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“I’m good.” I smiled. And I was. The panic in my chest wasn’t because of the topic we were talking about, but because I was scared of how they would react to my gift.

I wasn’t the praying type, but fuck, I prayed like crazy the night before that I hadn’t overstepped.

They all finished getting through their presents quite quickly, and before I could talk myself out of it, I stood abruptly, clearing my throat.

Nine sets of eyes snapped to me. A sudden burst of stage fright hit me hard, and I squeezed my fists tightly to stop them from trembling.

“I have a gift for you all.” My voice didn’t shake, which was honestly a surprise to me.

In the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Dimitri’s slightly confused expression. I hadn’t told him anything about my gift, not even last night when he gave me my present early. This was as much of a surprise for him as it was for his children.

Without trying to overthink it too much, I left the room, quickly returning with the gift in hand. It was large, heavy, and an awkward shape for me to hold on my own. Luckily for me, Dimitri quickly came over to help me carry it to the front of the room. That confused expression was still plastered firmly on his face, but I didn’t let it deter me. I’d worked hard on getting this done, and I was really hoping they liked it.

I gestured for Dimitri to join his family. He hesitated briefly, studying my face, his eyes running over every detail, searching for anything amiss. I nodded, letting him know I was okay. His lips twisted, but he eventually nodded, placed my gift down in front of me, making sure I was holding onto the top so it didn’t topple over, before he finally let go and moved. Aleksandr, Nikolai, Lukyan, and Illayana joined him, and the nerves that filled my body made it hard for me to draw breath.

I’d faced down countless enemies. Been outnumbered and outmatched more times than I could count. But this? This was the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced.

The sharp, blue eyes all the Volkovs possessed stared me down, waiting.

I inhaled deeply, letting the air fill my lungs and calm me, before blowing it back out. “There’s a photograph hanging over the fireplace in your home. One of you all when you were children, with your father and mother.” I didn’t look at any of them, instead choosing a spot on the wall in front of me to focus on. “It’s a beautiful family photo, and I…I thought…I thought you might like another one.”

My hands shook as I ripped off the wrapping paper surrounding the dark black frame. I spun it to face them. Safe and secure behind the glass was a family portrait I’d had commissioned by a local artist. They were in the same orientation as the one I’d seen over the fireplace. Aleksandr beside Dimitri, Nikolai beside Yekaterina, Illayana and Lukyan sitting on a nice couch in front of them. The difference with this one was that they were all grown up, exactly as they were now, and in Yekaterina’s arms were the twin grandchildren she would unfortunately never get to meet.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, pushing through my anxiety. “I know you were all robbed of the ability to have a photo with her as adults, and I thought maybe I could give that to you?” I’d provided the artist with real photos of all of them so she could paint them as accurately as possible, secretly snapping some of Yekaterina, too, so she could add her in as well. In my opinion, she’d done a fantastic job replicating them all perfectly. In fact, it looked so real one wouldn’t think it was a painting to start with. It looked like a real photo. A photo of a beautiful, loving family.

No one said anything, and the panic I’d managed to keep at bay started to take over, creeping up and up and squeezing my chest. I was too scared to look at any of them directly. Did they hate it? Did they think I had no business doing something like this? Did I overstep, like I’d feared? I moved my gaze downward, staring at my fluffy-slippered covered feet.

I was usually a lot more confident than this. I’d never given a shit about other people before, their feelings, or what they thought of me. But with this family…I cared. I’d come to care for them—something I never envisioned happening. For the first time in my life, I wanted someone to like me. I wanted them to like me. I wanted to do something special for them—something they would love and appreciate.

I could only hope I’d succeeded.

Strong, rough hands cradled my face, and then I was staring into those hypnotizing blue eyes I loved so much. Dimitri’s face filled my entire vision, and for it, I was glad. I was too scared to look at the Volkov siblings.

“Baby,” he murmured, so softly it was for my ears alone. “Thank you.” His lips touched mine. Softly. Gently. Filled with all the love and tenderness I knew he was capable of.

All the anxiety I’d been feeling left my body in an instant. Dimitri liked it. He appreciated it. Like I had been hoping, he understood what I was trying to do.

When he pulled back, I finally gained the courage to look at the others.

Aleksandr, Nikolai, Lukyan, and Illayana stood motionless, their eyes glued to the painting. For the first time since I’d met him, there were unshed tears in Aleksandr’s eyes. His gaze moved to me, and I held my breath. Then, he did something I never would have expected; he marched over and hugged me.

I stilled, unsure what to do. I was so shocked I couldn’t make my body move, my arms staying limp at my sides, my wide, panicked eyes snapping to Dimitri. He nodded encouragingly, and I finally made my arms move, wrapping them around his son.

“Thank you,” Aleksandr said, more emotion in those two words than I had ever heard before.

“Of course.” I choked, my voice catching.

He stepped back, and Nikolai quickly took his place, wrapping me in his embrace. Before he could say anything, Lukyan was there, shoving his brother.

“Out of the way. I want to hug her!” He didn’t wait for Nikolai to move, instead throwing his arms around the both of us in a tight bear hug.

“Get off me,” Nikolai snapped.

“Told ya to move. Now you have to suffer through it.” Lukyan squeezed even harder, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “This was so nice of you. Thank you! Oh! I actually have a gift for you too! It’s right here⁠—”

“Move, Lukyan.” Illayana appeared, and for once, he did not argue with her, simply taking one look at her face, nodding, and moving back, same as Nikolai.

Illayana and I faced each other. Some of the anxiety returned. For some reason, her opinion was the one I was most worried about. She had been the youngest when her mother passed. Based on past conversations, I knew she held quite a lot of guilt surrounding her mother’s death. She was only ten when it had happened, barely old enough to truly grasp it. Illayana had told me before that she felt bad about how she interacted with her mother. That, like most children, she just wanted to play with her friends and not hang around her parents. From what she said, I knew she only had a few photos with Yekaterina. That she had memories of flat-out refusing to take them because she just didn’t want to.