Maria laughed and the sound took me back to our childhood when Boris was still around and all three of us would run around the large estate grounds just outside Moscow. “I have. My chef does get days off and you know how much I loathe leftovers.” She shuddered. “The worst of all American inventions.”
I laughed. “Pretty sure leftovers wasn’t an American invention.”
“Has to be,” she insisted and went to the fridge, pulling out a few platters. “It is simple, but it is delicious.”
“I have no doubt.” My phone buzzed and I received a message from Maxim who was busy watching April from a discreet distance. She had another doctor’s appointment today, which she made with minutes to spare according to Maxim. After a quick stop at the pharmacy, she picked up groceries presumably for her brother and made her way home.
“Someone more interesting than me?” Maria’s voice was filled with amusement but when I looked up, I could see doubt and uncertainty swimming in her blue eyes.
“Of course not. Merely a status update from Maxim,” I assured her with an easy smile.
“Everything is okay?”
“Yes.”
Satisfied with my answer, Maria put several platters on the table and then joined me with a smile. “I made your favorite,pirozhki.”
My mouth watered. “With beef?”
She nodded. “As well as cabbage and potatoes.”
“Bless you, Maria.” The table was filled with Russian dishes we’d eaten all our lives. “I cannot wait for you to introduce these dishes to my son.”
She gasped. “Surely the woman isn’t that far along?”
“No, I am just certain that it will be a boy.” It had to be a boy, or I would have to do this again.
“Even you cannot control the weather or the sex of your child, Igor. Only the Almighty himself.”
I rolled my eyes. “We shall see.” The rest of the meal passed in friendly conversation but soon it was time to head back to the city and take care of business. “What are you doing?”
Mikhail looked up as if he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but it was far worse than that. He was on his phone. “I was just making plans for tonight, Boss. You know, with the ladies?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do that shit on your own time. I pay you to be alert.” I glared at him, so he knew to take my words at face value. “Check the vehicle. I am ready to leave.”
“Sure thing,” he said in a horrible American accent.
My annoyance with the young soldier grew but I kept the words to myself. I needed him focused for the drive home. Afterwards, we would have a talk.
A long overdue talk.
On the drive home, my focus turned to April. Keeping my distance now that she was pregnant was harder than I thought. I thought about her frequently. Did she have morning sickness? Baby brain? With a smile, I pulled out my phone and asked. “Do you have baby brain?”
It took more than a minute for her to respond, but she did. “Why? Did I forget to do something?”
I found myself laughing at her response. “No, I was just curious.”
“Oh!” She responded with a few laughing emojis. “Not yet, the books say that’s not until the second and third trimester.”
“You’ve been reading pregnancy books?” That surprised me, though it shouldn’t, she was a smart and capable woman.
“Absolutely! I’ve never been pregnant before and I need to know what to expect.”
“Smart. What about morning sickness?”
“Try morning and evening sickness. It skips the afternoon on most days but shows up usually right as I get hungry for dinner.”
“So the pregnancy has not been too rough on you?”
