I let the water out, wiped myself down then dressed in my white robe. When I made my way out of the bathroom to tell Lev to cut it out, my breath left me in a whoosh.
Why, you ask?
Because standing in the middle of the bedroom was Lev, with the lights off, hundreds of tea candles lit all over, the room glittering in the soft illumination. The bed turned down, he swallowed hard, taking in my expression of shock as my gaze flittered across the room. Still dressed in his three-piece, Lev shifted his weight on his feet and held out his hand.
I hesitated only a moment before I came to him, reaching out to place my hand in his. “What is this?” I asked quietly, awestruck.
He took a step back, away from me and reached into his breast pocket. When he pulled back, he looked down at what he’s just pulled out of his pocket and when my eyes settled on the cue cards he held, my brow rose.
Lev cleared his throat, once, twice, a third time. “Mina,” he read. “The way we met was highly unusual and I admit I was most relived when I found out you were not a thief.”
My brows rose higher but he didn’t see, so he continued.
“And I”—he looked around the room, down on the bed, over at the sofa before he got distracted and announced—“I forgot the flowers. Hold on.”
He whizzed past me and out of the room, leaving me in the middle of the bedroom, mouth gaping. He returned in under a minute and held a beautiful bunch of flowers in his hand. Clearing his throat again, he went on. “And I am grateful for having met you.” He thrust out the flowers and read robotically, “Here in this bouquet you will find vines of Ivy, Lilac and Camillia.”
He switched to another cue card and went on. “Ivy symbolizes fidelity. Lilac symbolizes first love. And Camellia symbolizes thankfulness and appreciation.” He pushed the flowers out farther into me and I took them. He looked relieved when his shoulders drooped. In the candlelight, I saw a sheen of sweat beading his forehead. Reaching up to loosen his tie, he swallowed hard and read on, “With this bouquet, I give you a promise. A promise that I will always be faithful to you, adore you and never take you for granted.”
Waving the cue cards across his face, he lifted his gaze to me and asked, “Is it hot in here?”
I shrugged, holding my flowers but he didn’t see it. He was in presentation mode. Switching cue cards, he spoke clinically but his voice croaked, “They say penguins mate for life.” He reached up again and jerked hard at his tie. “And I want to be your penguin.” He jerked the tie harder until it came undone, hanging from his neck. He quickly undid the top button of his shirt and glanced across the room, glaring at the nightstand and muttering, “Damn candle went out.”
Wait? He wanted to be my penguin?
Huh?
He moved to relight the tea candle but I stopped him.
It was obvious. He was distressed.
Holding onto his arm, I pulled him back in front of me and asked, “Honey, what is all this?”
Lev closed his eyes and he shut them tight. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he let out a long sigh, using his forearm to wipe the sweat from his forehead and reached into his pants pocket.
He pulled out a black velvet box and set it on his knee.
Breathing deeply, he opened the box, brought his eyes to mine and shook his head, “Can’t you see I’m trying to ruin a proposal here?”
I looked down and blinked down at the ring sitting inside its beautiful box. “But we’re already engaged. Sort of.”
He held the box, running a hand down his face and he uttered a hushed, “I just wanted this to be romantic.”
Getting on my knees in front of him, I crawled between his open legs and looked up at him tenderly. “Oh, sweetie. I don’t need romance,” I told him. “I just need you exactly how you are.”
His jaw tight, he couldn’t even look at me. This meant something to him. So I tried something else.
I spoke softly, “Lev, it’s just me and you right now. Although your presentation was very informative, I was never one for flowery words. Just give me words from the heart, baby.”
He looked down at me, a sad frown etched on his features. He took a deep breath and when he opened his mouth, beauty came out. He started on a whispered sigh, “You’re everything to me.”
My eyes were already watering.
“I would give my life rather than disappoint you and I would hurt anyone who tried to remove you from my side. I have never met a kinder woman. You’re wonderful with Lidiya. I want to have children with you, as many as you’ll allow, so we can experience parenthood together.”
I bit my lip but it didn’t stop the tears from coming. They blurred my eyes and trailed my cheeks.
“I’ll be a good father to them. I pray that our babies will be like you but if they are like me, I don’t want you to worry, because I’ll guide them and show them they are loved even if they don’t understand what that means. I will teach them.”
My eyes closed as broken sobs escaped me. I held onto Lev’s knee for support.
“I will spend my life loving you and you will spend your happy life making me a better person, as you already have, from your mere presence.” He held out the box and whispered a nervous. “I will be the man you deserve. I’m not quite there, mouse, but I’m working on it. Marry me and my sole purpose in life will be to take every action so you don’t ever regret it.” He took my hand and with shaking fingers, slipped the ring in place. It fit perfectly. “Will you marry me, Mina?”
I stared at the ring, gleaming in the light, blinking away tears as a broken laugh escaped me. “Yes.” I laughed again, reaching up to throw my arms around Lev’s neck, kissing his stubbled cheek. “A thousand times yes.”
And Lev breathed again, his chest heaving, his arms coiled around me tightly. His only response to that was a whispered, “Oh, thank God.”
We laughed together, making love into the night and I couldn’t remember a time I was happier.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Mina
Lidiya’s birthday came the following week, and Lev wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to do anything for it. I, however, disagreed. While I understood her mother had recently died, Lidiya was a child. She didn’t understand that. I explained to Lev that by having a party for her, we were giving her our love and showing our support.
She deserved a party.
With Nas, Anika, and Cora on my side, Sasha and Vik were won over soon after, and finally Lev came around to the idea of doing something to make his daughter happy.
Honestly, I think being a father came naturally to Lev, but being a daddy was a whole new thing for him. He wasn’t used to needing to provide something more than monetary support for Lidiya, and now that the role had freed up, he was falling into it like a dream, enjoying it immensely.
When Lidiya got a boo-boo, she ran to Lev. When Lidi needed kisses, she puckered her lips up at Lev. And when she needed to go potty, although Mirella was around, she wanted Lev to stand by the door so she could sing to him.
Smart man that Lev was, he quickly got used to putting Lidiya to bed at night, singing her songs and reading her stories, and I wondered if Mirella was even needed as a full-time caregiver. Part of me was sure she was kept around as a grandmother figure. She was family, after all. And she said it herself—where Lidi went, so did she.
I happened to stumble across Lev singing Lidi to sleep the other night. And when I say stumble, I mean I creeped like a goddamn stalker to get a glimpse of how he handled her. His version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” went something like this:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Burning gas is what you are,
Up above the world so high,