AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I start bringing Kit with Hector and me to Farmer’s Table breakfasts. His slightly older brother’s goofy personality eventually rubs off on him. Kit often gets to laughing loudly at his uncles’ antics. Of course, he finds Golden’s bullshit hilarious.
“So now he’s the coolest, huh?” I ask as we drive home after one breakfast.
“No, you are, Tatínek,” Hector says as if I’m dumb.
“Golden’s just funny,” Kit mumbles and peeks at me. “He doesn’t watch out for people like you do.”
Those moments are when I know I’m a good dad. However, family life comes with its downsides.
My six-thousand-foot home once felt too large and filled with empty space. Six kids, two cats, and a drama-whore pug make the house cramped. During a golf game with Viktor and his sons, my father-in-law gently demands I expand my house.
“I’ll hire you the best architect in the state and pay for the additions, but the house must get bigger. My grandchildren shouldn’t need to share rooms.”
After five years in the Kovak family’s circle, I’ve come to accept how arguing with Viktor is pointless.
Of course, I do bitch to Natasha later. She sits on our bed, nodding at everything I say and offering me moral support.
Once I’m finished, she replies, “Yes, but it’s just easier to do what they say. Besides, we’ve talked about expanding a little here or there. Why not do it all at once and let them pay for it?”
“But I like the house the way it is,” I mumble, sounding whinier than I intend.
Natasha opens her arms, and I’m soon wrapped in her embrace. “We will insist on retaining this house’s rustic style. We might expand out or up, but we’ll never go posh. I love the feel of our house.”
“I knew you would,” I murmur and kiss her throat. “That’s why I picked it.”
Natasha’s calm determination encourages me to go along with the remodel. However, despite hiring the best architect and building crew in the state, I quickly realize living in a construction zone is intolerable. As soon as I complain, Katja insists we stay at the mansion until the end of the renovation.
I don’t even consider playing contrarian. After all, I hate having so many strangers at the house so early in the morning. Crawfish barks at the workers all day, constantly startled by their presence. My cats hide in closets. The kids can’t play out back. Michala becomes too stressed to sleep in her own bed overnight.
For the next four months, we claim an entire wing of the mansion. The kids settle down quickly. Though the dog still barks too much, the cats are happier.
Even after all these years, Petra remains at the mansion with her kids. She claims she’ll move out once her daughters attend college.
“Maybe,” she always adds.
Between a bad marriage and her near-death experience, Petra seems happiest when wrapped in her parents’ power. At the mansion, she enjoys her own wing with her kids and their former nanny turned “Petra’s special friend.”
I don’t mind the four months at the mansion. I’ve long stopped feeling intimidated by the Kovak family or their wealth. I mostly view them as the weird side of my family tree.
“Right, like Zoot’s so damn normal,” Natasha taunts whenever I mention how her family’s odd. “He’s intimidated by Crawfish.”
“In my president’s defense,” I always reply, “our dog is fearsome.”
Every time on cue, Crawfish will instantly drop to the ground and roll around to really sell his harmless act.
I can’t claim I knew I’d ever have so many kids. Or a goofball dog and two cats who still like to warm my feet at night. I hadn’t planned to live in a big house or its even larger remodeled version. Most of my life came as a surprise, including how hard and fast I fell for Natasha Kovak.
I might spend my days acting like a rough asshole on Banta City’s often-violent streets, but I go home to a soft, gorgeous woman who forgave my sins and inspired me to hope for more.
––––––––
THE END
