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Turning to the side, I put my hand over my belly. The massive solitaire on my ring finger glints in the mirror, and I can’t help but smile at it. I love looking at the ring and hearing the word ‘wife’ on each of the Devils’ lips.
I push my belly out, imagining how I’ll look five months from now, ready to pop. Giggling, I turn away and focus back on the task at hand.
I stare at the freshly made bed, happy with the new sheets I ordered. It wasn’t easy getting a massive bed custom made. It cost a fortune, but Nataniele has given us a lot of money to start our lives with. I had to order specially sized sheets to fit the bed that’s now in the apartment that used to be Nataniele’s and my mom’s.
Dom says he is going to work with his dad, running the college once he graduates, and will find roles for the other Devils, too, should they want them. As for me, I don’t know if I’ll want to work eventually, but, at first, I want to stay home with the baby. I don’t want to miss those firsts. The first smile. The first steps. The first word.
One day, though, I want to do something to forge my own path because I don’t want to be like Mom. I don’t ever want to be reliant completely on other people. I trust my men implicitly, but I still want interests and a career of my own. I might just start it a little later than I had planned, and that’s okay.
Maybe I’ll start a yoga studio in the nearby town. I’d been lax with my practice before the pregnancy, but that had hardly been surprising, considering everything that had been going on. Now, though, I’ve found it’s been great to get back on the mat with my ever-changing body, and it’s been good for my mental health, too. I’ve rediscovered my love for yoga, and one day I’d love to share my passion with others.
“Hey, looks good.”
The deep voice has me turning around to discover Tino behind me.
I smile at him and look back to assess the bed. “Do you think it’s big enough?”
He laughs. “It better be, because I don’t think we can fit anything bigger in this room.”
We have a couple of spare rooms, too, for guests, or for if any of us just needs a bit of space. Sometimes I read in one of them, and sometimes Dom ends up sleeping in one of the spare rooms in the early hours. He has a need for alone time, and that’s fine. I understand.
Tino has his time alone when he exercises. He’s getting back into it these days, and I’m happy it seems to be grounding him and helping him give up the meds for good.
Kirill seems to be the only one who never wants any time alone. It’s as if what happened in that basement re-triggered his old fears of the dark and being by himself, and he always seems to want to be hanging around with at least one of us. He’s quieter than he used to be, too. More serious.
Or perhaps, just like all of us, he’s grown up.
Tino is doing amazingly well in his recovery, and standing in front of me now, he’s glowing.
The door opens, and Kirill joins the party.
He stares at the bed and raises his brows. “That’s so much better. No excuse for Dom to sneak off to the spare room in the middle of the night now, claiming we’re all hogging the space.”
“You do hog the space,” Tino grouses. “Arms and legs all over the place. I woke up with your elbow in my mouth yesterday.”
Kirill snorts, and I giggle.
“Where is Dom?” I ask. “I want him to see the bed.”
“Well, I mean, it’s just a bed,” Kirill says.
I stare at him, my eyes narrowing. “It’s a custom-made bed, with custom-made sheets, and look at the throw cushions.”
Tino laughs. “Sorry, Duchess, but as much as I love you, I can’t get excited about throw cushions.”
“It has some other special features,” I say.
“Like what?” Kirill asks.
The headboard is made of metal struts, and I’ve had something special fitted to the middle of both the head and foot ends.
The door opens, and I know it’s Dom without turning around. He still has that charismatic energy that precedes him. He fills a room with his personality alone.
“Is there a meeting I’ve missed?” he asks sarcastically. “Why are we all staring at a bed?”
“Oh, my God,” I shout, exasperated. “It’s the new bed. With custom sheets and throw cushions. Isn’t it pretty?”
“You said it has something special? What is it?” Kirill pushes.
