Reunited After 25 Years 21

"Sasha?" Anton walked over to the cat and picked it up. Its body was completely limp. "Oh, Sasha!" Tenderly Anton sat the tiny body back down and began to sob. Andrea held him and stroked his hair. "I'm so sorry," she murmured.

After a few minutes Anton's sobs subsided, and he silently walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Andrea.

"To get a shovel. I must bury her."

"It's almost dark, Anton," Andrea said gently. "Why don't you just wait until tomorrow?"

"You are right." Anton sighed deeply. He wrapped the cat's body in a pillowcase and left it beside the door.

"Please stay, Andrea," he said. "I do not want to be alone tonight."

"Of course I'll stay," said Andrea.

Anton held Andrea closely all night, as if he never wanted to let her go. Later in the night she awoke and heard him sobbing again.

The next morning he took the cat's body into the back yard and buried it. Andrea went with him and helped him to arrange stones in a design to serve as a grave marker. Then they went back inside and ate breakfast.

The bustle of Christmas shopping soon helped assuage Anton's grief over the loss of the cat. Having never celebrated Christmas before, he was awed by the music and decorations.

"My grandmother told me about Christmas," he told Andrea. "She remembered back in the days of the Tsar, before it was outlawed. She told me the story of baby Jesus in the manger, the angels and the shepherds who followed the star."

"You were very close to your grandmother, weren't you?" asked Andrea.

"She lived with us and took care of us every day while our parents worked in a factory," Anton explained. "My grandfather died in a gulag a long time before I was born. Someone betrayed him, accused him of speaking against Stalin."

"Was that your grandfather who was a Bolshevik?"

"Yes."

Serves him right, Andrea thought, remembering her dream. Then she thought of Anton's grandmother and felt guilty.

"I think that's really sad, to grow up without Christmas," she said.

"We got presents on New Year's Eve instead," said Anton. "Ded Moroz brought them and put them under the tree."

"Oh, I get it." Andrea laughed. "So, how old were you when you found out Ded Moroz wasn't real?"

"Ded Moroz is real." They both laughed heartily.

One day at the mall, Andrea met up with a couple of her friends from high school, Carol and Donna.

"This is Anton," she told them. "He just immigrated from Russia about six months ago."

"I finally got an exit visa, after twenty-five years," Anton said with a grin.

"Donna and I finally came out of the closet after about the same length of time," said Carol.

"What?" Andrea was shocked. She remembered that while Donna had been into sports in high school, Carol had always been very feminine.

"Carol and I have been in love for a long time, but we always had to keep it a secret," added Donna. "Our parents would have killed us, and we would have had a hard time finding jobs."

"I can imagine," said Andrea. "So how are things going for you now?"

"Much better," said Carol. "Our church has been very supportive of us. We've met other gay and lesbian couples there, and there are all kinds of different groups to join and other things to get involved in."

"What church is that?" asked Andrea.

"The Unitarian Universalist church," Donna told her.

"I've heard of them, but I don't know very much about them," said Andrea.

"They're very accepting of all different kinds of people," Carol said.

"So they do not stand on the street corner and hand out pamphlets?" asked Anton.

Carol and Donna looked confused. Andrea told them about Anton's experience with the street corner preacher, and they both burst out laughing.

"Oh, no. They're not into that at all," said Donna. "You should come sometime. You'd probably enjoy it."

"What you think, Andrea? Should we go?" Anton asked Andrea after the women had left.

"Sure, if you want. We could try it," said Andrea.

"I think I told you my grandmother went to the Russian Orthodox church before the Revolution," Anton said. "I wonder if it is like that."

Andrea laughed. "I doubt it."

"Why are there so many different churches?" asked Anton.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it," Andrea said. "Growing up with freedom of religion, I guess you just take it for granted."

Suddenly there was a lump in her throat. She turned to Anton and embraced him tightly.

"You feel sorry for me." Andrea nodded.

"There is no reason to," said Anton. "I have a good life now. A new home, a good job, and best of all, my Andrea." He kissed her, and she felt better.