Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 214

Chapter 214

Natalia

The twins‘ sixth birthday was less than a week away, and I’d been planning had missed five birthdays already–five years of blown–out candles and falling asleep in frosting–covered party clothes.

This year was going to be different.

ing special for weeks. Andrei

presents and sleepy children

I hadn’t told him about the party yet. I wanted it to be a surprise, not just for the twins, but for him, too.

The twins, who, like Andrei, believed we were just going to have a family dinner, had been very specific in their requests. Max wanted a dinosaur cake. Jane wanted streamers and balloons.

“Are you sure you don’t want any help with this?” Grace asked as we stood in the kitchen the day before the party, surveying the disaster zone we’d created. Flour seemed to be coating each and every surface, and there were mixing bowls stacked so high in the sink I could barely see over them.

“This is help,” I said, gesturing to the three enormous cake layers we’d just pulled from the oven. It was so big it was a group task. “I never could have managed this alone.”

Grace laughed, wiping flour from her cheek. “I meant help from Andrei. He’d probably love to be involved in planning their party.”

I dragged my lower lip through my teeth, considering. “I know he would. But I want this to be… I don’t know. Special. He missed so many birthdays already.”

Grace seemed to understand. I picked up one of the cake layers and examined it critically. “He’s missed so much. I want him to feel like we’re making up for five years, even if we could never come close to it.”

“You sound like you’re beating yourself up, Natalia.”

The words hit closer to home than I’d expected. “Maybe.” I sighed and set the pan down, running a hand over my face. “I just can’t stop thinking that if I had only talked to him-”

“Hey.” Grace cut me off in that curt but not unkind way that she was so good at. “It’s not your fault. You were doing the best you could given the circumstances. At the time, you thought you were protecting the twins. And maybe you were.”

Grace’s implication was clear without even saying that name: Lilith

The very thought of what she might have done when the twins were infants made me sick. She had already tried drowning them at five years old; I hardly dared to think what sort of evil plans she might have concocted for taking out two babies.

And she might have succeeded.

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts. “Well, either way, there’s no going back now. But this sixth birthday will be better than all the others combined. At least that’s one thing I can do.”

Grace snorted. “Don’t tell me you intend to put Andrei in a dinosaur costume.”

“Well, now that you mention it…”

Grace and I broke into laughter at that, and I felt a weight in my chest lift.

We spent the next hour decorating the cake, and by the time we were finished, I had to admit it looked pretty

Chapter 214

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impressive. The green frosting had been shaped into scales, and we’d used white icing to create fearsome teeth along the dinosaur’s jaw. Max was going to lose his mind when he saw it.

As a final touch, Grace suggested adding a princess tiara to the top c the would likely roll his eyes, but we knew Jane would faint with exciteme

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