Classified

Classified Part 10 Little Alexei

      The next morning Thalia woke up early and cold. Even though she knew he had slept in his own room the night before, she automatically looked at the other side of the bed, expecting to see Alex's sleeping face. She got dressed quickly, pulling on a sweater.
      The fleece one would have felt nice. She thought to herself, but she knew it was still dirty from the day before.

      She grabbed her toiletries and went into the hall, disappointed to see Alex's door still closed. When she came back from the bathroom it was still closed. He needs his sleep. She realized. He probably has to sleep with one eye open every night.

      With a shrug, Thalia decided to see if Bahba or Dzed were up. The hallway was warmer than the bedroom, so she followed the source of the heat to the kitchen where Bahba was cooking.
      "Good morning." She said in Russian, hesitating in the doorway.

      "Beautiful Thalia!" Bahba exclaimed in Russian, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron. She switched back to English. "Come in. I'm baking biscuits. Would you like to join me?"
      Surprised, Thalia nodded. "I don't really know how." She admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm not a very good cook."

      "No wonder you two are so skinny!" She sent Thalia to wash her hands and thrust a ball of dough towards her. "Now you, how do you say? Punch dough?"
      Thalia smiled. "Knead it." She said in English. As she worked the dough she asked, "How did you learn English?"

      "Oh, I take in school for a bit, and children learn it at school. Then Maxim moved to United States." Bahba said, hands in the dough. Maxim must be Alex's dad. Thalia surmised. "Dzed lived in England for two years. He learn better than me."

      "Your English is wonderful." Thalia said honestly. "It's a difficult language." She paused. "I don't understand Cyrillic at all." She admitted, hands deep in dough.
      "Is hard." Bahba smiled. She showed Thalia how to separate the dough and form balls. "But you are young. You learn fast."

      They worked together side by side a long time. Thalia loved the cozy kitchen, and how Bahba treated her like her own granddaughter. She had never had grandparents but this was exactly how she'd always imagined it would be to have them.

      "Alexei is lucky to have smart girl like you." Bahba said after a while. She pulled out some cast iron baking trays and set them on the big island in the middle of the kitchen.

      Thalia smiled to herself. After all the mistakes she had made she wasn't sure if Alex would consider himself lucky, but Bahba was so sweet. When the biscuits went in to bake, Bahba opened a big pot on the stove and gave it a stir. It smelled so good that Thalia's stomach contracted and she remembered that she hadn't eaten. 

      "What time is it?" She asked, looking around for a clock.
      "Is 11:15." Bahba said promptly.
      Thalia was surprised. "I can't believe Alex isn't up yet."

      "Alexei is in the field with Dzed." Bahba replied. "They are cutting wood."
      "Oh," Thalia suddenly felt embarrassed at how late she had slept. "I didn't know he was awake."

      "They back soon." Bahba predicted, stirring another pot. "Alexei always help Dzed when he visits." She smiled proudly. "He's a good boy."
      Thalia nodded, smiling. Bahba took one of the fresh biscuits and put some kind of homemade jam on it and handed it to Thalia. "You eat."

      Bahba made a batch of cookies while Thalia ate. Bahba chattered endlessly about Alex and his brothers as children, and Thalia listened, enjoying her stories of the four mischievous boys.
      By the time Alex and Dzed came in, Thalia felt at home in the cozy kitchen.