by K. J. Dahlen
“Men like me?” Timor frowned.
Benny nodded. “Yeah, men just like you, maybe not Russian, but the same. You feel you’ve earned your place in the pecking order. All you can see is that we don’t have as much as you. We don’t have family as important as you think you are, you think just because we don’t have all the material things like you that we aren’t important enough to waste your time on us. But you know what? Stevie taught me that I am important enough to hold my head high. She taught me that respect isn’t necessarily earned unless it’s given first….that just because I don’t have a family name like yours, I’m still a good person and that if I am true to myself and not a kiss ass, I will grow up to be the best man I can be. That being loyal to others is a better way than to give my word to someone who isn’t worthy of it. She told me once, that if I’ve given my word I have to keep it because a man’s word is sometimes all he has to give someone. She taught me all about honor and respect but people like you can’t see that.” Benny got to his feet and turned to face the other man. “The lessons I’ve learned from Stevie mean more to me than men like you ever will. She’s real, where you are not. I like Roman and I’m glad he didn’t grow up around you. He’s a good man just the way he is, and so are all his brothers. I am very proud that he included me in his family and I hope to grow up to be just like him. I don’t know your other son that well but he at least gave me respect, so I’ll give him the same.” Then Benny turned away and disappeared down the hall again.
Roman and Iosif along with everyone else in the room had seen the whole incident and they all felt the same. They’d seen a small boy put Timor Maxim in his place and now they all waited with baited breath to see what his response would be.
Timor ran his fingers through his hair and glanced around the room. Taking a deep breath, he announced, “And that is how a twelve year old kid schools an old man like me I guess. I never realized how arrogant I was until it was pointed out to me. I think I still have much to learn.” Getting to his feet, he moved over to stand beside Roman and Iosif. Holding out his hand to Roman he said, “I owe you yet another apology for my behavior. The boy was right. I never did give him or your woman respect, yet I expected it from them and from you. I thought just being the man to give you life, rendered me certain privileges when obviously it does not. I wasn’t there when you needed me and now that you’re grown, I just realized that you don’t need me at all. I guess it took me a while to see that but I think I finally have. You are my son and I do want the chance to know you. You, your woman, and her brother. I hope you will give me that chance.”
Roman nodded. “My woman has a name and it is Stephanie Angelica Grace but soon that name will change to Salizar.”
“Your name should be Maxim and I hope one day you will take my name but until you do I will accept it.” Timor nodded. “You have another family in Kazakhstan who will want to meet you and your family. I hope that will happen one day.”
“If they can accept me for who I am, I would be happy to meet them.” Roman assured him.
“You come from a long line of proud men and women. They’re all proud and stubborn but then so are you.” Timor admitted. “You and your small family will fit right in and if they don’t, that young man will teach them to be better people.” Timor turned to Sergi and held out his hand. “I do hope that my impatience will not harm our relationship. I know what I did was wrong but when I finally knew where my son was, I had to find him. I looked and waited for years. I had to know what kind of man he grew up to be.”
“Like Benny said before you have to give respect to earn it. I can forgive you this time but please don’t make a habit of showing me disrespect. Like you, I do not like it nor appreciate it.”
“I understand that all too well.” He admitted. “And I have a feeling we might be getting closer in time.’
“Well, we are family now. Roman has always been like another son to me. When Nikoli took these five young men under his wing, we all sort of adopted them. One of them married my granddaughter and I’ve gotten to know all of them. They are all good men.”
“I can see that now. I would like one day to know them all as well as you do.”
Two weeks later…
Stevie stood in a side room attached to the small banquet room of the hotel Yuri owned. She fingered the pale blue dress she wore. Her hair was styled in soft curls and for the first time ever, she wore makeup. Her heeled shoes pinched her feet and she felt nervous.
Just beyond the door, Raven and the others were waiting for her. Today, she was getting married. She gazed down at the fine dress she wore and didn’t recognize herself. The beautiful young woman staring back in the mirror wasn’t really her.
During the last two weeks of her recovery, Raven and her friends had been busy planning this wedding she hadn’t really thought about it much. Even now, it wasn’t really real for her. This was Roman’s idea.
Over the last two weeks, they’d gotten to know Timor and Iosif. They were out there waiting for the wedding to begin, and this didn’t make her as nervous as she thought it would. They were after all, one small part of Roman’s family.
She felt a fluttering in her belly and she was awed by it. Her hand cradled her small belly bump. Her baby was still inside her and growing every day. It stunned her to know there was a tiny human being growing there.
The door opened and Benny joined her. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
“I’m not sure yet. Is this really happening?”
Benny stood in front of her. “It doesn’t seem real does it?”
Stevie shook her head. “No not really.”
Benny took her hand. “Is this what you really want? Roman isn’t an easy man to live with or to love. If you marry him, you have to accept him and all his warts. Is that what you really truly want?”
Stevie smiled as tears ran down her cheeks. “That is the only thing I’m sure about. I love that man, warts and all. I want to be his wife and I want this child inside me to know his or her father. I’ll finally have something of my own, besides you.”
“We both finally have a family.” Benny smiled. “Since I was three years old, it’s been you and me against the world, now we belong to something so much bigger, and it feels great doesn’t it? And Roman is big enough for both of us to lean on when we need to.”
A knock sounded on the door and Stevie knew it was time. She brushed the tears away.
Benny grinned at her. “You look beautiful.”
Stevie chuckled. “I’m a mess. My makeup is probably ruined and I’m not myself with all these curls and fancy clothes. But I do want to look good for him today.”
Benny chuckled. “I think you’d be beautiful to him wearing a sack. It doesn’t matter what you wear, it’s you he loves not the clothes you’re wearing.”
Stevie stared at her brother for a moment then asked, “How did you and me get so lucky? We found real love in the middle of a nightmare.”
“Come on sis, lets’ get you married.” Benny held out his arm for her to take. Stevie had asked him to walk her down the aisle and give her away to Roman. Normally that job would have gone to her father but as they didn’t have a father figure in their lives, she passed that job onto him. It was one he was proud to accept.
As soon as the door opened, the music began and Benny took the first step to a new life.
Six months later…
Stevie waddled into Roman’s office at the house.
Her belly was huge and when Roman looked up from the paperwork, he smiled at the sight of her. “Well hello there beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” Stevie scoffed. “How can you call me beautiful? I’m as big as a beached whale.”
Roman got to his feet and came around his desk. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her temple. “I think you’re gorgeous. You’re carrying a child, my child and I think it’s beautiful. I love you.”
Stevie sighed and glanced up at him. “We love you too.” She began rubbing her belly.
“I cannot wait to meet this little guy. Only a few more weeks.”
“Me neither,” Roman commented softly as he too, rubbed her huge belly. When he felt her belly tighten, he looked at her carefully. “Are you all right?”
Stevie nodded. “I think so. My back has been killing me all night long and this baby is riding really low today. But I haven’t had any pains yet.” Suddenly, she doubled over and gasped in pain. “Until now that is. I’m feeling the pains now.”
Then her water broke and it formed a pool at their feet. “Oh, shit.” She swore. Looking up into his panicked eyes she said, “The baby is coming. He’s coming early.”
Roman swung her up into his steel band like arms and strode toward the door. “No kidding.” He went out into the living room and yelled for Benny.
Benny came running and took in the situation with one look. “The baby?”
“We need to get to the hospital.” Roman nodded at the young boy.
“I don’t think there’s time for that,” Stevie urged. “I need to push like right now.”
Roman looked at Benny then at Stevie then to Benny again. “Call Yuri and tell him to get a doctor out here right away. Tell him the baby is coming fast and I need help.”
Benny nodded and reached for the phone while Roman went to his bedroom. Setting Stevie on her feet, he pulled the covers back.
“I need to change out of these wet clothes first,” she informed him. “And we need the rubber sheet so we don’t ruin the bed.”
“I don’t really care about the bed right now.” Roman assisted her in stripping off her pants and shirt. He helped her into a t shirt and then helped her into bed.
Panting Stevie huffed. “I wasn’t planning on this. I wanted to have my baby in a hospital.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t think that matters right now. All I want is for you and the baby to be all right.”
Stevie grimaced as another pain hit. Her belly tightened and she felt the urge to push become stronger. “This baby is in a hurry to get here.”
“I thought this was supposed to take some time,” Roman muttered as yet another pain gripped her.
A ten minutes later, the doctor joined them.
Roman glanced at the door and saw his brothers standing there. None of them looked any better than he did at the moment. He moved out of the way, as the doctor moved closer to Stevie.
Roman glanced at Yuri and ran his fingers through his hair. “I thought we’d have time to get her to hospital. This is happening too fast.”
“What happened?” Sazon asked.
“She said she’s had a backache all night but no other pains.”
Sazon chuckled. “She’s been in labor all along then. Ana had all back labor too. The doctor told her that labor varies with all women.”
“But I thought we had a few more weeks!” Roman exclaimed.
“The baby comes when it comes.” Sazon assured him. “The twins were early too.”
“I can’t wait for my child to be born,” Barshan told them.
Yuri turned to Barshan. “You and Talli are having a baby too?”
Barshan nodded. “We just found out.”
“But that’s wonderful.” Yuri laughed. “Now we all have children of our own.”
“And our family is getting bigger all the time,” Mikial commented. “Soon Pepper and I will go through this too.”
Roman turned back to Stevie when she screamed in pain. He rushed over to the bed and asked the doctor, “What’s wrong?”
The doctor glanced up at him briefly. “There’s nothing wrong. You child is preparing to enter the world, that’s all.”
Roman grabbed Stevie’s hand and held on. Stevie was sweaty and in pain. She grunted and groaned as she tried to push their child out of her body.
The doctor moved to between her legs and urged her to push. “You are fully dilated and your baby is ready to come. I need one big push.” He readied himself for the birth.
Roman held her hand and waited. Stevie lifted her shoulders off the bed and doubled over. Roman wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her in position. She screamed out again and the doctor shouted out, “I can see the head.”
Stevie bit at her lip as sweat rolled down her face and her breath was coning in labored pants.
Benny stepped close and gently wiped her face with a cloth. He looked frightened and pale but held himself up with courage. Then he looked ill and ran to the door, going out to where Roman’s brothers were.
A few moment later the doctor told them, “The head is out and here come the shoulders. Here comes the rest of him.” He chuckled as the rest of the baby slid out of his mother.
Then a tiny wail broke the silence.
Roman looked down at his son, then turned to Stevie. He smiled at the awe in her eyes. “We have a son.” He leaned in to kiss her lips and then backed away when her face pinched again in pain. Roman looked down at the doctor. “What is happening now?”
“I’m not sure,” the doctor muttered as he went to check his patient again. “Oh lord, we have another baby in there we didn’t know about. I can see its head and this one is in a hurry just like its brother was.”
Moments later, there was another tiny wail as Roman’s second son was born. Twenty minutes later, Stevie and the twins were cleaned up and ready for visitors.
The doctor looked stunned. “Don’t know how the obstetrician missed this. Sometimes the ultra sounds don’t pick it up, I suppose but this is quite a surprise.’
“It sure is!” Roman grinned at him like a kid getting presents on Christmas day. “The best kind of surprise.” He went to opened the door.
Looking frantic, Benny bounded inside. “Is Stevie ok?” he asked worriedly. “I’m so sorry—I just couldn’t stay…” His small voice trailed away.
Roman grinned. “She and the babies are fine.”
Benny halted in mid-step. “Babies?” he asked in stunned awareness. Turning toward the bed, he found Stevie smiling at him. She was holding a small baby in each arm. Benny walked forward slowly. “You had two babies?” he whispered.
Stevie nodded. “We didn’t know about the second one. He was a complete surprise.” She paused then added, “You’re an uncle.”
Benny smiled widely. “Hey that’s right, I am their uncle aren’t I?”
“Hey there kiddo, so are we,” Yuri claimed as they all joined the new family.
Yuri and Raven, Sazon and Ana, Barshan and Talli, Mikial and Pepper.
Roman lifted his first son out of Stevie’s arms and handed him off to one of his brothers.
Yuri stepped up and accepted the baby.
“His name is Aleksei Roman Salizar.” Roman turned back to take the second baby out of Stevie’s arms and handed him off to Benny. “This one’s name is Dimitri Benjamin Salizar.”
Yuri grinned. “You had a second set of names picked out already?”
Stevie answered this, “We had too many names to choose from, but we both wanted these ones.”
Yuri laughed as he peered down at the little bundle in his arms. “Your mama and daddy came prepared.”
The brothers all laughed.
“Da!” Barshan added. “Roman is always prepared.”
The male booming laughter rumbled through the room as Roman rolled his eyes at their ribbing.
Benny took the tiny baby and turned to face Stevie. “You gave him my name as his middle name?”
“You mean so much to me. How could I not?” Stevie told her brother.
Benny allowed a tear to roll down his cheeks as he gazed down at the tiny baby in his arms.
The group of five brothers and their wives all stood for a long silent moment staring at the kid who’d gotten a raw deal almost since the day he’d been born. Many in the room had gotten that same kind of deal as children that young Benny had experienced. They all seemed to be enveloped in a sense of rightness. All enjoyed the contentment that seemed to be a living spark in the room, having the lives they were meant to have…fin
ally.
The women cried a bit and cooed at the babies. The noise rose in the room with laughter, chuckling, cooing and the pure sounds of happiness and joy only a tight family could produce.
A few minutes of chaos then ensued as everyone wanted to hold the newest members of their ever increasing family then Raven called a halt, “Come one everyone. This little family needs some time alone. We can come back later to visit.” She went over to Stevie and smiled. “Now the hard part begins.” She grabbed Stevie’s hand and squeezed gently.
Stevie rolled her tired eyes. “Like that wasn’t hard?”
More laughter echoed in the room. And the women were all nodding like they were saying Amen to that.
Raven chuckled at her response. “Yes, I surely know, but it’s worth the effort. Enjoy your family and if you need anything, please let us know.”
“I will.” Stevie looked over at the men holding babies, tussling to get a look at the baby faces and doing silly Russian sounding baby talk to the twins and said, “They are a special group of guys aren’t they?”
“Yes they are and thank god, we love them.”
“Amen to that,” Stevie vowed.
Just then, Corbin and Lucifer came into the room. Benny knelt down and showed the baby in his arms to the dogs.
Roman knelt too and showed them the other baby. The dogs smelled both babies and their tails began to wag. Roman looked at the dogs and said, “You have to watch over these babies and keep them safe the same as you do with Benny and Stevie.”
Both animals cocked their heads to one side intelligently and seemed to understand their new orders. The canines then went over to the bed and laid down on the floor to protect their mistress.
“What do you suppose your father and other brother will have to say about the babies?” Yuri asked Roman quietly. “They aren’t going to be happy they missed the birth. They were due to visit next week weren’t they?”
Roman shrugged. “Yes.” He chuckled. “They were due to come in four days. I hope they will be happy for me but it doesn’t really matter.”