Lunch started out a little tensely. After Olena served the meal, and the prayers were said, they settled down to eat making small talk. After a little while, Janine started by saying she understood these were Rose and Dimitri's decisions to make, and that she was just trying to provide information that might help them in their decision-making.
"I've done some investigating with our insurance, and Rozalia is covered until she's twenty-one provided she lives at home. Once she's over twenty weeks pregnant, we can add the baby to our policy, so he or she is covered, too. It will be a lot cheaper to do this than buying them their own policy, but of course, it all depends on Rozalia living at home. Obviously, I haven't spoken to Abe about it, but I'm confident once he's calmed down, he'll be open to the idea of Dimitri moving in with us so they can live and parent as a family. With Rozalia being our only child, we have plenty of space and the resources to help them."
Janine was trying to be delicate, but it wasn't a secret that the Mazurs were financially very comfortable whereas the Belikovs struggled. The former were in a much better position to help the young couple. Rose looked at Dimitri carefully. If they didn't have to pay rent, insurance, and groceries, the financial pressure on him would be a lot less. But it would mean Dimitri having to put up with her father – and there was no way Tata was going to be happy about his little girl becoming a mother.
"It wouldn't have to be forever," Janine quickly added. "But it would give the two of them a chance to get some savings behind them. There's still a few months before anyone will guess about the pregnancy, so I thought maybe after graduation, so they're used to living together by the time the baby arrives?" She didn't add it would probably take three months for Abe to calm down enough to consider letting Dimitri move into the house!
Olena and Yeva looked at Dimitri trying to gauge his reaction. They'd made a similar offer to him; that Rose could move in with them to the apartment, but there was a lot to be said for Dimitri being the one to move, not least of which it made sense Rose might want to be near her family as the pregnancy progressed.
"That's a generous offer and something we'll consider," Dimitri said, acknowledging the proposal without committing to anything. He grasped Rose's hand and squeezed it gently.
"How have you been feeling?" Olena asked Rose in a very motherly tone.
"Tired. Sometimes I struggle to keep my eyes open," she admitted. "And sometimes a bit queasy," she added as a wave of nausea overcame her. "I'm actually not feeling well now - could I lie down for a minute?"
"Of course. Dimka take Roza through to your room and make her comfortable," Yeva said, giving the young lovers a sympathetic smile.
"I remember those days," Janine said nostalgically. "I don't know why they call it morning sickness... I was sick twenty-four seven. For the first three months, the only things I could keep down were orange juice and ginger-molasses cookies. Every morning Abe would have to bring some to me before I even tried to get out of bed."
"I only had sickness with Dimka," Olena said with a smile. "But the cravings with Viktoria were shocking. I wanted pickled tomatoes all the time. The little town we're from in Russia – there was not a pickled tomato to be had that winter because I'd eaten them all!"
Janine, Olena, and Yeva chatted over the remainder of lunch getting to know each other, trading war stories of shepherding their respective young people thus far in life.
"I suppose we're going to be family now," Olena said philosophically at one point. "Nothing brings two families together like a baby."
"Yes I suppose so," Janine said with a sigh. "I wish it hadn't happened this way, but he's an admirable young man, Olena. You've done a wonderful job raising him, and I'll be proud to call him my grandchild's father."
"Thank you, Janine. He's a good boy. We're thankful he chose a girl as lovely as your Rozalia," she replied. "She's a sweet, clever girl and exactly the sort of woman we'd hoped Dimka would end up with. But I do wish it had been later. They've been gone a while – let me see if Roza wants any of these pastries."
Olena stood up and walked to Dimitri's room. Coming back to the table moments later, she held her finger up to her lips to indicate Janine should be quiet and beckoned, leading her to the door of Dimitri's bedroom. The two mothers peered through the open doorway to see Dimitri lying on the bed; his arms wrapped protectively around Rose as the two faced one another. They looked so peaceful, curled up together fast asleep.
"So do you think he'll move in?" Lissa asked after getting a run down of the lunch discussions the previous day.
"It's probably the best option," Rose said not entirely happy about it. While she liked the idea of staying at home, she suspected her father would be horrible to Dimitri. "Mom suggested maybe after graduation, so we get used to living together before the baby comes."
"Well you'll need to get used to sharing a bed," Lissa said suggestively. "And the best thing about being pregnant, you don't have to worry about birth control!"
Rose laughed but didn't say anything. She hadn't really thought about that aspect of things since discovering she was pregnant, but Lissa had a point. If she and Dimitri were going to share a room and a bed, it made sense they'd try having sex again.
While the idea was scary, it was kind of thrilling, too. Their first time had been so impromptu; it was a bit exciting to think about exploring one another a little more. Assuming Dimitri was willing, of course. For her part, Rose was keen to give it a go!
Once she was off the phone, Rose pulled out her mother's book. There must be a section on sex during pregnancy? And there was. Reading through the emotional and health benefits of 'maintaining a loving, active sex life during pregnancy' Rose flipped back to the earlier part of the book where sex and sexual positions were outlined. And immediately wished she hadn't...
It was easy to forget her parents had once been young lovers, too. Her Mom had apparently used this book as a reference for that aspect of things. Rose knew this because she'd made annotations beside some of the diagrams!
Feeling queasy, and fairly certain it had nothing to do with morning sickness, Rose raised her eyebrows as she saw her mother noted beside standing sex 'good but hard on the legs', doggy style got three big ticks and a smiley face, but the most disturbing entry was beside a position called 'The Jockey'. Beside this Janine's neat script had listed, 'Super deep and could go for hours. Came four times!'
Rose's face was flaming as she snapped the book shut, shoving it back under her pillow. She was all for sharing experiences with her Mom throughout this pregnancy business, but finding out her parent's top ten sex positions wasn't the sort of thing she wanted to know about!
"What are you thinking about?" Dimitri asked on Wednesday at lunchtime. Rose had been in a funny mood, so they'd grabbed their food and headed up to the roof to have some private time before their afternoon classes.
"I was just thinking how nice it was to fall asleep next to you on Saturday. Do you think that's what it will be like if you move in?"
"Sharing a bed? Well, I hope so. Although I wouldn't put it past your father to insist on separate bedrooms!"
Rose hadn't thought about that. That's exactly the sort of shit Abe was likely to pull. The whole 'no sex before marriage' thing. It hadn't occurred to her that Dimitri might move in as more of a co-parenting flatmate than a lover. They were having a baby, for God's sake. They'd had sex. Well - at least once.
"I'll talk to Mom about that. If you're going to move in, I'd like us to be a proper couple."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning sharing a bedroom. A bed. Sex!" she hissed, her face flaming.
"I thought this might have scared you off for life?"
"Well, Lissa did point out that this was the safest time for us to fool around - while I'm already pregnant." Rose was almost scarlet with embarrassment. She really didn't want to have to spell it out but was conscious of their agreement to talk about how they felt, even if it was uncomfortable.
"She has a point," Dimitri said his lips twitching. "Contraception obviously isn't our strong point."
Rose looked at him and cracked up, and the two of them sat laughing until it was time to go to class. For the first time since this whole thing had happened, Rose thought that yeah – maybe they could do this.
On Thursday morning Christian wasn't at school, and neither was Lissa. Dimitri and Rose sat side by side in their classes wondering what was up. If the two planned to ditch, they usually gave Rose and Dimitri the heads up so they could help cover! Around eleven, Rose got a text from Lissa.
I'm at Christian's place. The police found Tasha dead last night. She'd overdosed. The whole family are here, and Christian is in a bad way – is there any chance you and Dimitri could come over?
Showing Dimitri the message, Rose texted back an affirmative then rang her mother's cell.
"Rozalia! What's wrong?" Rose never rang her mother while she was at work.
"It's Tasha Ozera, Mom. She's dead. The police found her overdosed. Christian is super upset. Lissa is with him, but she's asked if Dimitri and I could go over to his place. Can you call the school office and give them permission for me to take the rest of the day off? I'm already ahead in all my classes," she reminded Janine.
"Oh, darling. How horrible. Yes, I'll call the school now. Oh, how awful for her parents and Christian... Please pass on our deepest sympathies."
"I will, Mom. Thanks."
Handing her phone to Dimitri, he tried his apartment but there was no one there, so then he tried Mrs. Dodov's apartment. Speaking in Russian, he asked to talk to his grandmother and then explained the situation to her, likewise asking for her to ring the school giving permission for him to leave. They could have both skipped, but so close to graduation neither wanted to risk a black mark.
Taking their bags, the lovers walked to the school office, signing out before catching an Uber to Christian's house. When they got there the front door was open, and there were people everywhere; Christian's aunts and uncles, a few of his cousins and in the center of this maelstrom a shell-shocked Mr. and Mrs. Ozera.
Dimitri and Rose stepped inside, making their way through the throng to the couch where the grieving couple sat, passing on their condolences before heading up to the third floor to Christian's room. Knocking on the closed door, a red-eyed Lissa answered, her relief evident when she saw Dimitri and Rose.
"Come in. We're just hanging out here and letting the news sink in," she said, glancing at Christian tenderly.
Christian was a mess. Sure he'd hated Tasha, but they'd basically been siblings. In fact, with only a few months between them, when Milhaela had taken them out as young kids, many people had assumed they were twins. Christian's grandmother had raised them side-by-side, so they'd done everything together; back to back dental appointments, the same camps as kids, even the same or similar toys each Christmas.
"Hey man, I'm really sorry," Dimitri said going to sit next to Christian on the floor leaning back against his bed.
"Thanks," Christian said not even trying to disguise the fact he was crying. "You know – the last time I saw her, she was saying she was trying to turn over a new leaf. We talked. Really talked. She wanted to be a better person... Now she'll never have that chance. She was artistic – did you know that? There are notepads all over her bedroom because she liked to draw. I know when people think about her they only think about one thing, but there was more to her than that."
Dimitri nodded letting him speak.
"She loved animals, too. When we were kids, she wanted to be a Vet. She used to say it was because she was used to dealing with a baboon all the time; me!" Christian smiled wanly, remembering a simpler time.
"I remember that," Rose said consolingly. "She wanted to be a Vet, and you wanted to be a Fireman."
Christian nodded with a sad smile.
"Can you help spread the news?" he asked Dimitri. "I think the funeral is going to be on Monday, but I don't want people there if they're going to be rude or say she got what was coming. Maybe some of the people from St. Vlad's who knew her from when she was younger? I mean, we're her family – we know what she was like, but it might comfort Bunica to see some of her friends from when she was younger?"
Dimitri agreed, taking Christian's cell and carefully drafting a message with Lissa's help, while Rose did likewise on her phone, preparing to send out a message to the girls she and Tasha had gone through elementary school with.
After that, they spent a few hours with Christian until one of his aunts came up and asked him to go to his Bunica. She'd lost one of her 'babies' and wanted comfort from the other.
Janine was particularly affectionate that afternoon. The news about Tasha had shaken her more than she cared to admit. She could remember Tasha as a little girl dressed in a tutu and running around a ballet studio with Rozalia and their other little friends. It was hard to reconcile that image with the reality of a troubled young woman whose life had ended so tragically young.
Rose was sitting with her mother at the kitchen counter eating cookies when Janine announced she thought it was time to tell Abe.
"I rang a motorhome place, and they have a deal where you can hire one for a weekend to sort of try before you buy. I've booked one for the weekend as a surprise for your father. He and I will leave first thing Saturday morning, and I thought we'd drive to an RV park about eight hours away. I'll tell him Saturday night, so he has the evening and Sunday to calm down before we get back and you have to see him."
Rose looked at her mother warily. "How do you think he's going to take it?"
"Not well," Janine admitted. "He'll shout and carry on, but it's just because he loves you. He only wants the best for you. That's all either of us want. He'll be unbearable for a few weeks, but he will come around wee one."
"Thanks, Mom," Rose said tearfully. "I'm sorry for disappointing you."
"You haven't disappointed me darling, but I'm disappointed for you. Motherhood is wonderful, but I'd hoped you'd live more of your own life before experiencing it. But it's not the end of the world, and you'll make it. Your Tata and I will make sure of it."
"You're looking troubled," Yeva said to Dimka in their native tongue later that night. "What is it?"
"Janine is going to tell Roza's father over the weekend," he admitted. "She's going to take him away for the weekend, so he can't see Roza straight away. I don't mind what he says to me, but I'm worried for her. She said he'd take it badly and she's nervous."
"Don't be afraid of the dog who barks; be afraid of the one who is silent and wags its tail," Yeva recited a Russian proverb. "He'll be upset, but he'll calm down. He loves his daughter – anyone can see that."
"I'm going to propose to Roza on Saturday while they're away," Dimitri confided. "I know she's the one, Babushka. I can't offer her much, yet, but I can provide her and the baby the protection of my name. I also thought it might appease her father a little if he knew I am planning to stand by her and take responsibility? He would no doubt be happier with us living together under his roof if we were man and wife or at the very least engaged."
"Are you sure, Dimka? Marriage is a lifelong commitment," his grandmother warned. "It's not something to rush into."
"We're having a baby together, Babushka; we're already bound for life. Besides, I've always known she's the one. I'd planned to ask her; just not for three or four years yet."
"Do you have a ring to offer her?" she asked.
"No. I have a little saved, but it seems irresponsible spending it on a ring when we need to be saving for the baby."
Yeva nodded sagely, walking to the bedroom she shared with her daughter. Rummaging around her dressing table, she pulled out a small velvet pouch, fishing out a worn plain gold band. Coming back out to the living room, she handed it to Dimitri.
"Propose to her with that," she said with an encouraging smile.
"Babushka! That's your wedding ring. You can't give that away!"
"I was very happily married, Dimka, but I've been a widow a long time now. No one looks at my stomach and then checks my finger to judge my honor. Give your Roza the gold band as a symbol of your intention. There'll be plenty of time, later on, to buy her something more elaborate."
"Thank you, Babushka," he said, giving his grandmother a long hug.