Bran grins and makes an L-shape with his right hand as he taps his cheek, the name sign he always uses for Lyra before signing,She scream all night?
Yes, Ev signs.I’m so tired.
Bran huffs out a soft laugh and mimics putting on headphones. Ev nods in agreement before making the sign forcoffeeand heading back inside to refill his mug. When he opens the door, Wallace comes running out with all the energy and exuberance that my cousin and I are lacking this morning.
His mismatched eyes dart between Bran and me before he settles on the guy who he knows always throws the ball for him. Sitting at Bran’s feet, he looks up at him while his tail goes a mile a minute behind him. Talia’s border collie is the smartest dog I’ve ever met, and when Bran makes the sign forball, Wallace gives a happy bark and runs off to grab his favorite one. In less than a minute, he’s racing back with an orange tennis ball in his mouth.
Before Bran walks off with a very excited Wallace at his feet, he signs that he’ll see me later. I wave a quick bye before heading back inside because Ev isn’t the only one who needs more caffeine.
The others are talking about the supper tonight while I listen and slowly work my way through another mug of hazelnut coffee. I keep waiting for someone to drop Sitka’s name, but she isn’t mentioned so I’m left just as curious as ever. I’ve been forced to learn about her in pieces, little snippets of info that her family has said and the small bit of knowledge I’ve been able to gather when I’m lucky enough to be around her. It doesn’t add up to much, and I’m curious. Way more curious than I should be.
Dima’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Bran and I have some shit to do, but we’ll see you both later, right?”
“Yeah,” I tell him. “Ev and I will be there.”
Dima grins. “Good. We need to make plans to go surfing one morning.”
His smile only grows bigger when he hears Ev’s pained groan.
“You’ll be wearing a wetsuit,” Dima says to make him feel better.
“Something tells me that’s not going to make a damn bit of difference,” Ev says.
The wicked laugh Dima gives as he walks away is confirmation that it will in fact not make a damn bit of difference.
Once he’s gone, Ev looks over at me. “What the hell happened to solidarity?”
I laugh and refill my mug. “I didn’t agree to anything yet, but there’s no way they’re going to let us off the hook.”
“They can’t drag us into the ocean,” Ev says.
“They can and they will,” Max says, joining in. “How do you think they first got me out there?”
Talia cuddles in next to him when he opens an arm to her and says, “It’s not that bad.”
The look Max gives us over her head says otherwise. I look out the window at the ocean that never seems to calm and fight the urge to let out a heavy sigh. Ev and I are going to end up freezing our asses off in that thing. There’s no getting around it because Max is right. The Medvedevs don’t take no for an answer, and I’d really rather not piss them off about this. They’re going to be angry enough if they ever find out about my infatuation with Sitka. I’m not looking to piss them off right out the gate.
Ev must sense what I’m thinking because the defeated look he gives combined with the sadly muttered, “Goddammit,” says it all.
I cover my laugh by taking another drink before I say, “We’ll try to push it off for as long as we can. Maybe we can distract them with the dirt bikes.”
“Or maybe I can fall off one andaccidentallybreak my leg,” he says. “That would solve it.”
“Maybe,” Max says, “but it wouldn’t surprise me if they just tie a garbage bag around it and push your ass out into the water anyway. They’re crazy.” He smiles down at his wife and kisses her head. “Sorry,svetik moy, but you know it’s true.”
She doesn’t bother denying it and just says, “Some more than others. They did make some new trails at my Uncle Volodya’s place, so maybe you can distract them by mentioning that.”
We thank her for the tip, and to show our appreciation when Lyra gives the first inkling of annoyance from her playpen, I tell her I’ll watch her for a bit and then walk over to scoop my niece up. Her mouth is turned down, and I can tell she’s seconds away from letting loose, but when I lift her shirt and blow a raspberry on her stomach, it quickly turns into a squeal of laughter.
“I’ll help,” I hear Ev say from behind me. “We need to bond with her as much as possible so she doesn’t forget us after we leave.”
“Are you guys sure,” Talia asks, but Max is already threading his fingers through hers and gently tugging her out of the room. The look on his face makes it clear what he has planned.
“We’ll be fine,” I tell her.
“Yep,” Ev agrees, grabbing the remote and trying to find a kid’s show. “You two go have some fun.”
Talia blushes, but she also doesn’t put up a fight when Max picks her up and disappears around the corner.
