Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
My phone ringing made both of us jump, and I shoved my hand quickly into my pocket to turn off the ringer before checking who it was.
Hitting the screen, I heard him shouting before I could say anything.
“Stay in there with the boys, we’re on our way!”
I didn’t say anything back because, right then, something hit the wall next to where we were.
Lowering my phone, I turned the volume on it down, so that if anyone was nearby, they wouldn’t hear him talking, including myself. But he’d be able to listen to my end.
Then I angled my body as far away from the entrance to the space as I could while I typed out a text to him, hunching my body to protect Hendrix, and trying to block the glow from from going through any gaps in the door.
Me: Someone is near us, so I can’t talk. The phone is on so you can hear, but we need to text.
It didn’t take long for him to reply.
Taras: That’s smart, baby. Are you or the boys hurt?
Me: No, we’re safe with Lena. Hunter’s out there on his own.
Taras: He’s fine.
I was just typing back a response, when all of the noise outside stopped, and it was then I realized that silence could be more frightening than the sound of the guns.
There were only about three inches between us, but Lena closed the small distance and leaned into my side, whispering so quietly, that I had to strain to hear what she was saying.
“What’s happening?”
The only noises we could hear now were the boys sucking on their pacifiers, which sounded terrifying loud.
“I don’t know,” I croaked, wondering if the noises coming from them would be audible through the door. It wasn’t possible to make them do it more quietly, and if we took them away, we ran the risk of them crying instead.
Both of us leaned slightly forward in the direction of the door, straining to hear anything we could. As the silence drew on, so did the fear.
Then we heard the footsteps, ones belonging to at least three people running toward where we were, followed by a gentle knocking on the door.
Lena nudged me with her elbow, and held her finger up to her lips, telling me to stay quiet until we knew who was on the other side. The monitor attached to the security feed on the other side had gone to sleep, so she touched it to wake it up. When we saw Taras, Hunter, and Dad on the screen, the tension left our bodies immediately.
Well, that was until I saw Taras’ father walk up behind them, looking far from his usually immaculate self.
With one arm supporting the babies, we crawled forward until we got to the door, and unlocked it using the security pad inside. It was a basic panic room, but it did the job—something we realized even more when we saw the bullet holes on the other side of the wall, right where we’d been sitting.
As soon as I straightened, Taras pulled me into him, and then jerked back when he felt the lump under my hoodie.
“We didn’t know what else to do with them, so we hid the babies like this,” I explained, carefully unzipping my top to show him Hendrix, who now had his eyes open and was looking around.
Glancing at Lena, I saw her doing the same thing with Walker, grinning when she found him still fast asleep.
“Thank Christ,” Taras rasped at the same time as the others.
Moving over to us from where he’d been standing next to the doorway, Bogdan peered in at Hendrix, grinning down at him.
He’d been to see them both many times since we’d been home, so it was getting more comfortable to have him near the boys. But it felt like something had changed with the way he was acting right now.
“Hey, varobushek,” he murmured, running the tip of his finger gently down Hendrix’s cheek, while Taras took Walker from Lena. “You and your brother are brave boys.”
Tilting my head to the side, I thought through all the Russian words I’d learned over the last year, but this one wasn’t familiar. “What does that mean?”
Instead of answering me, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, resting his forehead against the side of my head for a second before lifting it back up again.
“May I hold him?”
Turning so he could take him, I watched as Taras held Walker close, his eyes closing briefly with relief, while Dad and Hunter spoke quietly to Lena.
Once Hendrix was situated close to his chest, Bogdan murmured, “It means little sparrow. I used to call Taras and Dmitri varobushek when they were small, too.
“Sparrows are smart, and they symbolize vigilance and wisdom, something these boys have shown today. They also symbolize joy, and they both bring the people who love them a lot of that, just like my own sons do.”