"Good. Good." The man's eyes move to me and Sasha, and I see curiosity there. He smiles warmly at me. "And who do we have here?"
"Uncle, this is Noemi Dragunova," Fyodor says, stepping back to put his hand on the small of my back. I'm really starting to likethat. "The woman I told you about on the phone. And this is my son, Sasha."
Yuri extends his hand to me, and I take it. He brings my fingers to his lips and presses a chaste kiss there before saying, "Welcome to our home. I've heard a great deal about you from my nephew, and I have to say, anyone who can keep him in line has my respect."
"Thank you for having us. Your home is beautiful," I tell him, and I nudge Sasha so he'll say something, but he keeps his face buried in my back.
"You're family now. This is your home as much as anyone's, and I mean that sincerely." He crouches down to Sasha's level, and the boy peeks out to look at him. "And you must be the brave young man I've heard about. Your father told me how you defended Ms. Dragunova in Moscow."
Sasha looks up at me uneasily, and I nod encouragingly. "I tried," Sasha says quietly.
"You did a fantastic job, young man." Yuri straightens up and puts a hand on Fyodor's shoulder. "We have much to discuss about what happened. Come, tell me everything from the beginning."
Fyodor turns to me and squeezes my hand. "Inessa should be around here somewhere. She'll take care of you and Sasha until I'm back. I won't be long, I promise."
"Go. We'll be fine here," I tell him, waving him off.
He leans in and kisses my forehead, like it's something he's done a thousand times before, and then he's walking away with Yuri. I watch him go and feel strangely okay about it. After everythingwe've been through over the past month, being left alone in a safe home that's warm and clean while Fyodor speaks to his uncle is the least of my concerns.
I chuckle at how many times he left in the middle of me sleeping without even giving me a goodbye or a warning. This was adequate.
"They do that," a woman's voice says from somewhere behind us. She sounds amused like me.
I turn and find her coming down the stairs with one hand gliding on the polished railing and the other resting on her belly. She's beautiful, dark hair swept back from her face and warm eyes that crinkle at the corners when she smiles. Her pregnancy is obvious, maybe four or five months along from the look of it, and she's joyful.
"Walk off in the middle of things to discuss business, I mean," she continues, reaching the bottom of the stairs and crossing toward us. "Drives me nuts when they do it to me." Her hand reaches out toward me and she says, "I'm Inessa, Yuri's wife." I'm startled as I shake her hand and take her in again. She's far younger than Yuri.
"At least he introduced us first and made sure we were settled," I say. "That's progress from where we started."
She laughs, a warm, genuine sound. "It is, actually. More progress than most of them manage. You must be a good influence on him already." When her hand leaves mine, it returns to her belly. "You must be Noemi. Fyodor called ahead to let us know you were coming."
"Fyodor told you about me?"
"Only good things, I promise." She turns to Sasha, stooping as much as her belly allows. "And you must be Sasha. I've heard you're very brave."
Sasha presses against my side, watching her with cautious eyes. He says nothing, which is somewhat his thing now. Even after forty-eight hours home, he's quiet. The things we've experienced have marked him more than I ever wanted them to, but he's going to come around. We'll get him a counselor and we'll be present for him when he has questions.
"Do you like books?" Inessa asks him, winking at me conspiratorially.
He nods slowly, but he still says nothing. It makes me feel sad for him to be so withdrawn, but I have to believe he will come out of this soon.
"We have a library here. A whole room full of books, floor to ceiling shelves with a ladder on wheels to reach the ones up high. I think there might be some adventure stories up there about knights and brave heroes. Would you like to see it?"
The wariness in Sasha's face melts into excitement. He looks at me for permission.
"Go ahead," I tell him. "Explore."
When his eyes turn back to Inessa, she says, "It's the last door in the hallway," and he takes off down the hall before I can change my mind.
Inessa calls after him, "Past the painting of the horses!"
"I see it!" His voice floats back, followed by a gasp of delight that makes us both smile.
Inessa pushes herself upright with a small grunt. "Come on, let's sit. My feet are killing me."
She leads me into a sitting room just off the foyer, with comfortable sofas and books stacked on side tables and a blanket thrown over one armchair. We settle onto a sofa by the window and she tucks her feet up beneath her with a relieved sigh, one hand rubbing at her lower back.
"Thank you," she says after a moment, but her voice sounds more serious now. "For letting Fyodor help us. I know everything you went through wasn't easy, but because of what he did, I'm not going to prison. My baby will have both parents there when he or she is born." She touches her belly with both hands. "I'm eternally grateful."
