Damian

When the plane crashed in the middle of the island in the Atlantic, I didn't know if I was going to make it out. I knocked my head on the wall of the plane, and I woke up on the sand, with Pheonix coughing and wheezing. We were stuck on that island for weeks, and we managed to get a ride on a cruise ship by setting off flares that we found from the crash that landed on the island. My pilot, Sebastian, and my cousin, Artem, didn't make it. They died during the crash. My aunt and uncle will have a body to bury, but Sebastian has no family left, no one to mourn him.

Now I'm back in my bedroom with Evelyn, my wife. "Tell me everything so I can decide whether I'm going to kill you or not," Evelyn giggled, mixed with a bit of anger and relief that I was alive.

"I'll explain everything as soon as I see Ezra," I said.

"Ezra is going to be happy to see you," Evelyn smiled.

"Does he think that I'm dead?" I asked.

"No, I just said that you were away on a trip. I couldn't bring myself to do it," Evelyn cried.

"Sit tight, I'll be right back," I smiled. I carefully opened the door to see my son playing with toys. "Ezra, I'm home,"

"DADDY," Ezra ran into my arms. "I missed you,"

"I missed you too, buddy," I lifted him to my arm and held him tight. I'm going to put you down now; I have to see my colleagues," I explained.

Ezra nodded and smiled as he put him back down on the floor. I went to the living room where Pheonix was catching up with Parker and Gregory. "What the hell happened to you and Damian?" Greg asked.

"More or less what you heard on the news. The place went down, but Sebastian managed to crash land on a small island," Pheonix explained.

"I still can't believe it was me when I called you guys, and we were at a hotel, huh?" I laughed as I walked down the stairs. We got ourselves checked out at the hospital, but when we were about to be released, the press invaded. We slipped out the back and got a ride back here," I said.

"We're sorry about Artem and Sebastian," Parker said.

"Thank you, now what about Robert? Did you guys get him?" I asked.

Parker and Greg glanced at each other and stayed silent. "What?"

"He's dead, boss," Parker said.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me?!" I growled. My grief and sadness turned to blind rage. "God help whitchever one of you killed him," I growled.

"It wasn't us, boss, it was Evelyn," Parker said.

"What!?" I never expected this. Did Evelyn kill Robert? What the hell transpired?

"Evelyn killed Robert," Parker said again.

"Explain, NOW, before I put a bullet in one of you. Why was Evelyn near Robert in the first place?" I roared.

"Calm down, boss, we didn't have a choice; with you and Phoenix gone, Evelyn was the de facto leader of the Black Dragons. We had to listen to her but ensured she was unaware.

Parker and Greg left the room. "Damian, you can't blame the men. They were only following Evelyn's orders," Pheonix said.

"Boss, Evelyn blamed Robert for your death and wanted answers. I refused at first, but I was so worried about her health and the welfare of her child that Greg and I took her to lock up under the warehouse," Parker explained.

"How did Evelyn kill him?" I asked.

"It all happened so fast, Robert made a threat against the baby and Evelyn snapped. She took my gun and shot him, empty'd the whole clip, ending with a bullet to the head," Parker said.

I grunted. I can't blame Evelyn for that. You never threaten a mother's child. Evelyn's motherly instant took over; I can't and will not blame Evelyn for what she did.

I smiled devilishly. "That's my girl. Robert was going to die eventually, and if it wasn't going to be me, then who better than my pregnant wife. Besides, you never threaten a mother who will stop at nothing to protect her cubs, good work Evelyn,"

Evelyn may not want to admit it, but she's a True Black Dragon.

I returned to my bedroom only to hear the shower running. I stripped naked and entered the shower with Evelyn, and lifted her belly gently; she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh fuck, that feels great," Evelyn moaned.

"I heard my wife turned all badass gangster when I was gone," I kissed her neck.

"I'm sorry about killing Robert," Evelyn said.

"No, never apologize for protecting our children. That bastard threatened our son, you, and our unborn baby. Besides, I wanted Robert dead, you killed him, case closed," I smiled at her.

"I thought you were made?" Evelyn said.

"I'm mad at Parker and Greg for putting you in that position, but I'm not angry at you, baby," I said. "I want to kiss my wife,"

I turned Evelyn around, lowering her belly. I dropped my head, bringing my lips to Evelyn's. I kissed her deeply, and the hot water streamed down our backs. "God, I love you," I said between kisses.

"What did you say?" Evelyn said.

"You heard me, I said I love you," I said again.

"I love you too, so much," Evelyn said, pulling me in deeper. "Let's dry ourselves off so you can take me to bed," she said.

"You wish is my command," I whispered in her ear.

I woke up the following day when I called Evelyn's name. "Baby, wake up. I want to know if you had an ultrasound yet?" I asked.

Evelyn's eyes fluttered open. "I had one, but I didn't want one because you weren't there, but I wanted to know if they baby was okay." Evelyn sobbed softly. "I'm far along to know the gender but I don't want to know, not without you,"

"I'll get an appointment set up in a few hours," I said.

Damian got out of bed, got dressed, and left the bedroom. I got out of bed a few moments later and put on comfortable clothes for the ultrasound. Damian returned, saying he had an appointment and had made us a priority. This man can get anything done. "We're flying to Russia tonight and I want to get the ultrasound done before we go," I said.

"Russia?" Evelyn said.

"Yeah, for Artem's funeral," I said. "His body is being flown back to Russia today,"

"I'm sorry, Damian. Artem was a good man," Evelyn said, taking my hand. "Will you ask Pheonix to take care of Ezra while we go to the hospital?"

"Already done, let's go and meet our daughter," I smiled as I opened the bedroom door.

"You're already convinced it's a girl?" Evelyn giggled.

"I am and I even have a name picked out," I smiled.

"You do? What is it?" Evelyn asked.

I smiled as I shook my head. "I'll tell you when we know the sex of our baby,"

I drove to the hospital with Evelyn, and we waited for our doctor to call on us in the waiting room. "Evelyn Halliwell?" Doctor Fox called.

Doctor Fox had all the equipment and did everything I expected of him. Evelyn held my hand and glared at me to behave myself and let the woman do her job. "Everything looks perfect, 18-week gestation, and the expected delivery date is early July," Dcotor Fox smiled.

"Do you know the sex of the baby?" I asked.

"I do, do you want to know?" Doctor Fox said.

"Yes," Evelyn said.

"No," I crossed my arms.

"What? I thought you wanted to find out?" Evelyn said.

"Maybe we should just wait until the baby is born," I shrugged.

"Lots of couples find out the sex, but it's completely your decision," Doctor Fox said.

I broke eye contact with the doctor, and after a few moments, I knew what I wanted. Screw it. "Screw it, I wanna know,"

"Contractions, Mr. and Mrs. Halliwell, you are expecting a baby girl," Doctor Fox smiled.

I'm going to have a daughter. I FUCKING KNEW IT!

"YES," I cheered.

"I'm going to give you two a minute alone," Dcotor Fox said as she walked out of the exam room.

"You were right," Evelyn smiled.

"I'm always right, babe. When I was stuck on that island, I thought I would die without knowing what we were having. Pheonix and I thought for sure we were going to die on that damned island. There was nothing to do out there but think, which messes with your head," I said, pouring out my feelings.

"I'm sorry Damian, it mustiove been hard," Evelyn rubbed my arm.

"It was, but I'm back now, and I'm never leaving you again," I hugged Evelyn. We returned home after cleaning the gel off Evelyn's stomach. Before I arrived home, I ordered Parker, Gregory, and Pheonix to meet me in my office. I told Evelyn to pack up whatever she would need for the trip to Russia for the funeral and get some rest.

I went to my office and met with my men. "First order of business, I want to iron out a few things before I leave for Russia. Pheonix and Parker, you are both going to Sebastian's funeral; give my condolences in my stead and explain why I couldn't be there. Greg, you and Coop will be staying here with Ezra. I don't want him around with all the press around," I said.

"No problem, boss." Greg said.

"I'll be giving Coop more responsibility around here; he'll take Artem's place from now on and take on the jobs Artem's done. Pheonix, you train him on what he needs to do," I ordered. "I'll meet with him when I get back from Russia," I said.

"Got it. How did the ultrasound go?" Pheonix asked.

"It's a girl," I smiled.

"Nice one," Pheonix winked.

"Boss, you're screwed. Now you'll have two females giving you a headache," Greg laughed.

"Nah, my princess will take after me. She won't be giving her daddy a hard time," I said.

"Good luck with that boss," Pheonix laughed.

"Boys, if I'm screwed then you're all screwed," I winked.

When I returned to my bedroom to pack, Evelyn dared to say that we would buy plane tickets to Russia and ride a plane like everybody else. I laughed at this and said we would use a plane that Nikolai had sent us. Evelyn rolled her eyes and muttered to herself.

When we arrived at the airport, we got on the jet my uncle had sent us. I noticed that Evelyn had a long face. "A funeral is no place for a kid, Evelyn. Ezra will be safe here. We will see him again in a few days," I smiled.

"I know. I just want Ezra here. I've never been away from him this long," Evelyn sighed. I sat next to her, and she fell asleep next to me.

We arrived in Russia hours later, and we met with my family for the funeral. The falling snow made things poetic. I stood in front of Artem's grave. Sleep tight, brother. We will dearly miss you.

We returned to the house we stayed in when I first took Evelyn to Russia. The housekeepers kept my parents' home in good condition. "That was a long, sad day," Evelyn groaned.

"It was," I said. "It sucks burying family,"

"Damian, when we return to New York, I want to visit the graveyard. There are two people I want to visit and for you to meet," Evelyn smiled.

She must be talking about her parents. Who am I to say no to the love of my life? "I would love to meet the two people who brought you into this world,"

We went to bed after I planned to talk to my uncle the following day. I left Evelyn sleeping in our bed. I drove to Nikolai's house and met with him in his office. "Ah, Damian, I didn't want to discuss business with you during the funeral, so I buried this until now, but I wanted to check the situation regarding The Setaros," Nikolai said. "Is Ezra still at risk?"

"I don't know, Robert placed the bounty, and now he's dead, so who knows. I'm expecting The Setaros to try and avenge Robert's death, but they're not's many of them left, so I'm not worried," I said.

"It's still better to wrap these up quickly. We have other issues to be getting on with," Nikolai said.

"One more safe house to blow and it'll be nothing but a crater when I get back," I said.

Nikolai nodded. "Vera wants you and Evelyn to come over for dinner tonight,"

"I was planning on flying home tonight. I need to buy a new jet too," I said.

"Please come to dinner, Damian, Vera needs to be around family right now,"

(Later that Night)

Evelyn came to dinner with Viktoriya; they had spent the day shopping and having lunch together. Evelyn didn't like Viktoriya much, but I'm happy they are getting along well. My phone began to ring, and I answered it. "Boss, we're under attack!" Pheonix shouted as I heard gunfire in the background.

"What? Where's Ezra?!" I shouted.

Evelyn's face turned pale when I yelled Ezra's name. "Damian, what's wrong?"