Ready or not!

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TorTracyn

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1927. Dimitri Zaitzev had had a long night. His girlfriend of about 5 months had her baby late in the evening. He had been right by her side with the doctor in the bed they shared, and her father was in the living room where he had slept that night. Rebeca gave birth to a handsome and healthy baby boy there at home and while Dimitri wasn't the boy's biological father, he was more a part of the child's life than the biological father was or ever would be. Dimitri was happy to claim the son as his own. He loved Rebeca more than he had ever thought he could love a woman and he was thrilled beyond belief when she told him what she wanted to name the child. Michael William Dimitriovich Zaitzev.

It was a little later in the morning than he thought it would be when he finally picked up the phone to call his parents.

Nikolai Zaitsev looked up when one of the maids came into the dining room where the family usually ate their breakfast. The phone? So early in the morning? He shrugged and excused himself from his family and walked over to the phone. "Hello?"
"It's Dimitri." The young man said in Russian. "I uh...Rebeca had the baby last night." He couldn't keep the smile out of his voice no matter how hard he tried.

"She did? How did it go? Is she alright? Is the baby alright?"

He laughed. "Everything's fine. It's a boy and we'd really like it if you guys came over. Her father's here, and Pete might stop by later, but we want you to meet him..."

"Him? It's a boy?" The older man laughed happily. "Wonderful! We're in the middle of breakfast, but we'll be over in...an hour and a half?"

"Well, we'll be here." He laughed. "It isn't like we can just jump up and run off anywhere."

"Wonderful. Wonderful. I am so happy for the both of you. Get some rest. We will be over soon."

The pair hung up and Nikolai walked back into the kitchen, grinning broadly at his family. "Rebeca had the baby last night. They're both fine and they want us to come over and meet him." He looked at his wife, pride in his eyes. He was a grandfather now apparently. It was weird, but wonderful.
 
Dina blinked at him for a minute, then nodded, looking back down to where her own babies were enjoying their breakfast. The twins were a bit over six months and had just enjoyed a bit of banana in milky porridge before breastfeeding. Stasja was slowing down, her eyes drooping as her pulls grew a bit more sporadic. Sacha, however, was still feeding hungrily. She smirked at her little monster.

"We can go as soon as the twins go down for their naps, and I clean up. How did Dimitri sound?" she wondered. Her thoughts always went to her son first. She didn't admit to anyone, except the priest, that she never stopped feeling guilt over her eldest. When he left home so suddenly, she couldn't help but think that she had failed him in some way. Maybe this girl could do for him what Dina couldn't: make him happy. But even in that wish were even more conflicted emotions. All that mixed together, she was a bit ambivalent about meeting her first grandchild. Of a sort. Dina sighed quietly.
 
"He sounds tired, but happy. She had the child late last night, so I don't think they got much sleep." He leaned down to kiss his wife's head. He rubbed her shoulders gently and looked down at the twins. "Are we going to bring them with us or leave them here?"

"And what about your other children?" Milly asked, looking up from her breakfast. She smiled brightly. "I want to go see the new baby."

"Me too." Ivan said, putting his fork down. "It would be good practice for me, too, if I drove..." the young man said. He was learning to drive now and was jumping on any opportunity to get behind the wheel.

"Eh, this is up to your mother." Nikolai said, looking at his older children. "She knows best how many people a brand new mother wants around them." He chuckled and looked at Dina. "Of course, with Dimitri, you had the whole family around the next day!"
 
Dina leaned into his paws as he rubbed her shoulders. "I know you both want to see her and the baby, but understand that she'll be very tired. We don't want to overwhelm her..." She thought about it as she unlatched a dozy little girl from one breast. "If we go, I don't want to stay too long and impose, but I'm sure Dimitri would like to see you both. We should take them some food. I know they'll be too tired to cook..."

Dina pointedly did not respond to Nikolai's comment about Dimitri's birth. It almost made her want to cry with homesickness. She did miss her family back in Russia. Firming up her mouth, she nodded and called to one of the girls, who bustled in quickly. She issued orders for which dishes in the fridge were to be set into the oven to warm and prepared to be packed up to go with them in one hour.
 
"So it will just be the two of you going?" Millya asked with a pout.

"Don't pout, Millya. Your face will get stuck like that." He chuckled softly. "We will give them a couple of days, then you can see the new baby. But they are both tired right now. Remember when the twins were born, Millya? Or when Millya was born, Ivan? How tired your mother was?"

Ivan nodded. "Da. I remember." He looked at his mom and smiled. "We can wait. Are you leaving the twins with us, then?" he asked, looking at the sleepy pair in their mother's arms.
 
"Hm. Da, if you would like to look over them. If they are not too tired, we will take you tomorrow, or the day after. We will see when we go," she said, wincing slightly as Sacha began to lose interest and just chewed on her idly. However, when she tried to dislodge him, he resumed sucking harder. She sighed loudly this time, rolling her eyes. She handed her sleepy daughter off to her husband to hold onto while she endured.
 
"I don't mind taking care of them." Millya said happily. She stood up and started helping to clear the table.

Ivan nodded and got up to start helping his sister.

Nikolai took his daughter and cradled her in his arms. He smiled down at her and gently brushed his fingers over her hair and her little ears. Both of his children were so precious, and he hoped his son was feeling the same way. If he was going to be a part of a girl's life, and say that he loved her more than anything, then he better love her child as well or it wouldn't work. And it would be disrespecting the girl! When his older kids were out of the room, he looked down at Dina again. "I am eager to see how they are doing. And eager to have a talk with Dimitri..."
 
Dina nodded, sighing with relief when Sacha's eyes started to droop. By the time the food was ready and packed up, she had put the twins down for their morning nap. She was sure they'd be back by the time they were hungry again. Quickly changing into clothes more appropriate for visiting, Dina allowed Niko to help her into the car just as she finished pinning her hat into place.

"I must admit, Niko. It is very odd to think of myself as Babushka. If I am fully honest, I have very mixed feelings. And not all of them are good..." She gazed out the window, avoiding his eyes even as she rested her paw on his arm for her own reassurance.
 
"You just had children only a few months ago." Nikolai said, glancing at his wife as he drove. "It is strange knowing they have a nephew younger than they are." He looked back at the road, driving safely as he always did. "Dimitri is so young, but look at what he has done for himself." He nodded. "We did better with him than my parents did with me, and that is all I had ever hoped for him."

Dimitri checked the clock. His parents would be there relatively soon. He picked himself up off the couch and walked over to check on Rebeca and the baby, smiling. "My parents should be here soon. I guess they get to meet your father at the same time as Michael." He leaned in to kiss Rebeca's forehead. "Do you want me to put some tea on? Or coffee? Or anything?"
 
Rebeca looked up at him a little sleepily from their son's face. She smiled at him a little guilty. "I could tell him to go too, if you rather?I doubt he'd take offense if I did. But perhaps having the baby as a distraction might help?"

The girl shrugged some before shifting and offering the bundle of baby to Dimitri. "Lemme go get a bit more put together..." She looked down at her worn, clean dress and shrugged again. She was fine for just having given birth the night before. "Well at least brush my hair again. That shower ruffled it some."
 
"It's not that..." she confessed, looking down at her lap as a frown twitched at the corners of her mouth. "It's just that...Oh Niko, I just hope he'll finally be happy. I can't help but feel guilty that he never seemed happy, or content, while he lived at home. Not for long, anyway. I just...I hope Rebeca and this baby will make him happy, but I can't help but wish that I could have made him happy. I feel as if I failed him somehow..." Dina's voice was thick, but she valiantly held back her tears.
 
Dimitri happily took the baby and nodded. "Yeah, of course." He helped her up out of the chair, cradling Michael in one arm while he did. Once she was up, he put both arms back around the baby and looked down at him. "...You just passed him off to me so you didn't have to change him, didn't you? Holy hell this thing smells..." he walked over to the changing table and started working on cleaning the boy up. "I don't mind if your dad is here. Maybe it would be good for him to meet my parents? I mean, we're all sort of family, da?"

Nikolai sighed. "Dina, he was a troubled boy. He took after his father too much. We always knew that. You did for him everything you could. We both did. He built himself an empire as a teenager just like I did and with business comes stress. I think he is happy with this girl. He visits home more often, he calls more often..." He glanced at her again. "Please don't blame yourself, Dina...you are a wonderful mother."
 
She gave him a wickedly teasing grin. "I promise that wasn't the only reason," she laughed as she padded over to her vanity and grabbed her brush to start getting her waves under control before his parents got there.

"It might be," she went on. "And he is good at keeping to the background too, so it won't be too invasive with your folks. I will tell him to not drink too much in front of them though. Or do you think not at all?"
 
Dina took a shaky breath and nodded, but said nothing more. "I just wish, I could have been stronger for him...back then..." Dimitri's childhood hadn't been unpleasant for him only. How could you explain to your children why there was no food to be had, or if their father and uncle would ever come home again. She sighed heavily and wiped away some wetness from her eyes. "I hope that his son will have a strong mother, as well as a father who loves him..."
 
"Ah, yeah. Maybe him not drinking while they're here is a good idea. They probably won't be here too long. Mom knows what it's like to have a kid. Or should by now, she's had five of us." He laughed. "So I'm sure she'll insist on not being here too long and you getting your rest....god, this kid's shit stinks..."

It finally clicked as to what Dina was saying. "Ah." He looked over at his wife and pulled her close, putting his arm around her. "I'm sure the boy will have that much. There shouldn't be a war to get in the way, and...I wish you could have heard how happy he sounded on the phone." he said with a smile. "He sounds so happy."
 
"It's only going to get worse," she chuckled, padding over to him after tying her hair back in a loose tail. "But it will get better in between. Give it a few days." She stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Lemme go talk to my old man about the drinks. And I'll put the pot on for some coffee too."
 
Dina's smile strengthened a bit, and she closed her eyes as she leaned in against her husband. "That's good to know..." she agreed. "I suppose, I just need time to get used to the idea of having a grandchild so soon after having children of my own..." She was quiet then, just enjoying the quiet of the ride until they reached the house. She didn't get much time for quiet, or much time with only her husband these days, even in the bedroom as the twins still occasionally slept in their room when they woke during the night, wanting to be fed.

When Nikolai turned off the car, she pulled his face close and shared a tender kiss with him. Only part of the reason was to stall before they went in.
 
Dimitri chuckled. "Yeah, alright." he said, finishing up with the diaper while Rebeca went to talk with her father. When he was done, he wrapped the little boy back up and cradled him in his arms. He took a moment to stand there, just him and the baby, and really get a good look at him and just share a moment with the boy. Or take a moment to let more things process in his own head. It was the start of a new life for him. He was a father, now, and he had made a promise to the child and to Rebeca. He was going to be the kind of father to the boy that his father was to him because in his eyes, there was no better a man to aspire to be. He sniffed a little and wiped his eyes, sighing softly. Heh...it probably wasn't going to be the first time that kid made him cry...

Nikolai accepted the kiss happily, pulling his wife into his lap momentarily to continue the nice moment they had together. "You and I should go out to dinner, I think. You and me." he slid her out of his lap so he could open the door and get out. He held a hand out to help his wife out of the car and smiled. "Maybe tonight if you aren't too tired. Millya and Ivan can watch the twins and you and I can have a quiet dinner together."
 
"Well, maybe after the twins go down for the night..." she suggested, compromising. She didn't want to leave, thinking they might need her. Taking his paw tightly, she looked up at the door nervously before straightening her spine and putting on what she hoped was a confident, but still polite, smile. "We can talk about that later. Let's go see our...new grandson..."
 
She was finishing up talking in a low conversation with her father in the kitchen, getting the pot going for some coffee and trying to decide if she should have something to offer in way of food. But she figured that his mother would understand and forgive them for it.

"I could leave too," he offered, blowing smoke ffrom his cigarette at the ceiling. "I don't want to crowd you guys too much anyways."

"You're not crowding,"she insited. "We need a little bit of help settling in. I'd prefer if it was Mom, but that can't be. So having you here is nice for me. And I'm sure Dimitri doesn't hate it either."

Will looked a little unconvinced, but just nodded. "Well I still think I'd rather stay in here for most of their visit if you don't mind."

"Whatever makes you happy," she chuckled, waving him off some before she went to see how Dimitri was faring with the baby.
 
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