Looking For The Light (Book 2)

Looking For The Light Chapter 34 - Viktoriya

            For the past two weeks, Viktoriya and Eli had been on edge.  Director Kaminski had ordered a group three Spetsgruppas to rescue Mischa.  So far no one received word.  Elijah was on call to drive out to the airfield when the Prizrak Rytsarya received permission from the Spetsgruppa helicopter to land.  Someone had dug up Mischa’s last recorded sizes from a requisition forms from decade and a half ago, and passed it along to Viktoriya.  A few days before, Eli and Viktoriya had gone shopping on his behalf.  A bag sat by the door, ready for to be grabbed on the way out, filled with clothes, shoes, toiletries, and items of comfort.

They tried to keep life normal while they waited.  Nikola’s doctor in Moscow, a chipper young woman named Marya Aukova, advised them to be aware of how they behaved around the baby.  Never assume she doesn’t know, or isn’t paying attention.  She may not know the words, but she can hear the tone.  If you fight, if you panic, if you get upset, it is likely she will too.  Dr. Aukova was sweet with Nikola, and patient with Elijah and Viktoriya, knowing they were new parents with little preparation.  She was even cheerful that time Eli called her at home.  It was near midnight and the contents of Nikola’s diaper did not seem normal.  Aukova calmed Eli down, and after a brief conversation about appearance, texture and odor, she concluded it wasn’t anything to be worried about.  She reminded Eli that the recent addition of pureed non-milk foods would also change what her body excreted.  But Nikola was healthy and developing well, and nothing could make them happier.

Though Eli and Viktoriya had been together for more than a year, this had been their first Christmas together.  The house was still decorated with holly and a tree, and the house seemed to permanently smell of cookies and freshly baked bread.  In the living room a fire crackled in the hearth, adorned with stockings – traditions Eli brought with him from England, and the floor was still crowded with new toys for Nikola.  Her godfathers hadn’t been able to be with them for the holidays, deciding to spend it with their families instead, but they sent plenty of gifts for all three of them.

Viktoriya spent a snowy afternoon sitting at in a chair by the fire, wrapped in one of Eli’s sweaters over her tee shirt and a pair of jeans.  She kept an eye on Nikola, playing on the floor.  Her daughter loved anything that smiled at her, or made noise, or moved, or was warm.  One of her favorite toys were not toys at all, but Elijah’s pet English foxhounds, Ceres and Dinah, now grown to their full size.  Ceres was slightly larger, but both stood almost to Viktoriya’s hip.

At first Viktoriya was hesitant to let Eli’s dogs – no, their dogs – near Nikola, but her fears were unfounded.  Ceres and Dinah were patient with her, even if she grasped at their floppy ears or tails, or accidentally poked at their eyes and noses.  When Nikola began to scoot herself around on her stomach, the dogs became protective of her.  If she ever started scooting toward the fire, despite a protective gate in her path, the foxhounds would pull the rug or blanket under Nikola away, taking the baby with it.  Viktoriya was amazed at the instinct the dogs had, and even wondered if Eli was using telepathy on them.  There was another time when Eli was out, that Viktoriya needed to take a phone call, and worried over leaving the baby on the floor alone.  When she came back to check on her, only minutes later, the two dogs were laying in a loose circle around.  Dinah was playing a gentle game, letting Nikola try to pull a toy from her mouth.  Nikola had two big sisters that seemed to love her dearly, they just happened to be canine.

Eli was out at the moment, but he never went far or left for long.  Being on call to pick Mischa up made him anxious for many reasons.  He was nervous about meeting him in person, just as he had been with Yuri.  He was worried about the responsibility placed on him in the eyes of Director Kaminski.  The call bearing orders came from him directly.  He had never served under Kaminski like Viktoriya had, and saw a lot more authority in him.  Today he’d only gone to the grocery store, so close he didn’t even need to drive.  He did anyway, as the snow was coming down hard.