Free Checking It Twice (Crashing Book 2) by Samantha Wayland Page A

gave out a hiccupping breath that was
almost a sob.
    Callum pulled Rupert in close, holding him
against his chest, and smiled apologetically. “Rupert sat up half the night
rocking Eleanor, worrying about what it will mean if we get to keep her.” He
rubbed his hand up and down Rupert’s back soothingly. “He thought we’d have to
move.”
    “Oh,” Mike said, his heart dropping. “But,
of course, if you want to move, we—”
    “No!” Rupert’s head came up and he smiled
ruefully as they all got a look at his red-rimmed eyes. “No, I don’t want to
move. I mean, unless you move with us.”
    Alexei laughed. “Then, perhaps, staying
here will be easier. We’ll make sure you have all the room you need.”
    Mike shrugged. “We won’t build out the
second floor underneath you, either. Just in case you need bedrooms seven
through ten.”
    Rupert actually blanched at that, but
Callum just smiled. He was one of seven children, and clearly he liked that
idea just fine. Before Mike could tease Rupert about it, though, Oliver managed
to get a basket and Christian let out a great whoop.
    While the others were distracted by the
kids, Mike hugged Alexei tight and whispered, “You’re brilliant.”
    Alexei squeezed him back. “How would you
feel if we didn’t build out the space below our apartment either? In case we
need the space later.”
    Mike jerked back and looked at Alexei, his
heart knocking against his ribs. “Yeah?”
    “Yeah,” Alexei said, his voice gruff.
    Mike couldn’t stop smiling. That seemed to
be sufficient answer for Alexei.
    Once the boys had burnt off some energy,
they all trooped back upstairs to open the rest of the presents. Rupert and
Callum gave the boys a trip to Disney World with their Mimi and Grandpa
Morrison, which set them off cheering and jumping around again. At this rate,
Mike figured, everyone would be napping after lunch.
    At last all the gifts had been opened, and
all that was left under the tree was the envelope Mike had hidden amongst the
piles of boxes while Alexei had been out the night before. Oliver picked it up
and held it out to Alexei.
    “It’s for you.”
    “It is?” Alexei said, taking it from Oliver
and looking puzzled when he saw Mike’s handwriting on the front. He looked over
at Mike. “Another gift?”
    It was sweet that Alexei honestly thought
that all Mike had gotten him was some new socks and a nail gun. They usually
did at least one bigger gift, but Mike knew Alexei would be fine if Mike didn’t
do anything else.
    But Mike had. And he really, really hoped Alexei
would be fine with that, too.
     
     
    Alexei looked down at the envelope in his
hand, curious, until Mike jumped to his feet and stood in front of the tree.
    “Go ahead and open it,” Mike said with a
smile.
    Alexei studied Mike’s narrowed gaze, the
twitch of his hands, and wondered why Mike would possibly be nervous.
    More than a little curious now, Alexei tore
into the envelope. At first he didn’t understand what he was seeing, though he
recognized the majestic building in the picture, of course. Everyone in Moscow
knew the Hotel Metropol—even Alexei, who hadn’t seen it in almost twenty years.
    Then Alexei shuffled the papers and two
plane tickets landed on top.
    Alexei slowly rose to his feet, his heart
lodged somewhere in his throat, stealing his voice.
    Mike stepped closer, hovering in front of
Alexei. “I know you’ve said you’d never go back, but—”
    Alexei shook his head, because he couldn’t
believe Mike had done this. He reached out and curled his hand around Mike’s
arm, trying to find the right words to express everything he was feeling. Mike frowned
down at the papers now clutched in Alexei’s hand.
    “We don’t have to go if you really don’t
want to, of course,” Mike said quietly. “But I called the Russian consulate in
Montreal, and they said there would be no issues getting a visa, even though
you renounced your Russian citizenship when you became a