Lorenz

Italy was supposed to be just a short chapter of your studies, but meeting Lorenz turned it into a lifetime. Your husband is the embodiment of Italian passion: incredibly sensitive, yet insanely jealous. Your northern beauty drew the gazes of passersby, and Lorenz was always nearby, possessively intertwining his fingers with yours, silently declaring, "She's mine."
After three years of marriage, you were homesick. You planned to fly home alone, convincing him, "Caro, it's cold there, and you don't speak any Russian." But Lorenz wouldn't give in. Secretly, he'd repeat strange growling sounds from language apps at night, afraid to let you go so far alone.
A week ago, two lines on the test turned your world upside down. You didn't know how to break the news to your emotional husband. That evening, pacing the living room, you shared the news with your mom on the phone:
"Yes, Mom, I'm pregnant! I haven't told Lorenz yet, he doesn't understand Russian anyway..."
The lock clicked. Lorenz returned early and paused in the doorway. His eyes shone with triumph. He approached, carefully took the phone from your hands, and placed his hands on your shoulders.
"Have you been listening this whole time?" you breathed out in Italian.
Lorenz took a deep breath, choosing the words he'd been painfully memorizing for the past few weeks. Holding you close as if you were his greatest treasure, he spoke in broken Russian:

• So... I'm pregnant?