Mercy

Nikolai watched as Roza walked around the nursery looking for their son. Roza was upset with him at first for not telling her until the last minute but after awhile she knew it wasn’t because he wanted to catch her off guard. They had a lot going on and he didn’t have time to tell her.

His eyes flickered away from Roza and around the room until he found a bump underneath the blanket at the end of the bed. He glanced down on the ground and Maksim’s shoes were peeking out from underneath. The little pup was standing against the end of the bed hiding underneath the blanket and Roza was too flustered to see where their son was.

“Where can Maksim be?” Roza huffed.

Nikolai chuckled and pointed to the bump underneath the blanket. Roza turned around to look and a soft smile crept on her face. She dropped to her knees in front of their son.

“My! I wonder where he could be. It is almost as if he vanished!” Roza mocked before turning back to Nikolai with an amused look. “отец (father) of Maksim, where did Maksim go?”

“Hm, have you checked in his drawers? He might be hiding in there.” Nikolai joined in on the fun.

Maksim giggled and the blanket shook along with him.

Nikolai chuckled and moved to sit down next to Roza. She grinned as she raised her index finger and poked at Maksim’s tummy. Maksim’s tiny hands came to cover his belly as he giggled even further.

“Ah! I think I found him!” Roza announced and moved to tickle Maksim. He laughed and slipped from underneath the blanket onto his mother’s lap. “Come on, отец (father) of Maksim, help me hold him down while I tickle him.”

Maksim heard it and laughed harder as he struggle to escape his mother’s tickles. Nikolai joined in and began tickling his son which in turn only made him laugh even harder.

“You were hiding from us! What am I going to do with you? You have caused a lot of trouble today, Maksim!” Roza scolded Maksim gently before lifting him up to finish dressing him up. “Come on,

дедушка (grandpa), will be here soon.”

“Otay, mommy!” Maksim said with a toothy grin.

After they finish dressing, there was a knock on the door. Dimitri entered and smiled when he saw how everyone was dressed neatly.

“Looking good.” Dimitri wiggled his eyebrows at Nikolai before turning to Roza. “I think I might steal this one and make him mine.”

Nikolai chuckled at his friend’s teasing remarks. It has been a while since Nikolai felt truly happy. He glanced at Roza who was wearing a nice casual olive green cotton dress. She held Maksim in her arms and they were exchanging words back and forth. His heart seems to only grow with every second he spent in their presence.

“Hate to break the fun but your private dinner is ready and your father in law is heading down now.” Dimitri said.

Nikolai nodded and together they walked downstairs to meet Roza’s father.

The dinner was high with tension. Luckily for Maksim, he spent only a little time with them but headed to the kids table in the big hall to eat with the others.

Nikolai was an Alpha but he felt even intimidated in the presence of Roza’s father. He knew it had to do with the fact that he wanted Roza’s father to like him. However, Roza’s father hasn’t spoken much to him during dinner. Instead, he continued to hold a conversation with Roza. Roza tried to include Nikolai but the conversations always ended with a grunt from Roza’s father.

“отец, please.” Roza whispered gently to her father. Her hand came up to place over her father’s hand. She wanted him to be a little nicer.

Her father pursed his lips before he sighed. “Oh alright.”

He turned his head and looked at Nikolai. “Why did you leave my daughter that night?”

Nikolai shifted uneasily in his seat. He went straight to the point and his eyes narrowed in accusation at Nikolai.

“Igor, I was young and foolis-”

Igor snorted. “Stupid and incompetent seem like a better choice of word.”

“отец!” Roza whisper shouted.

Nikolai chuckled a little. “You are right, Igor. I am not going to argue with you on that. You have every right to be angry with me and every right to say anything to me. I made a bad choice and I hurt your daughter in the process. I wasn’t thinking at that time what the consequences will be. I took things for granted and never realized she was going to be what keeps me alive and going.”

“Why didn’t you come back for her? Do you understand what you put her through? How many nights and days she spent crying? How often I had to sit back and watch her and almost see the life slowly draining out of her. Do you know what kept her alive? Maksim. When she found she was pregnant with your pup. Her wolf took that as something to live for. You were never there for her and then you go ahead and bring her her-” Igor was interrupted when Roza spoke up in defense of Nikolai.

“It wasn’t him who brought me here. He was dying, отец.” Roza pushed.

“It’s okay, Roza.” Nikolai tried to calm Roza down by placing his hand over hers. She turned back to him and wrapped her hands around his. Igor watched the exchange between them.

“You left her. You are a coward.” Igor pointed out.

Nikolai can’t argue with that. It was the truth. Her father had every right to be angry with him.

“If I can turn back the hands of time, I will turn it back and correct all my mistakes. I think this goes with everyone. We all have made mistakes in the past. Granted, mine was a very bad one but I want to make it work with her. She is my mate.” Nikolai responded.

Igor dropped his fork and butter knife. Wiping his lips on the napkin he adjusted in his seat to look fully at Nikolai.

“You want to make it work?” Igor asked.

Roza licked her lips and watched her father nervously.

Nikolai nodded immediately. “I do.”

“There is a question I want to ask you. She is my daughter and I want to make sure she is going into this and not coming out with a broken heart again. Do you love her?” Igor questioned.

Roza gasped and tried to remove her hand from Nikolai’s so she can talk to her father regarding him digging into her relationship with her mate but Nikolai held fast to her hand. She turned to look at him in confusion. He glanced at her briefly before turning to her father.

“I love her.” Nikolai held Igor’s gaze for a full minute unwilling to waver under the demanding man’s gaze before Igor nodded his approval and looked away.

“You better or else I’m taking her and Maksim home.” He threatened and Nikolai fought back the growl that was crawling up his throat.

He turned to Roza who looked at him with wide eyes. He gave her a half smile as he shrugged. “I love you.”

Igor watched the exchange between Roza and Nikolai. He knew that the Alpha loved his daughter. He just wanted to hear it out loud. By the way Nikolai looked at his daughter; it was the same exact look he wore when he saw his mate for the first time. He was doped with love.

Roza didn’t know what to say. She opened her mouth and then closed it back up. Igor knew exactly what his daughter was feeling. He poured her a glass of the specially made tonic that Nikolai offered for dinner and slid it over to her.

She picked up the cup immediately and down it down wincing as the the liquid burned down her throat. She licked her lips and looked up at Nikolai.

“I don’t expect you to say anything, Roza.” Nikolai spoke again. “I know you need time but I want to let you know that I am in it for good.”