Only Him

Chapter 27

"Roza!" Olena exclaimed as she rushed through the doorway and swept me into a tight hug. Among my stupor at her sudden appearance I was suddenly grateful that I was holding the bulky throw blanket, otherwise she would have immediately noticed my belly.

"Olena!" I gasped once she let me go. I knew my eyes were as wide as saucers. "What are you doing here? Was I supposed to know you were coming?" I suddenly wondered if I'd been told about a visit and forgotten or if a visit had been forgotten in the craziness of the past month.

She laughed. "No, no! We've come to surprise you and Dimitri!"

"Oh it's a surprise all right. Surprises all around." Surprise indeed. Olena, mother of four and grandmother to three—soon to be four—was an expert on pregnancy and would no doubt realize my own sooner rather than later. I quickly backed up, blanket still clutched tightly to me. "Please come in! I'm so happy to see you." I was happy. I missed her greatly when she wasn't around and the phone conversations were never enough. But I certainly hadn't expected her to show up on my doorstep before we could share our news with her. A beaming Karolina and Sonya traipsed in after Olena followed by two young girls and a sullen Viktoria. I was surprised to see her at the back of the group. Viktoria and I had not spoken since I'd left Baia four years ago. She was away at school when Dimitri and I had visited his family and she was always absent during phone calls. I knew through the rest of the family that she was a guardian now, and guarded a Russian Badica in St. Petersburg. I also knew she was dating very nice guardian back in Baia (though not, to my romantics heart, Nikolai). I wished the woman herself had told me all of this; I missed my connection with Viktoria terribly but I'd never gotten the chance to explain myself to her. I'd left her a letter in her room during our visit but I had no idea if she'd read it. If she had it apparently hadn't mended the bridges I'd hoped it would. She glared at me now as she moved into the apartment, stationing herself as far away from me as possible.

I shut the door and turned to look at my practically in-laws. Olena looked much the same as she had when I'd first met her, beautiful and graceful in age. Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria clearly took after her, just as beautiful in their own ways.

"Zoya, Katya," I said, crouching down to the younger girls height. "You've grown so much since I last saw you, I bet you don't even remember me!"

"We know you from pictures," Zoya, slightly taller and almost a year older than her cousin, answered for the two. "And the presents you send." I laughed and embraced them before I straightened back up.

"Where is Yeva?" I asked, noticing the missing members of the family at last. "And Paul?"

"Paul has school," Karolina said. "He could not come. And Babuska said she is too old to travel and that you must come to her next time. Oksana and Mark are checking in on her."

"Of course we will visit," I said, smiling ruefully at the mention of Dimitri's prickly grandmother before coming back to assess the current situation. "Not that I'm not happy to see you all but what on earth are you doing here?"

"We missed you two," Olena explained, busing herself by moving their luggage—a considerable amount that alerted me to their intentions on a long visit—out of the way. I placed the blanket on the couch and swiftly moved to the kitchen to offer drinks. "And after your kidnapping we just had to come see you for ourselves. I'm so sorry you went through such an ordeal!"

I brushed off the condolences, inwardly suppressing a shudder at the mention of it. "It's in the past now. But it's such a big trip to take! And so suddenly."

"It was time," Karolina said. "The queen gave us those airline vouchers a while ago. They were going to waste. Besides, you are graduating soon. We thought it would be nice to come and celebrate with you."