The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 151

4 Chapter 150 2

Chapter 150-2

“It is never too late to do things right.”

Alexander did not say it or imply it in any way, but I felt that it had something to do with Anya. Should I feel proud that he was following protocol with me? He became distracted for a moment, turning his head toward the living room door, and I took advantage of it to gently bite his ear.

“I’d better go upstairs and see how those two are doing, before they make a mess in your bathroom,” he commented.

He looked at me again and kissed me two, three, four times until he finally let me go and left. I heard the subtle creak of the steps under his weight and then the shouting and laughter of the children. I went up to my room to change, and a little while later he returned to the kitchen, intending to look at the recipe book and think about what to prepare for dinner.

After the bath, Andre came to where I was and handed me the wet towels so I could put them in the washing machine. I lifted him onto the counter and smoothed his messy, damp hair while smiling at him.

The boy looked back at me with quite a serious expression. Usually he laughed a lot when he spent time with me and talked nonstop. I liked that, because it gave me the serenity of knowing that I had his trust and affection, but at that moment I did not notice the intense scrutiny to which I was being subjected by Andre.

I adjusted the hood of his sweater a little and heard him say:

“A little while ago I saw that you and my dad were kissing. Right here.”

I froze stiff as a board and slowly lifted my head to search for his eyes. I was almost afraid to look at him. At what moment had that happened without me noticing? Did Alexander notice? Had Andre seen the more innocent kisses, or the others? Heat rushed to my cheeks, and for a moment I almost stopped breathing. I did not know what to answer.

His blue eyes looked very serene, but that could mean an endless number of things, and I…

Was he angry? Jealous?

I could not decipher the expression on his face.

“…Does that mean I can say ‘mom’ to you now?” he added when I did not speak.

The question caught me as unprepared as his first statement, and after a couple of tense seconds, I pressed my lips together and hugged him tightly. I left a kiss on his cheek while searching within myself for the will to control the trembling of my jaw and tell him:

Chapter 150

“Of course

you can, my love. Of course you can!”

“Thank you, Mom,” Andre answered, and hugged me back just as tightly.

The soft sound of laughter near me and the tapping of restless fingers on my pillow woke me. I opened my eyes, and there she was.

“Mom, Mom!” she said in that sweet little voice. “I want up!”

I could not help but smile, although I was still drowsy and not quite sure where I was. Sasha was trying to climb onto the bed frame. Before I could fully react, Alexander’s hand left my waist and slid out from under the blankets toward her; Sasha grabbed his fingers with a giggle and in one pull she was up, crawling toward me. Alexander snuggled back against my back, burying his face in my hair, and stayed still, calm and warm. I opened my arms to receive the girl, and everything was laughter. She had recently adopted that habit. Alexander did not like it much, for obvious reasons; both of us were fond of staying in bed late when we

could.

But once Sasha was there, it was impossible to deny her anything.

“Am I a hugging toy now?” I joked after a while, because I felt sandwiched between the two of

them.

“Do you want to become a biting toy?” Alexander’s voice sounded low and vibrating in my ear, sending a shiver of delight through me.

“No, let’s leave it like that. I have enough.”

“Mmm, good morning,” he added instead.

“Good morning,” I answered, stretching against his body.

“Dobroye utro!” Sasha shouted between giggles and knelt on the mattress, stretching her arms toward the ceiling. “Good morning” was one of the few Russian phrases I recognized when I heard it. “I’m hungry, Mom!”

“You’re always hungry, my little love,” I told her, and she laughed with me.

“Alright, happy hour is over,” Alexander announced with a growl and let me go.

Andre was usually very reserved, and when he entered a place where his father and I were, perhaps in the middle of a kiss or an innocent game, he immediately turned around and left. He also did not enter our room without asking permission first. Sasha was quite different from her brother; she began jumping on the bed until she fell on me, and I grabbed her to tickle her. The clear and fresh laughter of the girl was the best music to wake up to in the morning (after some soft growls in the ear, of course).

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