Amnesia

The man and his surviving children were still barely clinging to life when I left work much later. I wondered whether they'd still be alive when I returned the following day. I couldn't get them off my mind as I drove home. I was almost there when I suddenly remembered I'd forgotten to call Alexei and tell him I'd be working late.

As soon as I entered the house, all hell broke loose. "Nice of you to drop by," Alexei sneered sarcastically. "Your son has to practice for a school play, your daughter was sent home from kindergarten with head lice, and both twins have diarrhea. Didn't you notice that bag of stinky diapers outside? No, you were probably too busy thinking about how much fun you had getting together with your friends for coffee after work, right?"

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "There was a horrible trailer fire, and two kids were killed and their Dad and sisters were badly burned. I was so busy taking care of them I forgot to call and tell you I was gonna be late."

"Talk to the hand."

Angrily, I went to check on the children. After persuading the twins to drink some Gatorade while listening to Montana recite his lines for the play, I drove to the drugstore to get some medicine for Nevada. "Oh Mommy, it stinks!" she whined as I massaged it into her scalp.

"I know it does," I replied. "But we have to get ride of the lice. They won't let you go back to school until they're gone."

It was very late by the time I'd gotten all four kids settled for the night. Alexei was already asleep with his back toward me when I finally crept into bed. The alarm clock awakened me from a sound sleep the following morning. Alexei had to work an early shift that day, so I had to get the kids ready by myself. Luckily, the twins' diarrhea seemed to have abated, and I didn't see any lice when I checked Nevada's scalp.

I got the kids to the bus stop and was just about to leave the house with the twins when I received the telephone call. "You need to come to the hospital right away." I recognized Donna's voice. "Alexei was chasing a speeding car and was broadsided. He banged his head on the windshield really hard and was knocked unconscious."

"Oh my God!" I gasped. I was shaking all over as I buckled the twins into their car seats and drove to Lauren's. I explained what had happened as I dropped them off.

She turned pale. "I sure hope he'll be all right!"

"Thanks. Me too."

Although I was technically supposed to work that day, I was so worried about my husband that my boss told me to just take the day off and spend it with him. I thanked him, then called Mom to tell her what had happened and she came to the hospital to join me right away. By that time, he'd been admitted to the hospital and put into a room, and both of us just sat in chairs watching him helplessly.

"He was really mad at me last night," I told Mom. "I had to work late because these trailer fire victims were brought in, and I was so busy getting them stabilized I forgot to call and tell him I was gonna be late. When I finally got home, I found out Nevada had lice and the twins were sick, and he was mad at me because I forgot to call. I tried to apologize, but he just blew me off. By the time I woke up this morning, he'd already left for work." I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and there was a huge lump in my throat. "If he never wakes up, the very last time he spoke to me will have been in anger."

"Oh, honey, he's gonna wake up." Mom patted my hand comfortingly. "And even if the worst does happen, he knows that you and the children love him, and that's all that really matters."

"Oh my God, I almost forgot!" I cried. "I need to let his family in Russia know what happened, but I don't know how to reach them." Then I thought of something. "Ilya does. I'll call him and tell him what happened."

I called Madison, and she told me Ilya was at work. "I need him to get in touch with Alexei's parents," I told her. "Alexei's been hurt really bad. He's unconscious, and they don't know if he'll ever wake up."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'll call him right away!"

I stayed at the hospital as long as I could, then left to pick the children up. Montana and Nevada were full of questions about what had happened to Alexei. I told them that he'd bumped his head and had to stay in the hospital for a little while but that he'd be fine in a few days. They seemed to accept my explanation without question. I prayed that my words would be proven true.

When I got to the hospital the following morning, I found that Alexei's entire family had already flown over and were going into his room to sit with him in turns. Things were pretty much the same for two or three more days, and then one day I went in to visit him and was told that he'd awakened but had amnesia. "He can't remember anything at all," Kristina told me mournfully. "He doesn't even know who any of us are!"

"Oh, no!" I gasped. I embraced her, and we cried together. When I entered Alexei's room, I found him sitting up in bed, staring blankly ahead. "Hi, sweetheart," I said. He didn't respond. I gave him a hug, which he didn't return. "I know you don't remember me, but I'm your wife Addison, and I love you very much," I told him. He blinked uncomprehendingly. "We have four children," I continued. "Montana is seven, Nevada is four, and the twins, Jade and Juniper, are sixteen months. would you like to see some pictures of them?"

I took my wallet out of my purse and showed him pictures of the kids, hoping it would jog his memory. No such luck.

Once Alexei had relearned all his basic life skills such as how to brush his teeth, comb his hair, and get dressed, there was no reason for the hospital to keep him any longer, so they released him. I had a long discussion with Montana and Nevada the night before he was to come home. "When Daddy bumped his head, it made him forget a lot of things," I explained. "The three of us are gonna have to help him remember them. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes!" they shouted.

"Good." I smiled.

When Alexei came home, he hugged the children and told them how much he'd missed them, but I could tell it was all for their sake.

"This is a sofa." Montana pointed to the sofa. "And this is a chair." He pointed to several other familiar objects and told Alexei their names. Alexei smiled and nodded. It broke my heart to see my husband as he was, but I tried my best to put on a happy face and act like everything was perfectly normal.

"When's Daddy gonna get his memory back?" Nevada asked as I tucked her into bed that night.

"I don't know," I told her. "Soon, I hope."

Alexei had some leave time saved up from the police department, so we were all right for awhile, but eventually I had to go back to my job. I was nervous leaving my husband in the house alone for eight hours at a time, but I made him promise not to go anywhere until I got home.

Things were fine for a couple of weeks, but then one evening, I came home to discover that Alexei was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Daddy?" asked Montana.

"I don't know!" I wailed. My fingers were shaking as I called the police department. Andrew answered. "Alexei's gone!" I gasped. "I can't find him anywhere!"

"When was the last time you saw him?" asked Andrew.

"This morning, when I left for work! This is the first time this has happened! I always make him promise not to go anywhere until I get back from work, and he's always listened up until now!"

"I'll send a couple of troopers to look for him, but try not to worry too much. He probably just got confused and wandered off. He couldn't have gone very far."

As all the kids were with me, I was forced to sit home worrying my brains out until I heard something about Alexei. It was not quite dark when two policemen arrived holding my husband between them. He was unhurt but looked very confused. Relief flooded through my body as I jumped to my feet and rushed to embrace him, too happy to see him to be angry.

"We found him just wandering around in the woods near here," one of the policemen told me.

"Thank you ever so much!' I exclaimed.

"All right. You take care now." The policemen left.

"You must be starving!" I said to Alexei. I heated some leftover chicken and rice and peas up for him, and he practically inhaled them. After that, I drew him a bath and then helped him into bed.

The following evening, Ilya and Madison came by to visit, bringing baby Joel with them. By now, all his wrinkles had filled out and he could hold his head up and smile and even coo. He was absolutely adorable. Jade and Juniper toddled over to examine him. "Bay bay." Jade pointed.

"That's right, he's a baby, just like you and your sister used to be," I told her.

"Don't you remember me at all?" Ilya asked Alexei. "We've known each other since we were four years old. We went to school together."

Alexei frowned. "What was your name again?"

"It's Ilya! Ilya Zeklos!" He looked as if he might cry. I felt terribly sorry for him.

Ilya and Madison stayed for several hours, but Ilya had no better luck jogging Alexei's memory than I'd had in the hospital. After they'd left, I put everyone to bed and then went to bed myself. After the lights were out, I lay wide awake for a long time, wondering what it would be like not to be able to recognize Lara. I found that I simply couldn't imagine it.

Through the crack in the door, I watched in helpless horror as Olivia and Sydney approached Alexei, who stood beside the bed. "Don't you remember?" asked Olivia. "This is your wife, Sydney!"

"But the lady named Addison told me that she was my wife!"

"Doesn't she wish!" Sydney gave an evil cackle. "You belong to me, and don't you ever forget it!" She held his face between her hands and began kissing him passionately. He was startled at first but then began to respond.

"I'll just leave you two alone to get re-acquainted." Olivia winked and patted Sydney's shoulder as she walked from the room.

When she'd left, Sydney unbuttoned Alexei's shirt and slowly slid it off his shoulders. "Mm, just look at those muscles!" she murmured. "I'd almost forgotten how well built you are!"

Her mouth left his to place a trail of soft kisses all the way down his body, until she reached his belly button, where she deftly unfastened his pants and slid them and his underwear down. I was crushed when I saw that he was already erect. She took him into her mouth and began to bob her head up and down in a rhythmic motion. I felt as if she were stabbing me in the heart, over and over again. The expression of bliss on his face hurt worse than words could ever express.

After awhile, she pushed him back on the bed and climbed onto him, then rolled over so that he was on top of her. His face still bore the same look of ecstasy as he began to thrust with abandon.

I gasped, and my eyes flew open to find that I was sitting up in bed and that Alexei was lying beside me looking very puzzled. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just had the most terrible dream!" I said.

"I'm so sorry!" He took me into his arms and embraced me, but it felt as if I were in the arms of a stranger.

Please, Alexei, come back to me!

"Are you going to be OK?" he asked me after awhile.

"I'll be all right. Don't you remember anything at all, Alexei?"

He frowned. "I was in the hospital. My shoulder was hurt. I was with some boys, and then you came in."

"Oh, Alexei, you remember the first time we met!" I exclaimed.

"You were younger then. Where are the boys now?"

"Aidan's married to Lauren, and they have their own house. Liam's dating Jana, and I haven't spoken to Topher in awhile, but the last time I did, he was fine."

"How many years ago was that?"

"Almost fourteen."

He gasped. "That long?"

I nodded. "A lot has happened since then. Do you remember working as a security guard in the hospital parking lot?"

He looked blank.

"That was where we first saw each other again. Someone tried to mug me, and you saved me."

"Wow!" His eyes grew large. "Did you get hurt?"

"No I didn't, thanks to you."

"What happened after that?"

"We started dating, and before long, we realized that we were in love and got married. About a year and a half later, we had twins, Jade and Juniper. They're seventeen months old now."

"There are a couple of other kids too, aren't there?"

"Montana and Nevada. "They're from my first marriage, which was to a guy named Jeff. Montana is seven and Nevada is five." I was so excited that I could barely sleep for the rest of the night. Although I knew he had a long way to go, my husband was starting to get his memory back!

Fortunately, I was off work the next day, which was Saturday. Alexei and I were eating breakfast and I was feeding the twins when Montana and Nevada woke up and came into the kitchen. "Good morning, Montana," said Alexei. "Good morning, Nevada."

"Daddy! You remember me now!" both children cried joyously as they ran to hug and kiss him.

"Can we go to the park and fly kites today?" asked Montana.

"Sounds like a great idea to me!" Alexei replied.

When we reached the park, we realized that we weren't the only ones who'd had the idea, as Nicolai and Kennedy were already there with all three of their kids. "Nevada!" Jordan came running to greet his friend. "I have an eagle kite! What kind is yours?"

"Mine's a ladybug," Nevada told him.

Nicolai said something to Alexei in Russian, and Alexei answered him back right away. Soon the two of them were having an animated conversation as I watched in surprise. "What's wrong?" Kennedy asked me.

"Alexei had an accident a couple of weeks ago, and until just recently, he's suffered from total amnesia," I explained. "He's had to re-learn pretty much everything, so I just assumed he'd probably have to re-learn Russian, too."

"I guess amnesia doesn't affect language," she replied. We stayed at the park until we got hungry and went to the pizza buffet for lunch. "What were you and Nicolai talking about for so long?" I asked Alexei as we were on the way there.

"Just things that happened to us when we were kids."

"You mean you still remember all that?"

"Sure. It's only the more recent things I'm having so much trouble with."

"So do you remember your family again now?"

"I remember what they were like a long time ago, yes."

After lunch we stopped by the motel where the Romanovs were staying. "Guess what!' I exclaimed when Anya opened the door. "Alexei's starting to get his memory back!"

"That's wonderful!" she replied. "We have news for you as well. We've decided to move to the United States for good."

"That is so cool!" I exclaimed. "Now the kids will get to grow up close to their cousins." My own cousins had all lived in different states, so I'd seen them only rarely as a child.

As it turned out, the Romanovs were able to find a home of their own only a couple of miles from mine and Alexei's. Kristina moved into a small apartment with her two children.

The next thing to come up was Cole and Lara's hearing over the custody of Dylan. Alexei and I went to testify on their behalf. When we arrived, we saw that Sydney no longer needed a wheelchair to get around in and seemed to have completely recovered from her injuries. After the court was called to order, the people who were going to testify for Sydney went first. Several medical professionals talked about Sydney's long road to recovery and how pleased they were with her progress, and then Olivia and several more of Sydney's friends took the stand and testified as to why they thought Sydney would be a better parent to Dylan than Cole and Lara.

When my own turn came, I did my best to plead my friends' cause. "I've known Lara ever since we were little kids, and she's one of the kindest, most gentle people I've ever known," I began. "She's always wanted to be a mother. When her husband's aunt was severely injured and went into a coma, she didn't hesitate to take her infant son in. Even though he's not related to her by blood, she's always loved and cared for him just as if he were her own. She and Cole have provided Dylan with a stable home environment, and they're the only parents he's ever known. If you rip him away from that and give him back to a woman who's little more than a stranger to him, he'll be traumatized for life."

"I sure hope I sounded convincing enough," I whispered to Alexei when I returned to my seat.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," he whispered back.

A few more people tested on Cole and Lara's behalf, and then the judge announced that he'd reached a decision.

"Although all evidence suggests Cole and Lara Ozera have been excellent caretakers of the minor child Dylan Ozera," the judge began. "Dylan belongs with his natural mother, Sydney Ozera. This young woman has proven her bravery and determination by bouncing back from devastating injuries to regain her normal life. She never voluntarily surrendered custody of her son, and before her unfortunate accident, her competency as a parent was never called into question. Therefore, I rule in favor of the biological mother, Sydney Ozera."

My hear sank as I watched Sydney and Olivia grin and high-five each other. I simply couldn't believe it! The judge had taken an innocent, helpless child away from the only parents he'd ever known and returned him to a virtual stranger! Numb with shock, I stood to leave the courtroom with Alexei. He was silent as a stone until we were back out in the sunshine.

"That judge has shit for brains," he grumbled. "His fucking license should be revoked."

My eyes swept across the parking lot to fall on Cole and Lara. I saw that Lara was crying as Cole helped her into the car. "They'll never get over this," I predicted.

Alexei slammed the car door shut as soon as he was behind the wheel. "Do you want to go somewhere for lunch?" he asked me. "To be honest, I'm not really hungry myself."

"Neither am I."

We drove home in silence. When we got there, I hugged all four children tightly and gave them extra attention for the rest of the day. Alexei and I had both taken the day off, so we had the whole afternoon to play with them. Montana, who was a very sensitive child, sensed that something was wrong right away. "Why are you so sad, Mommy?" he asked me.

"I feel really bad for Cole and Lara," I told him. "Dylan has lived with them ever since his Mommy got hurt, but now that she's better, he has to go back to her."

"But isn't it better for him to be with his Mommy?"

"Not in this case. He was so little when she got hurt that he doesn't even remember her, but Cole and Lara have taken very good care of him, and he loves them very much."

"Oh." He looked thoughtful. "Good thing my old Daddy is dead, huh? 'Cause if he wasn't, he might take me and Nevada away from you and my new Daddy."

"Oh, no, sweetheart," I quickly assured him. "Nobody could ever take you away from us, not ever."

Helping Alexei's family get settled temporarily took our minds off things. Kristina's new apartment was on the second floor, and one day, Alexei and I spent the entire day carrying boxes upstairs. Anya took care of our four kids and Kristina's two. Pavel was thirteen now, and Xenia was three. I discussed the situation with Kristina as we went up and down stairs.

"But they have a baby of their own now, don't they?"

"Yes, but they also love Dylan as if he were their own."

"Well, maybe they could get visitation," she suggested.

"Not court ordered," I told her. "The only way they can ever see Dylan again is if Sydney agrees to it, and I don't think that's ever gonna happen."

"That's just not fair!" she exclaimed.

"It sure isn't," I agreed.

It was a long, exhausting day. Near sundown, Alexei went out for pizza, and we sat around eating it and talked some more. I told Kristina about my disastrous first marriage. "The only good things to come out of it were Montana and Nevada," I said.

She told me about Anton, Pavel and Xenia's father. "He's getting out of the army in a couple of months, and we want to get married after that," she told me.

"That's great!" I replied. "So he doesn't mind the idea of living in America, then?"

"Oh, no, he's all for it," she told me. "He already has friends over here that he knows can help him get a job."

I helped her get adjusted to using American money, too. The first couple of times she went grocery shopping, I went along with her so that she wouldn't get confused at the register. Once we ran into Aidan, who had been promoted up to assistant manager by now. "You remember Alexei's sister Kristina from the wedding," I said to him.

"Yes, of course. How do you do?" He shook her hand.

"Very well, thank you. And you?"

"I'm doing great! Married life is treating me very well."

"Oh, so you're married now!"

"Since December. My wife's name is Lauren. Addison here introduced us."

"That's lovely! Congratulations!"

"Thanks!"

On Easter morning, the entire Romanov family went to the Russian Orthodox church where Ilya served as assistant priest. Madison was there with baby Joel. He was about two and a half months old now and had filled out very nicely. His eyes still looked just like his father's, two little black buttons.

"He's precious!" I exclaimed. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course!"

I took him into my arms and held him close, relishing his sweet baby scent that so reminded me of when my own children were that small. After a few minutes, he began to squirm and whimper, so I handed him back to his mother.

Although I found the service difficult to follow, especially the parts that weren't in English, it was beautiful, and afterwards, Alexei and I took the kids to the park, where who should we run into but Cole and Lara, who were there with Dylan and Tuesday.

"Oh, you got him back!" I exclaimed happily.

"Sydney changed her mind," Lara told me. "She ran off to California with some guy. Said she'll come back for Dylan if it doesn't work out but told us not to hold our breath about that."

"Well, it's a shame that she just up and abandoned him after trying so hard to get him back," I replied. "I am happy for you guys, though."

"Thanks. So are we," she said.

"So Dylan and Tuesday are gonna grow up as brother and sister. Are you planning to tell him the truth about his parents when he's old enough to understand?"

"Of course! Aren't you gonna tell Montana and Nevada about their biological Dad?"

"Montana is actually old enough to remember Jeff just a little bit, but yeah, we plan to sit them down and tell them the whole story when they're, oh, maybe ten or twelve or so."

"That's good. I think it's important for kids to know about their true origins."

"So do we."

After we were finished at the park, we went home and had a relaxing evening.

The rest of that spring passed quickly. In late May, Nevada's four-year-old kindergarten class had the same graduation ceremony Montana's had had three years before. When I entered the school cafeteria pushing the double stroller that held the twins, I didn't recognize anyone else there, but I ended up sitting beside a woman who introduced herself as Melanie. "So you've got a four-year-old pus an older child and a set of twins? My God, how on earth do you do it?" she asked me.

"I don't know. I just do." I chuckled. "I couldn't if I didn't have a lot of friends and family to help me." At nineteen months old, Jade and Juniper were virtually identical in every way. It would have been very difficult for someone who didn't know them extremely well to tell them apart. "How many children do you have?" I asked her.

"Just Casey." She nodded toward her young son. "I would have loved to have had more, but my husband has two adult sons and a daughter from a previous marriage, and he didn't want to start over. It took me a long time just to talk him into letting me have Casey."

"He must be quite a bit older than you, then."

"Twelve years. I'm an older Mom as well. I worked in retail for many years before I finally met Greg. It can be very difficult to meet the right man."

"Or you meet him, but then he has to go away. I met Alexei for the first time fourteen years ago, but he had to go back to Russia almost right away. In the meantime, I married a loser named Jeff who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic. He killed himself driving drunk when Nevada was just a baby, and a little over a year later, Alexei and I were reunited. I was attacked in the parking lot of the hospital where I work, and he saved me."

"Gosh, how romantic! You should write a story about it. I bet it would sell about a million copies!"

"Perhaps." I laughed. "Right now, I'm too busy to do much writing at all."

"I'll bet!"

Montana turned eight in June. In addition to the people we invite to his party every year, we invited Alexei's family. Kristina brought along a tall, handsome man with a mustache whom I'd never seen before. "This is Anton," she said.

"How do you do." I smiled and shook his hand.

"Hello." He smiled back. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here." I noticed that his teeth looked very white against his olive complexion, and that Pavel and Xenia both favored him much more so than their mother. "So, how did you and Kristina first meet?" I asked him.

"I was home on leave and was in the supermarket looking at bananas when I saw her standing near the apples. 'Which of these bunches looks ripest to you?' I asked her. 'They both look fine to me,' she told me. 'But there's no way I could eat two bunches of bananas by myself before they went bad,' I said. 'I guess I'll just have to come over and help you eat them, then,' she said back to me. We've been together ever since then."

"Is this the first time you've ever been to America?"

"Oh, no. I trained several different times on army bases in California while I was in the services."

Nevada ran up to him. "Hi, I'm Nevada."

"Hi there," he said.

"I'm this many years old." She held up four fingers.

"My, what a big girl!"

"I have two little sisters, Jade and Juniper. They look just alike 'cause they're twins."

"Awesome!"

Xenia ran past with both twins right behind her. Juniper fell down on the sidewalk and skinned her knee, letting out a blood-curdling howl. "Uh oh." Quickly I ran to pick her up. "Aw, did you get an owie?"

I dashed into the house and to the medicine cabinet, where I fetched the hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic cream, and band aids. Juniper screamed even louder as I dabbed her skinned knee with the hydrogen peroxide. "I'm so sorry," I told her. "I know it stings, but I have to get rid of the germs somehow."

By the time I'd applied the band aid, the screams had dwindled to sobs. I rocked Juniper and sang to her until she'd stopped crying. I'd just stood up and was about to carry her back outside when Alexei entered the house holding a crying Jade. "I think she just got worried about her sister," he told me. He must have been right, because as soon as Jade saw Juniper, she stopped crying.

Soon afterward, the party began to wind down. Since we'd had more guests this year, there was more of a mess to clean up than there had been before, but we didn't mind. Montana was very happy with all his new presents.

Nevada's fifth birthday was the following month. The day before her party, I received a telephone call from Kennedy. "I'm very sorry, but Jordan can't come to Nevada's party tomorrow," she told me. "He's come down with a really nasty summer cold. Coughing, runny nose, fever, the works."

"Poor little guy! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed. "I sure hope he gets better soon!"

"Thanks. I hope so, too."

After I got off the telephone, I told Nevada about Jordan. "But I wanted to see him tomorrow!" She primped up and started to cry.

"Hey, Nevada," said Alexei. "Why don't we make a get-well card for Jordan? We can take it to him in a few days, when he's better.'

Nevada grinned. "OK, Daddy!"

Alexei got out the construction paper and crayons, and he and Nevada got to work. Within fifteen minutes or so, my daughter had produced a work of art that she could be proud of. It consisted of a piece of light blue construction paper folded in half to make a card. On the front of the card was a drawing of what I could tell was supposed to be a little boy lying in bed, and on the inside of the card was a picture of the same little boy standing and smiling. 'Get well soon!' Nevada (with Alexei's help) had printed across the top of that page in red crayon.

"He'll love it!" I told her.

Several days later, I called Kennedy to find out how Jordan was doing. "He's much better," she told me. "He's been taking all his medicine, and his symptoms seem to be gone now. I don't think he's infectious anymore."

"That's great!" I replied. "Nevada made him a get-well card, and she'd like to bring it over, if that's all right."

"Oh, of course, by all means! He still has her birthday present to give her, too."

I got all the kids together and drove them the short drive to Nicolai and Kennedy's house. They lived in a brick house that was similar to our own. When I got there, I saw that Taylor and Morgan had their swimsuits on and were playing in an above-ground pool.

"Where's Jordan?" Nevada asked them.

"He's inside," Morgan told her. "Mom doesn't think he's well enough from his cold to go swimming yet."

I rang the doorbell, and Kennedy answered the door. "Come on in," she said. "It's so nice of you to come over."

We saw that Jordan was sitting on the living room floor, watching the Cartoon Network channel. He looked up at us as we entered. "Nevada!" he exclaimed. "I've got something to give you." He ran to his room and returned with a wrapped box.

"Here." Nevada handed the get-well card to him. "I made this for you. My Daddy helped me."

Jordan opened the card and grinned when he saw the inside. "Thank you!" He hugged Nevada's neck, then handed her the box. She opened it to find a soft baby doll dressed in a flowery dress and holding a pacifier. "She doesn't have a name yet, so you can call her whatever you want."

"What do you think I should call her, Mommy?" Nevada asked me.

"Hmm...how about Lily?"

"That's a nice name. I'll call her that."

"Can you guys stay for awhile?" asked Kennedy. "I made chocolate chip cookies."

"Can we stay? Please, Mommy?" Montana begged.

I laughed. "All right."

Kennedy poured coffee for me and herself and Kool-Aid for the kids. I'd brought the twins' sippy cups along in their diaper bag. Kennedy and I chatted as we drank coffee and ate cookies. "So how did Nevada's party go?" she asked me.

"It went all right. Her cousins Rachel and Daniel came, and a couple of her little friends from school. I made strawberry cake, her favorite, like I do every year, and served strawberry ice cream with it. There was plenty to go around, thank goodness, plus leftovers."

"Our niece Anastasia just celebrated her eighth birthday." Anastasia's the daughter of Nicolai's younger sister Sonya and her husband Felix, who live in Moscow.

"That's how old I am!" said Montana.

"I know." Kennedy smiled. "We came to your party, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!"

We stayed and visited for about an hour or so, and then I went home to get started on dinner. I was taking the chicken out of the oven when I felt Alexei's arms wrap around my waist and his lips kiss my neck. "So how did your day go?" I asked him.

"It went all right. Brought in a kid for shoplifting. I think he might be someone you know. Didn't Aidan's ex-girlfriend have a brother named Asher?"

"Jana! That's right, she did! I haven't seen him since Eric and Rhea's wedding two years ago. He was pretty angry then, but I'd hoped he'd accepted things and moved on by now."

"If he has, you'd sure never guess it. It took a couple of guys to hold him down just so I could get the cuffs on him."

"Poor Jana," I said. Despite how she'd treated Aidan, I still felt sorry for her for having a criminal for a brother. "Did anybody come to bail him out?"

"Eric did. Said Rhea was really upset, crying her eyes out."

"I can imagine."

"So did Nevada get to give Jordan the get-well card she made him?"

"Yep. I took them over there this afternoon. He gave her a doll."

"That's nice. Those two always play together so well."

"They do. I'm so glad she has him as a friend. I hope that family never moves away."

The next major event of that summer was Anton and Kristina's wedding. It was held in the same Russian Orthodox church our own had been held in. Kristina was absolutely beautiful in her lacy white gown and white headband with her long, dark hair hanging loose around her shoulders as she walked down the aisle on Ivan's arm. I glanced over at Alexei to see that he was beaming proudly.

Anton and Kristina repeated their vows and were pronounced husband and wife. A large reception followed in the banquet room. I mingled and socialized with Alexei's family and the other guests. "Looks like you're next!" I teased Sonya, who'd caught the bride's bouquet.

"I sure hope so." Sonya smiled. "Xenia was utterly adorable as the flower girl. Don't you think so?"

"Absolutely," I replied, reaching for an hors d'oeuvre. "Aren't these little sandwiches delicious? Hi, Pavel!" I said as I spotted Anton and Kristina's son.

"Hi, Aunt Addison."

"How are you?"

"Great! I'm so glad my parents finally got married. I've been wanting them to for ever so long."

"I'm glad too, Pavel. I imagine it must have been difficult for them with your Dad being in the military."

"It was. I hardly saw my Dad at all when I was little. He'd come home on leave maybe two or three times a year. I always used to really look forward to that, because then we could be like other families. He used to take us to Gorky Park a lot. Have you ever been there?"

"No, I've never even been to Russia."

"Well, I hope you get to go sometime, because it's really cool! There's a lake that freezes over every winter, and everyone goes skating on it. Can you skate?"

"Just a little." I remembered my honeymoon, how I'd struggled to keep up with Alexei's fluid, graceful moves on the ice.

"My Dad taught me how," Pavel told me.

"That's great that you got to spend some time with him."

"Him being gone all the time made it all that much more special."

"I'm really glad your family decided to move to the United States," I told Alexei as he was driving home from his sister's wedding. "Now I can get to know them all a lot better."

"I'm glad too," he replied. "I really missed them sometimes."

"What about the rest of the time?" I teased. He laughed and poked me in the arm with his elbow.

When we got home, I put the twins down for their afternoon naps and let Montana and Nevada outside to play. I was in the kitchen pouring Kool-Aid into molds for homemade Popsicles when I felt Alexei's arms encircle my waist and his lips nuzzle my neck. "Think there's enough time for a quickie?"

Just then I heard a blood-curdling scream from outside. My heart was in my throat as I opened the door and dashed outside to see Montana standing in front of the swing set, crying. "A bee stung me through my shirt!' he sobbed.

I looked at the large red welt on his stomach and saw that there was no stinger, so I took him by the hand and led him inside, where I applied baking soda to the wound and gave him a children's Tylenol.

"It still hurts, Mommy!" he complained.

"It'll be all better soon, Sport." Alexei rumpled his hair as he walked past. A few minutes later, I heard the lawn mower.

Alexei finished mowing the lawn and came back inside soaking wet with sweat. "Clear the way!" he held his arms out to the sides so that nobody could come close as he strode to the bathroom.

"Phew!" I exclaimed, holding my nose. A few seconds later, I heard the shower running.

I was peeling potatoes to make french fries when Alexei came up behind me smelling strongly of aftershave. "I'm all clean now." He embraced me and kissed my cheek.

"Good," I told him. "You can set the table."

The twins awakened and I changed their diapers, then finished with dinner and got everyone seated. "How's your bee sting?" I asked Montana.

"I already forgot about it, Mommy," he told me.