Obsidian Mask

by Scarlett Dawn

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Triplets. Three babies. That’s why you measure so far in advance and your HCG numbers are elevated.”

  Daniil made a noise in the back of his throat, and it was odd enough that it interrupted my shock. I glanced at his normally tan, now pale face…

  …just in time to see him take a header into the floor.

  “Daniil!” I screamed, scared to death seeing him faint. “Daniil!”

  I started struggling to sit up, even as the doctor raced around the table, dropping down next to him. The door to my room banged open and six fucking bodyguards charged inside as I scrambled off the table. I hadn’t seen all of these guards before, and I didn’t even know they were here, but I was more than freaked, pushing them away so I could get to Daniil.

  Ugly Duckling was yanking Dr. Wisser away, but I yelled for him to stop. Dr. Wisser was a fucking doctor. Not a gun-toting brute. He could help!

  Amazingly, Ugly Duckling listened to me and let the doctor go. As I knelt down beside Daniil, Dr. Wisser started taking Daniil’s vitals again. I heard the doctor mutter under his breath, “It’s always the tough guys who hit the ground the fastest. I should have known better.”

  They moved the still passed out Daniil to the table, the doctor pronouncing him fine and just needing a few minutes to recover, and I’d had about a zillion blood tests done, and even had pamphlets and a book given to me about multiple births. I was fully dressed by the time Daniil woke up. I was in tears at this point, thinking he was never going to wake up, and ready to take the knife and probably gun, too, from him and demand they take him to the emergency room when he finally groaned from the table.

  Throwing my arms around his neck, I sobbed, “You’re not supposed to do that.”

  His arms were immediately around me like he was comforting me, running his hands up and down my back, but he asked, “What the hell happened?”

  “You fainted,” Dr. Wisser said helpfully, almost sounding cheerful, standing from where he was sitting patiently. “Can you sit up?”

  “It’s too early for that, don’t you think?” I hissed, glaring up at the damn cheerful doctor, pressing down on Daniil when he tried to move. “He hit his head.” He had a fucking bruise on his forehead.

  “Beth,” Daniil whispered, gripping my chin and making me look at him. “I’ve had much worse. I’m fine.”

  Glaring at him now, I wiped away my tears. “You aren’t fine. You fainted. And hit your head.” I touched his bruise lightly to make him understand.

  The damn man just raised his eyebrows. “Beth, my sweet, move and let me up, or I’ll move you myself.”

  “No,” I griped, glancing at his forehead. Was there swelling there? “Have the doctor check you from where you are.”

  Daniil sighed, and his arms instantly snaked under my arms, and I squeaked as his did a push-up…but holding me off the ground and setting me aside when he was sitting up.

  I pointed at his nose. “That cannot be healthy after fainting.”

  “Pretty damn impressive, really,” Dr. Wisser mumbled, grinning.

  He took a light out and started shining it in Daniil eye’s even as I stewed, and Daniil stated, “Thank you. I work out quite a bit.”

  Doc shut off the penlight, putting it back in his pocket and started taking Daniil’s pulse. “I can tell. It took three of us to lift you on the table.” His lips twitched when Daniil scowled, but he nodded and put a hand on Daniil’s shoulder, almost looking like he was bracing him. “Do you remember what we were discussing before you fainted?”

  Daniil’s eyebrows snapped together, and he glanced at the hand on his shoulder. “Why are you touching me like that?”

  “Please answer the question.”

  Daniil turned his attention from his hand to the doc’s face. I nibbled on my lip, evaluating his features. And I saw it. When his scowl disappeared, and his head snapped to me, and then to my stomach. His cheeks paled again and his eyelids drooped.

  “Stay awake,” the doctor barked, adding another hand to Daniil’s other shoulder. “Open your eyes! Look at me!”

  Daniil’s eyes snapped open, and he gasped when the doctor shook him lightly, instinct apparently had him moving his arms and snapping the doctors hold off him, but he started falling even as the doctor stumbled back a step. I grabbed his suit jacket and shook him hard. “Don’t you faint again. Otherwise, I’m taking you to the damn hospital no matter what anyone says!”

  Daniil’s eyes snapped open again at the sound of my voice, and even though his face stayed pale, he caught himself, sitting up straight. “I’m all right, Beth.” His gaze went to my stomach, and he immediately placed his hand there. “Are you all right?” He swayed a little, his gaze trapped on my stomach. “Should you be standing with…with…three babies in there?”

  I snorted, trying to keep him steady. I hadn’t even had time to freak out properly with having to look after him. But, this much I knew—I had to put my foot down immediately before that thought took hold in his mind. “I’ll be standing until the doctor tells me no more.” I knew bedrest was probably a real possibility, but not before the doctor deemed it necessary was I going to become an invalid.

  Daniil’s wide eyes went to the doctor. “Should she be standing? Doing anything?” He gulped. “Sex?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course, he would add that to the end.

  He glanced at me, his free hand not on my stomach going to my face, cupping my cheek, staring at me even as he listened avidly to the doctor. He proceeded to tell us I was fine for mild exercise and work, and yes, we could continue sex for a short period of time—as long as it was gentle—until he told us otherwise. He then went through the risks of multiple pregnancies to the mother and babies, and Daniil’s face turned ashen again and stayed that way. He didn’t ask me about reduction, thank God, because I would never choose to do that, and apparently, he wouldn’t either when he flicked a quick glare at the doctor, who quickly changed the subject seeing we weren’t interested.

  To say I was scared shitless by the end of his speech was an understatement, but I was pretty sure, by the look in Daniil’s eyes, he was even more frightened than I was. After the doc wrote out a prescription for those prenatal vitamins I mentioned during dinner on Wednesday, and scheduled another appointment in two weeks to have another sonogram to check for heartbeats, we left the room silent and gripping each other’s hands.

  I knew I didn’t look so good, but Daniil was barely able to walk a straight line. It probably appeared that we were drunk the way we stumbled out into the waiting room with his bodyguards following. Daniil had entered separately when we walked into the office, so as not to show that we were together. However, we had both forgotten about this. At this point, we didn’t really give a shit because when we exited, both of my parents looked up from whatever they were reading, took one look at us, and jumped to their feet.

  My dad grabbed Daniil’s other arm and my mom grabbed my free arm, and while neither said a word, they both herded us out of the office. Silently, we walked down a hallway, down an elevator, and out to a limo waiting for us. I had driven separately and so had my parents, but no one said anything about separate vehicles. We just all piled into Daniil’s ‘armored’ limo and shut the door, the six bodyguards sliding into vehicles behind us.

  I hunkered down next to Daniil, letting my head fall against his shoulder. He immediately enveloped me in his arms, kissing my head and resting his forehead on the top of my curls. My parents sat side-by-side, their expressions carefully even, watching us.

  And finally, my mom asked, “What’s wrong?” Her face was calm, but her voice was hard as if she were walking a tightrope.

  “Whatever it is, we’re here for you.” My dad didn’t sound much better.

  Daniil didn’t move, and I was afraid he had fainted again, and I tilted my head back enough to see that his eyes were still open. They were, even though his face was still pale, and I let him pull me back
so he could rest his face back in my hair, hugging me tight. I cleared my throat, turning my head a smidge so I could speak to my parents directly. “I’m having triplets.”

  My parents sat there in shock as I told them everything the doctor had told us. Everything. All the way down to some of the horrible risks. My mom’s face turned as pale as Daniil’s at one point and Dad wrapped his arms around her, supporting her. We were almost to Daniil’s house when I pulled the pictures out of the book I was given and handed the shots over to them.

  Mom took one look at them and started bawling. Daniil came out of this comatose state, glancing at her, saying, “Please don’t get those wet.”

  Dad quickly took them from Mom when she kept blubbering and studied the pictures, a small smile forming on his lips. “I know you’re both worried about their livelihood, but Dr. Wisser said everything was fine right now, right?”

  Daniil and I both slowly nodded.

  Dad’s smile increased, and he faced the shots toward us. “Then you shouldn’t let it worry you right now when there’s nothing but what-ifs. The future is full of those, anyway. And it’s not healthy for either one of you. You should be thanking God that he’s blessed you two with three babies when there are so many people out there who are unable to just have one.” Dad’s gaze turned straight to Daniil, and he smirked, an odd gleam in his eyes. “And at your age, too. You should be proud.”

  Mom tried to grab the strip from Dad, mumbling, “The first pictures of my grandbabies!” She sobbed. “Give them back, James!”

  Daniil stiffened at what Dad said, and amazingly, his chest puffed up a little. His color returned. I couldn’t believe it. Dad had just helped him in a way I hadn’t been able to do.

  “Not until you quit crying, Frankie,” Dad said, after a quick, satisfied smile at Daniil. “I want copies of these without water spots on them.” Dad beamed at the pictures. “Three! Three to spoil and love.” He grinned at me. “You did good, sweetie. Real good.”

  I blinked. “Daniil had a little to do with it, too.” Hell, he’d just said that. It was like a huge rollercoaster ride of emotions. And not mine. I was still shocked and scared while everyone around me went from shocked to proud and thrilled.

  Mom waved her hand absently, drying her tears as fast as she could. “We know, sweetie.” She grinned through more tears sliding down her face. “But triplets! Oh!” She actually leaned over and patted my leg, and then Daniil’s leg—happily. “I was so worried when you came out of there…” She waved her hand. “Never mind. That doesn’t matter. What does matter is the doctor said everything’s fine right now. One day at a time, sweetie. And enjoy it while you can. Pregnancy isn’t forever.”

  “Thank God,” I muttered. I had been puking my brains out non-stop for the past week, then eating everything in sight afterward. And now I knew I was about to balloon up even bigger than a normal pregnant woman does. Yeah, thank God it wasn’t forever.

  Daniil reached over and snagged the pics from my dad, staring down where he placed them over our legs. Yeah, we had enough kids in my belly for there to be that many. And that quickly, my vision blurred. I gulped, staring down at them, wide-eyed, whispering, “We did that.”

  Daniil nodded. “Yes. We did.”

  I turned my head to stare at him, seriously feeling faint. “Three, Daniil. I don’t even have that many arms to hold them.” I held said arms up.

  His brown eyes turned to mine, his definitely looked better, his eyes crinkling ever so slowly as he smiled. A beautiful, truly happy smile. “Good thing you have mine. We’ll have one spare arm to clean the spit up with.”

  I choked, seeing that he was serious. And happy about it. “Do you know how many poopy diapers that is?”

  He nodded, his eyes staying locked on mine. “I’ll buy more trashcans.”

  “Oh!” Mom exclaimed. “They have those Genie things now to help with the smell!”

  “We’ll need three car seats, and three strollers or an extra-large one, and three outfits of everything, three diaper bags, three bottles because I sure as heck am not going to breastfeed three children, and—” Daniil cut me off mid-mad-rant by placing his lips on mine. None-to-gently. I growled against his lips, “Daniil, I’m serious—” He kissed me again, even harder, smiling half the time against my lips, holding my cheeks so I couldn’t move away.

  Irritated, I bit his lip gently, and he chuckled but pulled back. Then he placed a hand over my mouth when I started to speak again, murmuring softly, “It will be all right. I have plenty of money for everything you mentioned…and think about it, Beth…three babies to love. Three of those tiny, perfect, beautiful gifts staring at you with unconditional love. You don’t just get to see the first time they smile once. Or the first time they roll over once. Or the first time they say their first word once. Or take their first step once. You get to experience it three times. You get to love three babies, my sweet.”

  I blinked…and started bawling, realizing I was a complete dufus worrying about materialist things when Daniil was right. We had three babies on the way to love. “We did that,” I whispered, grinning through a sob, “three. And they’re all right, right now.”

  Daniil grinned, wiping my tears away. “Yes. We did do that, and they are all right, right now.” Daniil handed off the pictures to my dad when the tears wouldn’t stop flowing and held me tight, kissing my forehead repeatedly, even though he pulled out his cell phone, dialing, and saying, “Grigori, call your brothers and sister and Kirill. I’ve got news and I want you all home for it.” He hung up without saying anything else.

  It was Monday in the middle of the day, so they would all have to be home if they were at work. Luckily, I had taken a half day, so I was in the clear. But I did manage to mumble, “Our cars are back there.”

  “Don’t worry about it, my sweet,” Daniil murmured against my hair. “It’ll be taken care of.”

  And it was. Not even two hours later our cars were there, along with Daniil’s kids, Kirill, Chloe, and Ember. Daniil and my parents were all having a glass of wine together—me with water—when everyone rushed into the study, looking frazzled, and more than a little worried. Daniil stood and grinned at them, walking over and hugging and kissing each of their cheeks, grinning like an idiot still. It was as if he couldn’t lose the smile. I, on the other hand, was yawning and about ready to pass out since I had stuffed my face once we had arrived.

  Everyone he embraced wore a dumbfounded expression, standing there with their mouths gaping as they stared at the overly proud man in front of them, and when the round of over exuberant greetings were done, Grigori asked, “Papa, what’s going on?”

  Daniil’s smile somehow…well, it increased, and he walked over to me where I sat at the desk, trying to keep my head up. He grabbed the sonogram photos and brought them over to them, handing them to Grigori first. He thumped them as Grigori stared down at them. “They have pictures now inside the womb. It was amazing!”

  Grigori looked at his father as if he was crazy, and I tried not to laugh, coming a little more awake. Ember hiccupped her way into a chuckle, leaning on Grigori, who asked, “Papa, you had us come home from work to show us pictures of the baby?”

  Kirill was even starting to chuckle deeply, and Chloe was snorting a little.

  Daniil nodded. “Yes. But that’s not all.”

  They all stared at him, and his smile positively gleamed as he rubbed his chest proudly, then pointed at the pictures, just the way the doctor had done. “One. Two. Three.” He beamed into their even further dumbfounded faced. “Triplets! We’re having triplets!”

  Predictably, everyone’s jaw dropped. Then it was like the open gates as a racetrack as they all swarmed around Grigori, staring over his shoulder…or, in Eva’s case, dropped to her knees in front of him, and squirmed her way to stare at the pictures an inch from her nose. She asked even as the rest started yelling at her, “Show us again! What’s what? I never can tell with these things.”

  Grigori growled a
nd pulled the pictures up a little so her head wasn’t blocking the pictures. Daniil reached a hand over them and did the ‘one, two, three’ thing again. And everyone stared.

  “Three babies,” Ember whispered into the quiet, and I was pretty sure her voice caught. She glanced over at me, clearing her throat, stating, “You don’t know how blessed you are to be able to do that without fertility meds.”

  Staring at her, realization hitting me that she wanted more children, and God, by the shock on her face, maybe she was even just realizing it, too. Grigori blinked and glanced at her. She hadn’t even noticed, her gaze back on the photos, a tiny smile lifting her lips. It almost matched the rest of the family’s faces except for it was a desolate smile.

  Right then and there, I knew I needed to say a small prayer. My dad, sadly, was right again. Apparently, in the real world, not everyone was blessed to be able to have children the good old-fashioned way. And here, Daniil and I were lucky enough to have three on the first go.

  Daniil watched each of his children’s faces, absolutely not missing the interaction between Grigori and Ember…or even Kirill and Chloe for that matter, both of them with glistening eyes and covertly glancing at the other.

  Eva looked up at her dad, and her eyebrows puckered. “You may actually get a boy like you said. Another brother.” She scowled.

  Daniil turned to me. “What do you think they are?”

  Everyone stopped breathing—at least, it seemed and stared. Yawning, because I couldn’t help it, I murmured, “Healthy.”

  Daniil smiled softly, nodding. “Yes, I agree.”

  “What does that mean?” Chloe asked, turning her attention from me to the photos, trying to edge her way in closer, and getting a gentle, but firm elbow in the gut from Artur, who had finally gotten in place beside Grigori.

  Daniil’s eyes turned serious, and he cleared his throat, gesturing at the couches were my parents were sitting. “Why don’t we all have a seat?”

  Just like that, everyone’s expressions hooded and they all sat down, passing the photo’s between them as Daniil sat on the edge of the desk, holding my free hand. I only heard a little of his speech, informing them what the doctor had said. Somewhere in there, I knew I murmured tiredly, “He pulled a knife on my doctor…” Right before my face hit the desk, and exhaustion took me under.