Her Russian

Chapter 70-Why?

Galina really enjoyed her time with Valeria and Ilia both.  They regaled her with stories of Ilia from birth until a few years ago, all of those opening her heart and mind further to the man that was now her husband and father of her child.

She was very sad when the time of their stay was coming to an end.  They had already packed up and loaded the car when Valeria came from upstairs followed by one of her men staff.

He was carrying a large bulky box and Galina couldn't make out what it was.  "This was the bassinet that Ilia slept in when he was a newborn.  It's been in the box, in my attic, waiting on the day I would have a grandchild.  Galina, I want you to have this.  It would mean so much to me if you would take it and use it.  It wasn't meant to stay boxed up" Valeria teared up.

Galina threw her arms around the woman, profusely thanking her for the wonderful gift.  Ilia hugged his mom, a little tighter and a little longer than normal but they could tell it thrilled her to death.

"Thank you for everything" Galina said.  "All of your wonderful advice and knowledge, they will prove invaluable but I must ask something further of you."

Valeria looked at her and then Ilia and then back to her.  "What is it my dear?" she asked.  "When it gets closer to the time, I would love for you to come stay with us.  You are the closest thing to my babushka and a mother and I really think I could use your help after the baby is born.  What do you say?"  Her eyes were shining as Valeria considered her request.

"It would give me nothing but great joy to do this with you" she said smiling.  They hugged again, as Ilia's mother walked them to the front steps.  "Please let me know you arrived home safely" she urged.

Lifting their hands in acknowledgement, Galina and Ilia got into the car, buckled and drove down the long drive and out onto the main road, heading towards the airstrip.

"Where are you baby?" Ilia asked of his wife.  Looking over at him, she smiled and said "I was just thinking about how differently my life has turned out.

I left Boston thinking I had no one except Irina and now I have you, Tori, Valeria, Max and everyone else that has gone out of their way making me feel like family.  I just can't help but have a smile on my face" she laughed.

Ilia pulled her closer to him as they sped down the road.  Soon they would be on the plane and back home and she would be naked in his arms and in their bed.

"I love you, detka" she whispered as her hands tightened around his waist, her head on his shoulder.  "And I you" was his response as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

Once boarded on the plane, Galina kicked off her sandals and drew her feet up under her, trying to get comfortable.  She just felt miserable and bloated for some reason and she felt tired and cranky.

She hoped she wouldn't feel like this for the entire pregnancy.  She needed to talk to Dr. Markov and find out if maybe some of this feeling was because of how small her body was.  She had been reading everything she could get her hands on but still she wanted to hear his opinion.

An hour and forty-five minutes later they were back home.  Erik was kind enough to carry the bassinet upstairs, put it in their room and take it out of the box.  Galina was working on getting it set up, looking it over and seeing what she needed for it, if anything.

Ilia had gone straight to his study, as he needed to catch up on things since they'd been gone, so while he was there, she continued working on the bassinet and the coverlets that came with it.

Valeria had done a great job of keeping it clean and away from the elements.  It looked fantastic and Galina had no trouble imagining their baby laying in this.

It had a cream colored ruffled lace part that went over the arch, then it was covered inside and out with the same type of fabric.  It didn't even smell like it had been boxed up for over twenty years.  It was perfect.

She knew it was still early yet, but she was so excited about having a baby with Ilia, that she wanted to keep it set up and she knew that her husband would not have an issue with it at all.

About the time she was going to check on him, to see if he was hungry or needed a shower, he came bursting through the room.  The look on his face said it all.  He was pissed.

"Andre has been fucking with our livelihood" his voice was low and menacing.  "I need to get his handled.  I will be back as soon as I can be, Galina.  You stay inside the house.  You do not go anywhere, understand me?" he asked.

She nodded and grabbed his hand before he could walk away.  She watched his back tense and then relax before he turned to face her.

"I'm not going to say anything or ask anything, Ilia.  I just need to hug and kiss my husband goodbye.  I also need to tell him how important it is that he stay safe and come back to us" she finished, rubbing her belly.

Ilia grabbed her roughly and pulled her to him.  His hands immediately went into her hair as he fisted portions of it and drew her to his mouth.  The kiss was rough and needy, something he needed and her as well.

"I will be back by dinner" he promised and then he walked out the door.  She didn't like the twirling and swirling that he stomach was doing when he left, so she tried to push it from her mind as best she could.

Galina decided that she was hungry, so she changed into her tank shirt and a pair of boxers and headed to the kitchen.

Ilia had left Erik and Yuri behind, not to mention about twenty other men that she did not know from Adam but she did feel safe and that's all that mattered.

"Are you guys hungry?" she asked of Erik and Yuri.  They both nodded so she decided that she would make them some blinis, fresh fruit and cream.  They hadn't had the pleasure of eating Zoya's blinis recipe so that's what she was fixing.

"Oh my God!" Erik said with a full mouth.  "These are the best blinis I've ever had" he finished with a huge smile on his face.  Yuri concluded this fact as well as they both polished off their plates.

"Well any time you guys are in the mood, you just let me know and I will fix you a big plate of them" she said smiling back as she started washing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.

She noticed that Yuri had gotten a phone call and it must have not been good news, because his facial expressions changed in a fraction of a minute as he looked at her and Erik and then back to her again.

"Da, I understand.  We'll put the compound on lock down until you get back" his face grimaced with untold pain and anger.

"Galina, I..." he started.  Galina started shaking her head and backing up until she hit the counter by the stove.  "No, no!  Don't you dare!  I don't want to hear anything bad about Ilia!  I just want to know that he's on his way home!" she cried out, knowing this was not the case.

"Andre Petrov has him.  They were ambushed.  The best we can figure is that it was set up and possibly and inside job.  Max is on his way back here with all the information so we can start working up a plan to get the boss back."

Before she could say anything else, blackness over took her and down she went but not before she heard Erik and Yuri's voice calling out her name as she fell.