quickly, considering I just was cleared to start light workouts again.
Logic and mind were playing tricks on me. I didn't look terrible, but I didn't look the way I used to.
Feeling out of sorts and the creeping feeling of anxiety, I fumbled with my phone the dresser. Bringing it to my ear I kicked the pile of discarded clothes to the side.
"I need you to talk me down from a freak-out."
"Oh?" Lissa said, "What kind of freak out?"
"A freak out because I look frumpy in everything I own and I'm about five minutes away from deciding not to go out for dinner!"
"Rose. You do not look frumpy."
"How would you know, you aren't here!" I exclaimed, sinking down on the chair in our closet. I could hear muffling on her side of the phone before mine beeped. I pulled my phone away and saw the video call invite. I accepted it and set it on the cabinet.
"Show me what you are thinking about wearing," Lissa said, raising her brows at me and staring me down over the phone. I got up and picked up the dresses I had tried on and showed Lissa before pulling a few others out of my closet.
After going through a few, Lissa squealed and clapped her hands together. "Yes! That is the dress! It is going to look so good on you! Put it on!"
I wiggled into it and pulled the zipper up, taking a moment to put my boobs into place without them falling out of the dress altogether. I stepped back into the view of the camera. Lissa looked up from whatever she was looking at and squealed again.
"Yes! YES! You have to wear that!"
I looked at my appearance in the mirror and frowned. "Really? It's not anything special, Lis. It's just a dress."
"It's a strapless, little black dress that makes your boobs look amazing and makes your waist look like you didn't just have a baby. Wear the red heels with the flower on the back," Lissa dictated, smiling so widely I thought her cheeks would split.
I nodded and sat back down on the chair. "You're not just telling me I look good to make me feel better?"
"Yes, I'm telling you that you look good to make you feel better. Because you look good!" Lissa said in a tone of voice that insinuated that I was being an idiot.
"Thank you," I said, shaking my head and laughing at myself.
"You're welcome! Now, go finish getting ready. Happy Valentine's Day!" Lissa said sweetly before hanging up. My smile dropped off my face when I registered her words. Oh shit. It couldn't be. I opened my calendar and honed in on the date.
Oh fuck.
I finished getting ready quickly, wasting most of my time on talking to Lissa. Deciding on just pulling the front of my hair away from my face and clipped it back. Light makeup and a little bit of lip gloss I was good to go. I backtracked as I left our bedroom, putting on more deodorant, slipping nursing pads into my bra, and a spritz of the perfume Lissa bought me for Christmas.
I found my purse and headed out to the living room, smiling to myself when Dad's voice drifted down the hall, his native tongue bouncing off the walls. I set my purse down on the couch and smiled at Dad, who was currently speaking rapidly to Sofia, who looked a little confused. I recognized some of what he was saying but knew it would sound like gibberish to a newborn.
"Trying to drill that into her alright, Old Man?"
"Of course I am," Dad said, turning around to face me, "Maybe she picks it up. It took you almost your whole life to pick it up and even then you can barely keep up."
I snorted and rolled my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest and I tilted my head down, scrunching my nose up at Sofia.
"How are you feeling, Kiz?" Dad asked, tilting his head back so Sofia couldn't grab onto the hop dangling from his ear.
"Fine. A little tired, but I don't think you want to know about all the gross details," I chuckled, "Where's Dimitri?"
"I think he was in the bathroom in the guest room. He said you were hogging the bedroom."
I rolled my eyes and sat down on the couch, leaning back into the cushions as I watched Dad dazzle Sofia. He was always good with babies, and he was amazing with Jenny. He was one of the only people aside from myself who could calm her. He seemed to have that effect on Sofia too.
"Are you sleeping?"
"Yes, Dad, I'm sleeping," I sighed. "Are you sleeping?
Dad smirked at me and rolled his eyes.
I shook my head at him and watched Dad with a small smile on his face. I jumped when hands rested on my shoulders and I looked up to see Dimitri leaning over the back of the couch.
"Hi," I said, tipping my head back to look at him better.
"Hi," he replied with a carefree smirk on his face, tipping his head down to kiss me. "You look fantastic."
"Fantastic? That's it? I think I deserve a little better than that," I said goadingly, but the smirk plastered on my face said that I was just being playful. Dimitri chuckled in the back of his throat and kissed me again.
"Oh, I have many more things to say, just not in front of our child. Or your father," Dimitri quipped. I blushed and got up, smirking as Dimitri's eyes wandered over me. I winked at him as I approached Dad and took Sofia from him, cuddling her to me.
"You're just so cute I could eat you up," I mumbled, kissing her nose. Sofia gave me a gummy smile and pushed her head against my chest, cuddling closer to me.
"Roza, if we don't go now, you're never going to leave," Dimitri smiled, holding his hands out towards me. I pouted again and smattered kisses over Sofia's head before giving her over.
"I pumped this morning so there is milk in the fridge, be sure to test the temperature before you give it to her. And she liked to sleep with the knitted blanket in her bassinet, but don't just put it on her, you need to swaddle her in it. And if anything happens, you call us," I explain to Dad, running through where everything was.
Dad raised his brows at me. "Kiz, this is not the first baby I've taken care of. Relax! And have a good night. We'll be fine," he soothed, nodding to Dimitri when he handed Sofia to him. I sighed and let Dimitri help me with my coat, buttoning it up and grabbing my purse. I fidgeted for a second before leaning forward and kissing Sofia's cheek again. Dad gave me an exaggerated eyeroll and waved to us, lifting Sofia's hand after and making a wave as well.
I smiled and followed Dimitri out the door, smiling at him as we stood in the elevator.
"I have to confess something."
"Oh?" Dimitri asked.
"I completely forgot it was Valentine's Day. I only remembered twenty minutes ago," I said sheepishly, "I didn't get you anything."
Dimitri laughed and slipped his arm around my waist, giving me a lingering kiss. "It's okay. I didn't know that it was Valentine's Day until Ivan asked me what we were doing. That was yesterday. You're not the only one who forgot."
I chuckled and leaned my head against his shoulder. Now I didn't feel so bad.
Let me know what you think!:)
This was roughly edited, I'm sorry if there are errors.
Only a handful of chapters left now!
