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  “Alright loves, I have Damon situated. He quit bleeding once I threw a pack of Tampons at him.” Evie boast as she entered the room. I was immediately on alert. “Is D okay? Why is he bleeding?” I peppered her with questions.

  “Oh blimey, don’t tell me this one is a bloody vagina as well.” Evie cried exasperated as she rubbed her stomach in the doorway.

  I gasped in shock as Evie’s foul language.

  “You kiss your niece and nephew with that mouth?” I shot at her.

  “The same way you suck your brother’s dick.” She smarted winking.

  “What have you done to my sweet innocent Evie?” I gasped in mock horror.

  “Shut up, you moron.” Nik shoved at my shoulder.

  After a wobbly trip to the bathroom and drinking another bottle of Gatorade under the watchful eye of Evie I was ordered to get some more sleep.

  I was still hungover and my body felt like it had been dragged through the ringer. I wasn’t going to argue about getting more sleep. I was going to gladly take all I could while I sorted out my problems and figured out how to end things with Nina. I hadn’t seen Kiev since everything had come out. I had no idea how he was taking everything. I knew I would need to patch things up with him soon. As if on cue Kiev came sauntering into the room.

  “Hey,” I greeted him. Kiev looked up from the ground, his shoulders slumped forward. He looked as though he had been defeated. “Hey.” He mumbled back disjointedly.

  “What’s up, bro?” I asked struggling to sit up in the bed.

  Kiev rushed to my side, resting a hand on my shoulder, halting me from moving up farther in the bed. I looked up at him in question.

  “I’m sorry man.” Kiev finally said, his eyes studying the floor.

  I shrugged off Kiev’s hand scooting into a seated position. “What the hell are you sorry for? Did you drop me too?” I asked in confusion. Hell Tosha didn’t even apologize for dropping me. Kiev’s face drew up in confusion. “Drop you?” I chuckled softly shaking my head. “Nothing.” I let out a long breath. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Nina.” I meant it too. I was sorry I didn’t just tell him and end his suffering before it started.

  “Dude, you have nothing to be sorry about.” Kiev exclaimed adamantly.

  “Yes, I do.” I said explaining to Kiev everything that had happened. I felt it was better he heard it all from me instead of second hand from the others.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Kiev yelled jumping from his seat after I had laid everything out on the table. I wasn’t sure who he was angry at. The look on his face clearly screamed murder.

  “I’m sorry man.” I tried to apologize again.

  “No,” Kiev yelled pointing an angry finger at me. “You don’t get to be sorry. You did nothing wrong. She is the one that should be sorry. She has been doing nothing but playing games with you, toying with your emotions for no damn good reason.” I was immediately humbled by his reaction. I had watched idly as he went through hell because of my inability to speak up, yet he still took my side and stood up for me. He felt injustice because of me.

  “Whatever there was between she and I is over. It’s done with.” I promised him.

  Kiev’s head bobbed as I spoke. I could only hope he was listening to me, that my words were penetrating his hard head.

  “You’re right.” Kiev mumbled more to himself than to me. I could hear the sadness in his voice. I only hoped I had not been the cause of it. I never imagined that Kiev had begun to fall for Nina. I hoped that it was the severe hangover playing tricks on my mind.

  We sat there in silence, the only sound coming from the gentle whirling of the air conditioner as it kicked on. Kiev sat silently by my side deep in his thoughts and me in mine until I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. Sleep swiftly pulled me under.

  Chapter Six

  It had taken a full two weeks to recover from what I like to consider as my near death experience. I was out of bed and eating a hearty grease laden meal by the time I woke up the next day. It had taken the full two weeks before I could do much more than rehydrate my body and recover from the thrashing I got during the bar fight. Truthfully, I wouldn’t consider it a bar fight for two reasons; one, it was a group of young punk kids against two old men and two, because I don’t remember it. Which means it doesn’t count. Never before would I consider myself old, but in this case I would definitely play the old card. We definitely weren’t spring chickens anymore. Now one night of drinking took two weeks to recover from whereas before we would have been over it by morning and starting up all over again.

  Damon and I nursed our wounds and battered self-esteems like any man in our positions would. Which means we acted like children by hanging around the house playing video games while chowing down on chips and chugging soda. It seemed like the perfect way to mend our fractured ego.

  Nina had tried to call and text me on a multiple of occasions. I just couldn’t bring myself to answer the phone. There was a part of me that still loved her and wanted things to work out. I knew that there was a chance that if I talked to her I would fall right back into her web of lies. I couldn’t risk that. I already had begun to feel jaded and that was something I wanted to avoid. I didn’t want to let one harrowing experience ruin my optimism for the future with someone else. If I was sucked back in again I knew I wouldn’t come out the other side unchanged.

  “You boys watch the kids while we do some running around.” Nik called out to us as Tosha and Kiev dropped a baby in each of our laps.

  “Hey,” Damon bellowed as Katinka snatched the video game controller from his hands.

  “Watch the kids. We’re going out.” She pointed a threatening finger in his face as she gave him a warning glare.

  Damon threw his hands out to the side in exasperation. “Dude, I’ve watched them before. It’s not a big deal.”

  “I know you have but you didn’t do it with a broken heart.” Katinka reminded him.

  “Tink, you do know I saw this coming right. I was going over there to end things with her. She just beat me to it.” He said rolling his eyes.

  “Whatever loser. Stay hydrated.” She said thrusting a baby bottle into his chest.

  Damon and I just sat staring at one another incredulously wondering what the hell just happened.

  Once we heard the front door shut he spoke. “She does realize I’ve watched them a handful of times these past couple week, right?”

  I just shrugged giving my best confused face. Katinka had been acting weird lately and I hadn’t been able to figure out why. I could only imagine it was due to all of the changes that had been happening the past year. Everyone was marrying off and having babies. Though it was a happy time for everyone, it did mean that our circle was growing; it was no longer just the six of us anymore.

  “Maybe she still isn’t over the fact that you killed her shrubs by ralphing in them.” Katinka had been livid when her shrubs started dying off. Damon and I puked our guts out after Kiev brought us home from the bar managing to kill everything in our path.

  “Bro, I don’t know. I had them replaced.” Damon shrugged it off.

  “Alright kiddos, who’s up for some fun?” Damon asked a smiling Dominik in his lap. “Wanna get down with some baby cage fights or are we going to start with the baby toss?” He asked teasing the smiling baby in his lap.

  “I don’t know D, I think we should break out the drum set for Little D and hand Karina the mic, they should definitely be getting some studio time in.” I said to the grinning Karina in my lap.

  “Baby cage match it is.” Damon said in a cheesy announcer’s voice mimicking the announcers on our video game.

  We settled for taking the babies outside and letting them explore the great outdoors via a large blanket spread out on the grass while we shot the shit and soaked up some sun. Karina was already sitting up and trying to scoot but she hadn’t quite got the crawling down yet. She tried to commando crawl, her bottom in the air and she scooted on her forear
ms. The pediatrician had recommended tummy time to encourage her to build up her upper body strength. I knew that in time she would be all over the place. Dominik was just behind her. He was more content sucking on his hands or toes and rolling around.

  It was fascinating how fast the two of them grew. Karina was about to be eight months old and Dominik was right behind her.

  “Looks like we get our baby cage match after all.” Damon laughed as Dominik rolled into Karina breaking her concentration on the grass in front of her. She had had her eyes on the lush green foliage since we came outside. Though, every time you stood her in the grass she cried. If she did happen to make it to the edge of the blanket and her hand accidentally touched the grass she cried as well. The child was a glutton for punishment with her eye on the prize.

  “Oh no, she is going for the championship title.” I cried out as Karina kicked and squirmed over Dominik’s little legs.

  “Okay you little rascals, no more of that.” Damon chided playfully as he pulled the two babies apart before either of them decided to take offense to the other and cry. I couldn’t imagine how our parents felt, five of us boys all in a playpen together rolling and crawling all over one another. I would bet they couldn’t count the number of times they had to pull us apart to keep us from fighting from the time we were babies on up until we were teenagers.

  “How about you grab Tyson Jr. and I’ll grab Little D and the blanket. We can take them in and get them fed before they start a revolution and overthrow us both.” Damon suggested as he scooped up Dominik in his hands.

  I grabbed little Miss Tyson Jr tossing her into the air and catching her in time to blow raspberries on her stomach. Karina giggled and cooed as she slobbered all down my face. There was nothing grosser than baby slobber but it was worth it just to hear her laugh.

  As soon as we walked in the door Damon’s phone began to ring. Handing Dominik off to me, Damon dropped the blanket and fished out his phone.

  Without warning Damon took off through the house, the phone hard pressed to his ear.

  “Dude what’s wrong?” I yelled after him.

  “Feed the babies, I’m going to grab Evie’s bag. She went in labor.” Damon yelled back at me as he rushed upstairs. I was stunned into silence. I couldn’t believe it. I knew it was getting close to time. Even though this was not my first rodeo with babies being born, it didn’t make it feel any less surreal. “Okay, it’s going to be okay.” I began to chant to the two babies in my arms. It was more for my own comfort than it was their own. The two babies in my arms were oblivious to what was going on around them, content to gnaw on their own hands. Evie was having a baby. I just couldn’t believe it.

  “Dude, feed the babies.” Damon shouted startling both me and the babies. Karina and Dominik both began to cry at the sound of his booming voice jostling me back into the real world.

  “I know, I know. It’s okay.” I cooed to the babies in my arms as I bounced them and held them close. I made my way into the kitchen and expertly placed Dominic into the high chair. Now that I had one hand free I was able to buckle him in before placing Karina in her high chair.

  Once I had both babies settled in their chair I began to buzz around the kitchen warming bottles and grabbing jars of food. Sometimes all they wanted was a bottle and other times they wanted baby food. I opted for their favorite apple sauce and peach cobbler.

  Both babies fussed impatiently, demanding attention and to be fed. “I know guys. Just a few more minutes and I’ll have you both fed.” I tried to sooth the two crying babies as I rushed to fill their demands.

  “Hey, Hey, Hey, daddy’s here.” Damon came in the room to help me with the two squalling infants.

  “Here, take this.” I said tossing him the jars of baby food.

  Damon looked down at the jars I had tossed him then back up at me. “You seriously feed this crap to my kid?” He asked revoltingly as he stared at the jar with a disapproving look.

  “Shut your trap. It’s my niece and nephew and I’ll feed um what I want. You just shovel it in.” I chastised as I tested the bottles on my inner wrist.

  “Maybe your nephew but it’s my son.” He mouthed as he popped open the lid on the jar and began loading up the baby spoon.

  Rolling my eyes I brought the bottles over to the babies. I placed a bottle on Dominik’s tray and one on Karina’s. I opened my own jar of baby food and offered it to Karina. Once her tiny taste buds got the taste of the offered applesauce all revolts ceased. Content, the babies happily smacked away on their lunch. I heard Damon scoffing from beside me as he muttered under his breath. Uncle Ivan’s secret was out now and there was no taking it back.

  “Hush your pie hole or I’ll tell Tink you gave her kid baby junk food.” I threatened. Damon scoffed and swore under his breath. “If we weren’t expecting a third addition to this happy bunch I would take you outside and thrash you.” He threatened as he continued to feed Dominik the baby food.

  “If it makes you feel any better it’s sugar free and organic.” I offered with a smirk.

  We got the two babies fed, burped, changed and put down for a nap before we heard any news on Evie’s condition. My parents stopped by to grab Evie’s bag to take it to the hospital for her in a blur of motion. I wasn’t even sure she greeted me with a hello as she rushed through the house. I would have been offended if it weren’t for the wide smile on her face, excited about having a new baby to spoil.

  My mother called once she got to the hospital to let us know that Evie was still in labor but that things were progressing smoothly. I felt as though I were sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear what was going on. Logically I knew what was going on, Evie was having a baby, but I still felt like I was missing out by not being there.

  We finally got a call eight hours later; Evie had given birth to a baby girl. Baby Livi weighed ten pounds and seven ounces coming out at twenty-one inches long. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Evie just spit out a ten pound kid. Her hoo-ha was never going to be the same again. I felt bad for Nik. He may never have the chance to get laid again after Evie gave birth to a ten pound kid.

  Pictures started rolling in from everyone at the hospital. I felt the ball of envy coil up in my stomach. I wished that I could have been there to experience the birth of my niece.

  My phone began to buzz in my hand. I almost answered it until I saw the Russian country code. Nina had given up calling me from her own phone and had begun to call me from other numbers. Whether she borrowed the phones or had gotten a new number I was unsure. What I was sure about was that I was no longer accepting calls from numbers I didn’t know, specifically ones from a different country.

  Chapter Seven

  It was several day before Evie was able to come home from the hospital. We had all taken shifts visiting her in the hospital allowing Nik to come home and change before he rejoined her side. I was so excited to have Livi home and welcome her to the family. At first Evie was unsure if she wanted to take turns with Livi at night the same way we had all taken turns with Karina and Dominik. After a week Evie finally caved. I knew she had been exhausted caring for the little one all on her own. We had experienced this all before with Katinka when Karina was first born.

  After much encouragement Evie finally gave in. I knew she felt as though she was casting off her child for others to take care of. Both mine and Kiev’s parents, as well as the rest of our bunch, assured her that she was not giving away her baby for others to take care of. She was simply taking time to recharge her batteries so that she could continue being the best mother she possibly could be.

  Livi was an absolute doll. She had her mother’s golden hair and her father’s piercing blue eyes. She was definitely going to be a heartbreaker much like Karina.

  I knew that with two girls in the family we were going to catch hell when they became teenagers. It wasn’t that I thought the girls would grow up to be wild. It was the fact that no one would ever be good enough for my girls in my eyes. There w
as no one that would ever be able to care for them the way I felt they deserved to be cared for. I was definitely in protective mode with no end in sight.

  “Hey you got a minute?” Tosha asked. I had just finished cleaning out the refrigerator and marked my name off the chore list taped to the side of the milk jug.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “I just got a call from Nina. She says she’s pregnant.” My jaw hit the floor. Stumbling back I fell against the counter top. My hands came up to my neck, elbows to either side of my head as I struggled to relearn how to breathe. I felt my body sagging to the floor.

  “I think you should hear what she has to say?” Tosha encouraged as he crouched down beside me on the floor, fear and concern were evident in his voice.

  “Wh-What? Why?” I stumbled over the words still fighting the shock that had taken over my body.

  “Ivan, if this is your baby don’t you think you should step in?” I could hear the firm edge to his words as he spoke.

  “My baby? What? How? That’s not possible.” I mumbled as I tried to process how this could have happened. Even though Nina and I had been together for months we had never had sex. I couldn’t believe she was going to such lengths to entrap me. She held me at arm’s length for so long and now here she was trying reel me back in once words were no longer enough.

  “Tosh, we never…” I let the words trail off as I tried again to recall a time we had been intimate in that sense. Nina and I never even spent the night together. The most we had ever done was kiss, and even that was chaste. I would take her out while I was there but I would always return to my hotel room alone with nothing more than a good night kiss.

  “You never what?” I could sense Tosha’s hesitation at asking. He was stuck between being my brother, my friend, and also a cousin. It was just as awkward for him as it was for me talking about his cousin and me intimately.