That Summer In The Country

Forty-four:

Forty-four:

It was afternoon when the doorbell finally rang and Genya was there. She was wearing a white sundress with a wide brimmed sunhat complete with a white bow. "Oh! Hi again," she said when she saw Alina.

Alina smiled. "Hi, Genya. Aleksander has me helping today. I hope that's okay."

She smiled. "The more, the better. Mika is pretty low maintenance but he's still a three-year-old. Mika, come here."

Genya pulled forward a little blond boy, with amber eyes like hers. He had round, chubby cheeks. Alina's heart warmed when she saw him. Genya kneeled down before her little boy. "Mika, this is Alina. She's a friend of your uncle Aleksander. She's going to help look out for you today."

Mika smiled, then looked up at Alina. "Hi, Lina."

He sounded so much like Mal when he was little, it made her heart hurt. Even though Alina knew that it wasn't possible for Mika to be Mal's kid. It was the way he used her nickname instead of her full name. "Hi, Mika," she said with a smile, "we're going to have some fun today, yeah?"

Mika nodded. Genya smiled at her, then bent down and gave Mika a kiss on the cheek. "Be good. I'll be back for you later tonight, and then we'll have dinner with David and watch a movie, okay?"

"Okay," Mika said, "love you, Mommy."

"Love you too, kiddo."

She ruffled his hair, stood up and waved at Alina, then turned and left. Alina took Mika's hand and led him inside. Aleksander had gone upstairs to his office, unable to deal with her pacing anxiously. "So Mika," she said, "what do you want to do today?"

"Can I draw?" he said. "Mommy put some stuff in my backpack."

"Sure," said Alina, "we'll get you set up at the kitchen table."

She took him to the kitchen table. Alina took his backpack off of him and she helped him into the chair. She opened up his backpack and set him up with paper and crayons. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?" Alina asked.

"I'm okay," said Mika, and he set about drawing.

Alina smiled, and then she went up stairs to Aleksander's office. "He's here. He's set up at the table. He's drawing. He's adorable." She took a seat in the chair across from Aleksander.

Aleksander looked up from his paperwork. "You're beaming."

"I like kids," said Alina, "I always thought about being a teacher or a social worker when I finished with school. But that was if I didn't find a career in my parent's field. I still love the ocean, and I love animals, but I don't know. I always thought that it would be nice to have a normal life, with a normal job, and one that didn't involve my house being a boat. You should come meet him."

"I will," he said, "give me one second."

He shut down his computer, and then got up. The two of them went downstairs and as they did, they both froze when they heard Mal's voice.

"Who do you belong to?" Mal asked.

"Mrs. Safin," Mika said.

"Mrs. Safin?" Mal asked. "Genya's Mum? I didn't realize that Genya had a brother."

"Genya's my Mommy."

"What is he doing here?" Aleksander demanded. "Isn't he supposed to be looking for a gift for Genya's engagement party today?"

"Of course, he is," said Alina, "this shouldn't have happened. Why is this happening?"

Aleksander ran a hand through his dark hair nervously. "I don't know, but this can only end terribly."

Alina placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stay here. If he sees you, he might try and kill you."

"What makes you think that he won't do the same thing to you?"

"I'm cute, and I have boobs," she said.

"Point taken. Go on. Be careful."

Alina went downstairs, and she went to the kitchen table where Mal sat talking with Mika. "Mal!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing back? I thought that you weren't going to be around today. I thought you were looking for a gift for Genya's engagement party."

Mal turned around, scowling at her, his eyes blazing with fury. "Who the hell is this?" Mal demanded.

Alina winced. She turned her attention to Mika. "Hey, little buddy, why don't you go play outside in the back? I've got to talk with Mal here. He's my friend, okay?"

Mika nodded, then jumped off the chair and ran to the backyard. Mal looked at her expectantly. "Alina, who the hell is that? Why is there a little kid here? Why is that kid saying that they're Genya's son?"

Alina took a deep breath. "Because he is Genya's son."

"But he's old enough that he could have been born around the time that Genya and I---"

"He's not yours, Genya told us," said Alina.

"Genya told you?" said Mal. "You've met Genya?"

She took a deep breath. "There was something that happened when Genya was staying at your house and---"

"Lantsov," said Mal, "it was Lantsov, wasn't it? She always hated him and that kid looks like a Lantsov."

"It's not the one that you're thinking," said Alina, "it wasn't Nikolai."

Mal winced. "Petyr?"

She nodded. "Aleks didn't want to tell you because----"

Mal stormed past her, and walked up the stairs. "ALEKSANDER!!!"

Aleksander met Mal halfway down the middle of the stairs. "Really, Mal is it necessary for you to yell?"

"You knew?" Mal said. "You knew why she left me, and you never told me the truth? My girlfriend was attacked, and you kept it from me?"

"You've got a hero complex, Mal," said Aleksander, "I knew that if you found out the truth, you wouldn't stop until he was dead. Forgive me for trying to keep my brother from being----"

"We're not brothers!" Mal shouted. "In fact, we're not anything. You lied to me for years. Well, I'm done dealing with the lying."

He turned to Alina. "Alina, come with me. We don't have to play his games. We can have a normal life."

Alina shook her head. "Mal, I know you're hurt, but I can't---"

Mal clenched his jaw. "Are you kidding me?"

Alina reached out and gripped Aleksander's hand. "I'm not going, Mal. I won't."

"Fuck you both!" Mal shouted, and before they could stop him, he stormed from the house, slamming the door loudly.

"What do we do now?" Alina asked.

Aleksander sighed. "Hope that he doesn't kill anyone and go from there. Come on. We'd better go check on the boy."