My stomach growled louder reminding me there wasn’t enough time to wait for a lift to be installed so I would have to take the stairs and suffer through.
I took the stairs one at a time resembling a toddler with a diaper load. It was similar to a stiff crouch that sent a burning pain from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. The smell of bacon caused my feet to pick up their pace, muscling through the searing pain in my legs and glutes. Nothing mattered more than a plate full of bacon and a steaming hot cup of coffee in this moment.
As if the gods above were listening, I rounded the corner into the kitchen to find all three women cooking up a storm, plates of bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, sausage, and toast littered the countertop filling the small space with their delicious aroma. The smell alone caused my stomach to growl audibly.
“I love you girls. Anything you want, you can have, so long as I get a plate of bacon with a side of coffee.” I beamed up at Katinka, Evie, and Alexa, flashing them my most charming smile and I snuck my hand toward the plate of bacon.
Almost immediately my hand was smacked away by a glaring Alexa. Without saying a word she gave a slow shake of her head warning me away with a glare. I retracted my hand a safe distance, my eyes wide with fear. Alexa was almost as scary as Katinka, almost.
Katinka and Evie just smiled rolling their eyes before returning back to what they were doing, completely ignoring me.
“Go grab a seat at the table and we will bring it right out,” Evie called over her shoulder, taking pity on me.
I was worried about how Evie would handle living in the states so far away from the only place she had ever called home, but she seemed to take to living in the States like a duck to water. Both she and Nik visited London at least once a month, allowing Evie to visit with her friends and family. I knew that with the baby coming soon she wouldn’t be able to travel as much but it didn’t seem to worry her. Evie seemed content to just be with Nik, wherever that may be was fine with her.
As much as I wanted to hang out in the kitchen and chat with the women folk and attempt another grab at the bacon, my body was begging to be vertical, and as vertical as I could get would be sitting in a chair at the table.
Chapter 5
“So you’re going to marry my cousin, huh?” Tosha asked wagging his brows at me in humor.
“Fuck you, man. I’m a damn good catch,” I replied from my reclined position on the couch flipping him the bird.
After breakfast, my stomach was too full to move far and my limbs were in agreement so I had landed on the couch where I planned to spend the rest of the day.
Tosha rolled his eyes so hard I thought they were going to roll out of their sockets. “Dude, what makes you such a good catch?”
That was the million dollar question. “I’m sexy as fuck and I have a big dick,” I smirked then ran my tongue across my lips seductively before blowing him a kiss. Tosha rolled his eyes again at my antics.
Damon plopped on the couch beside me causing my body to bounce. The movement sent pain throughout my body. “Easy dickhead,” I cried out, cringing in pain.
Ivan just laughed from his seat in the lounge. I was still pissed the fucker got there before me. The lounge was the perfect place to land after a grueling workout. Ivan sat there like a king on this throne, his legs up, head tossed back in relaxation. Meanwhile, I was half lying, half sitting on the couch with my leg tossed over the arm.
“Just so you know I’m the sexy one in this bunch. Learn your place biotch.” Damon reached over and gave my nipple a tweak.
I swatted him away the best I could nearly crying in pain from moving around so much. “Quit it fuck nut or I’ll punch you in the dick,” I threatened.
Damon just laughed shooting me the bird.
“But seriously, bro. You wanna marry Nina?” Tosha asked. Gone was the humor from before.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know man. This is some shit my dad concocted last night while my mom was cooking.”
“Why in the hell did they just decide to marry you off?” Nik asked walking into the room jumping into the conversation.
Nik took a seat on the couch across from me, sitting beside Tosha’s big ass.
“His parents thought he was gay.” Tosha laughed. I wanted to murder Katinka for having such a big mouth.
Unwilling to let the guys get to me I gave in and played along. “Did you catch the gay bug?” I asked giving my best impression of my dad sending all the guys including myself into fits of laughter, masking my annoyance with humor.
Now that it was all said and done, I could see the humor in my parent’s gay talk. It was pretty funny how behind in the times they could be.
“Seriously?” Damon asked wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so hard.
I had been laughing so hard I couldn’t answer, holding my stomach I nodded my head. “’The Gay’ is what they are calling it. Like it’s something you can catch.” We all continued to laugh at the absurdity of it.
“How did they feel about you being gay?” Ivan asked still laughing.
“They told me they would love me all the same, they just wanted to know.” I chuckled.
“So what are you going to do?” Ivan asked the question everyone seemed to want to know, sucking the laughter from the room with his words.
“Well, it’s not just me ya know. No one asked Nina what she wanted. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be married off to someone she barely knows,” I regurgitated Katinka’s words.
Ivan seemed to accept my words and sat back in his seat. He seemed to be in his own little world with his own issues to contend with. He was in love with a girl whose family was threatening to marry her off. I could completely feel her pain. Why her family wouldn’t let her just marry Ivan was beyond me. He would make someone a great wife someday, just like Tosha, Nik, and Damon. The women ruled the house with the guy's balls safely tucked away.
Tosha just sat there with a smirk on his face. He looked like the cat that ate the canary. I made a mental note to figure out what his ass was up to.
“You do realize that we have known her our entire lives, right?” Ivan said quirking a brow at me, he seemed to have just snapped out of his own world and was rejoining ours.
“Yeah, but we don’t know know her.” I reminded him, avoiding saying how I really felt.
Ivan just shrugged me off with the raise of his shoulders.
I heard what he was saying but I just couldn’t translate how I felt into words. There were so many thoughts running through my mind and I couldn’t focus on just one. It was like a kaleidoscope of feelings. I didn’t want to marry her because of the way she looked but I didn’t want her to reject me. I really was a shallow arrogant bastard.
“Whatever, guys. Let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to think about this mess I’m in any more than I have to.”
“It’s funny you should say that. Your mom just called and she and Ivan’s mom will be here in about five minutes to discuss wedding plans.” Katinka smirked from the entryway to the den. There was absolutely zero privacy in this house. If you had a secret you weren’t getting out of here alive.
I cut my eyes at her glaring. Katinka responded with a bright cheery smile, annoying me even further.
The soft cries of a baby had her rushing from the entry way deeper into the house.
“You know your wife’s a bed hog and a prize fighter in her sleep, right?” I asked Tosha.
Tosha covered his laughter with his hand and leaned back on the couch, one arm hanging over the back of it.
“Dude, why do you think I waited until morning to retrieve her?” I just rolled my eyes at him. I made a mental note to pay him back when he was least expecting it.
Alexa sauntered into the room with baby Dominik on her hip. The little tike seemed to be growing an inch a minute. He was nearly bigger than Karina already which was impressive since he was premature. For a while, we were all worried about how he would do. Damon was a doting father to
baby Dominik and I think that made a world of difference. It could have also been the fact that he had me for an uncle, but there is no scientific evidence to prove it, at least that’s what Katinka is always reminding me.
Alexa placed the baby in Damon’s arms and gave him a quick peck goodbye. Unlike the rest of us bums, she still had a job to go to. Damon had tried to persuade her to stay home and let him take care of her and the baby but she quickly shot him down, demanding to maintain her independence.
I knew there was still a bit of tension between the two of them about the subject. I couldn’t fault Damon for it because I knew how he thought; we all felt the same way. But I also couldn’t fault Alexa because I understood how she felt as well. It was a subject we all tried to shy away from, allowing the two to work out their differences.
The cooing of my mother and Ivan’s mother, Diana, announced their arrival. It appeared that the two women had scooped up their precious surrogate granddaughter and were carrying her into the den with them.
I was surprised to see my father and Boris, Ivan’s father, with them as well. The two of them cooed over Karina along with the grandmothers.
“Ivan, it’s time you start giving me babies. I need little vnuchata grandchildren.” Diana chided in the same baby talk voice she used to talk to Karina.
Ivan just rolled his eyes and shot me a death stare. I could only laugh. If he thought this was entirely my fault he was sadly mistaken. I firmly placed the blame on Katinka and Tosha. They were the ones that started the whole baby mess when they found out they were preggers. All it took was one glance at Karina from our mothers and the matchmaking and baby scheming was underway. I was as much a casualty as he was.
“Kiev, We have talked to Nina’s family and we have the wedding all planned out.” My mother said firmly as she scooped Dominik out of Damon’s lap and up into her arms. It was easier to nail Jello to the wall than it was to talk my mother out of anything she set her mind to. I felt a little bit of my soul shrivel up and die right then.
Without thought, I quickly pointed an accusing finger at Ivan and shouted: “Ivan caught the gay.”
All eyes immediately focused on Ivan. I tried to get up off the couch and make a run for it but my muscles protested, along with the firm grip of my father’s hand on my shoulder holding me firmly in place.
I looked up at him, my eyes pleading for a reprieve. He merely shook his head and with his unwavering stare, his eyes told me to stay. By that I mean he shot death daggers into my soul rendering me both speechless and still as stone.
“Ivan, is that true?” Diana asked in shock.
Ivan’s mouth fell open wordlessly. I watched as his mouth worked but no words came out. He looked like a guppy gasping for air.
“Oh this is just splendid, at least now we know what’s wrong with him.” My mother cried excitedly bounding Karina on her hip in delight.
“Oh, I know just the match for him,” Diana said quickly recovering from her shock. Her smile was just as wide as my mother’s reminding me of to two sharks circling their prey.
“Who is that, darling?” My mother asked.
“Nathan, you know Galina’s son. I heard he came down with the gay just last year.” Diana prattled on as though she and my mother were the only ones around; they both swayed and bounced a baby on their hip as though they were having a casual Sunday chat, all the while they planned Ivan’s wedding to Nathan.
My chest shook silently with laughter. I knew it was a dick move to throw Ivan under the bus to avoid my pending doom but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t comical to watch.
I quickly quit laughing using my hand to cover the smile that was plastered to my mouth when Ivan’s gaze landed on me. His brows drew together in a firm line. I could see the twitching in his jaw, a firm indication I was going to have my ass handed to me and probably taking my food through a straw in the near future. If looks could kill I would have been a dead man. Ivan clearly did not find this anywhere near as humorous as I did.
“Mom, I’m not gay. I don’t care how attractive Galina’s son is. I’m not gay. Kiev just wanted to throw you off because he doesn’t want to marry Nina.” Both women gasped in shock at Ivan’s accusation.
I return the death glare in his direction careful to avoid meeting Tosha’s face. I can put that fire out after I murder Ivan. The fucker threw me under the bus. I couldn’t fault him. I had just shoved him head first but still. That fucker.
“Kiev, is that true?” I was suddenly at a loss for words.
“Damon’s gay?” I tried weakly, grasping at straws.
“Dude, maybe you’re gay. I already have a woman and a baby.” Damon said smugly smirking at me, his arms were crossed over his chest and he preened like a peacock. He was clearly enjoying the show.
I quickly sprang at him and punched him in the dick. My whole body felt the jerk when I lunged at him, the pain from the sudden movement left me lying half on top of him, my hand still on his dick.
“I told you he was gay.” Damon croaked out, his hands wrapped around his dick, he shoved my hand away from where it was resting alongside his.
“Boys quit playing with one another’s peepees. None of you are gay so stop acting like it,” Diana scolded sternly; it reminded me of when we were kids and she would get onto us for whatever mischief we happened to be into that day.
Damon shoved me off of him with the heel of his foot sending me crashing to the floor.
I just lay there, unable to move. My entire body felt like it had been hit by a Mack truck.
I watched as my father stepped over me and took a seat on the couch where I had been sitting, his ankles crossed out in front of him, resting comfortably on the floor beside my head. Fuck my life. I was had.
“Now, as I was saying,” My mother continued as though nothing had happened. “I spoke with Nina’s family and they are all in agreement. Nina doesn’t want to marry you either, but it’s time the two of you grew up and since you were unable to find someone on your own, the two of you will be married in six months’ time.”
“Nina doesn’t want to marry me?” Somehow those words mattered more to me than the fact that I was getting married regardless of my wishes in six months.
“What? Did you think that you were such a darling that the girl would just roll over and be yours?” My mother asked in disbelief.
“Mom, I’m a catch.” I defended incredulity. My own mother agreed with Nina, I scoffed at their lack of faith in me.
“Kiev, I love you. You’re my son. But even you must see that if you were a catch you would have already been caught.” She said smugly.
I was instantly deflated. I wanted to retort back with ‘But I have a big dick.’ However, I remembered that it was my mother I was talking to and I liked my teeth in my mouth right where they were. Instead, I listened to her and Diana prattle on about the wedding plans.
Nina and I were to be married in six months here in Knoxville. My mother had already contacted the wedding planner and everything was set. The only thing Nina and I had to do was show up.
I couldn’t believe how much my mother had accomplished in less than twenty-four hours. I had a sinking feeling that this plan had been in the making much longer than she would admit. Everything seemed to be running too smoothly and much too fast for it to have been a spur of the moment idea. My mother may not have had the bride picked out at the time she started planning but I knew she had been at this for a while.
“Momma, when did you find the time to do all of this?” I asked the curiosity had been eating at me. I had to know how long this had been going on.
My mother gave me a startled look, surprised by the question. “Ever since you started dating back in high school.” She deadpanned as though it were common knowledge.
I just stared at her in disbelief. I couldn’t fathom understanding how a woman’s mind worked. The most I planned was what to wear in the morning. I couldn’t imagine having planned a wedding especially for as long as my mother had been pl
anning.
“Why?” I asked scrunching up my face; I looked up at my mother from my position on the floor. I had yet to move for fear of injury.
“Well the way you boys were going through women back then, I felt for sure there was going to be a shotgun wedding.” Her answer brought nervous laughter from around the room. I couldn’t believe they thought so lowly of us boys.
“Don’t look at me like that. It was common knowledge that the five of you boys got around. I just wanted to be prepared in case something happened.” My mother shot us all an incredulous look, forcing us all to look away guiltily. She had us there. Not a single one of us could deny it. We had been complete and total manwhores.
Katinka invited our parents to stay and have dinner with us. The women loved coming over and playing with the babies and it gave the rest of us a break from diaper changes.
Thankfully, dinner passed by smoothly. The wedding chatter had died down and we were all able to just catch up and enjoy one another’s company. These were the types of dinners I loved. Good food, good friends, and good conversation.
I was able to update everyone on the progress of the girl group I had been working with and I was able to catch up on what everyone had been up to. Katinka was still writing songs along with the assistance of Nik. Damon was volunteering with a woman’s shelter to help women get off the streets and away from prostitution. Tosha was involved with a folk group he had taken on at the studio, and Ivan begged off saying he was helping a singer in Russia. I knew he was lying through his teeth but I had already thrown him under the bus once. I wasn’t going to do it again. I would let him keep his secret a while longer. Evie and Nik had finally got her paperwork complete making Evie an official citizen of the U.S. Alexa had to work late but Damon assured us all, that she had been steady at work solidifying her career as an Indie Author. She had been offered a contract with a publishing house but had declined in favor of being in control of her own content. I still never understood why she had been going away so much to work. I thought writing could be done from home. I thought that was one of the perks of being an author. Instead of calling attention to the oddity I let it slide. I knew that Damon would talk about it if there was any trouble between the two of them.
Always Rocking: A Heavy Metal Romance (Slava Pasha series Book 4) Page 4
