His Wife

26

'What did he mean?'

I lay awake in bed, my eyes wide open. These questions had been running in my head ever since Alexander left me the note. 

A week and some had passed already, but still, I had no idea what to do. 

'What did he need help with?'

'Why was he asking my fake self, Katerina Parfenova, instead of his wife, Maria Vasilievna?'

'Is this why he asked for me to be left behind with the gang instead of brought home?'

'Shut up Maria! Sleep! You can solve this tomorrow. Or the day after that...'

My stomach growled in response to my command.

Perfect. Now I was hungry.

I stood up and slowly trudged through the messy floor to the door. Yes, the floor was messy because my belly was getting bigger and so was my laziness.

I walked through the hallways until I reached the little cafe. Thank God it worked all night long. 

I bought myself some pelmeni and sat at a table to begin my meal. 

I folded my hands and closed my eyes and whispered, "God, thank you for... a message from Alexander. I don't know what it means or what I'm to do, but I am still thankful for it. Please, keep him safe. And me. And our baby."

I begin to eat my pelmeni when a horrible thought hit me.

'What if it wasn't Alexander who sent it? But someone just wanted to screw with my head and so they left me the note?'

I groaned. Great. Now I had to also consider that fact. Thank you brain for coming up with these ridiculous ideas.

'Although this idea isn't that ridiculous. It's actually less ridiculous than Alexander himself receiving it. Darn.'

I thought back to the time I saw Alexander at St. Basils. Okay, I guess it wasn't too ridiculous if he stuck around for a while and then delivered the note at Kremlin Palace.

Suddenly a pair hand came around my eyes. 

'Alexader?'

'No, stupid,' My brain reminded me, 'He would never do such childish things.'

 But a certain gentleman that's a part of a Russian gang would...

"Misha?"

The hands came off and a voice mumbled. "Wonderful. You know me pretty well. So," he came around and sat across from me, but only after stealing a pelmen, "why are you up?"

I nodded at my food. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No. Usually, you don't get up in the middle of the night to eat."

I squinted my eyes at him for a second. Darn, he knew me too well. "Well, as you know, this baby is getting bigger and that means I'm getting fatter. And, as you know, as I get fatter I need more food to help me stay that way."

He laughed. "Okay fine. How long are you know?" 

"Six months."

"Alright. I suppose it's normal for pregnant women, especially at six months, to be up at," He glanced at his watch, "three forty-five in the morning eating pelmeni."

I gave a short nod and continued to eat my wonderful food. 

"You seem distracted lately."

"Really? Why is that?"

He laughed again. "That's what I'm asking you, my love."

"Oh. I didn't notice that I was distracted lately, so I can't answer the reason."