Reunited After 25 Years 22: Foot Massage

Andrea was tired when she returned home several hours later laden with packages. She put the packages down in the middle of the living room floor, plopped down on the recliner, put the foot rest up, and closed her eyes.

Anton laughed. "Did shopping wear you out?"

Andrea nodded.

"Would you like a foot massage?"

"Oh, Anton, I'd appreciate that so much!"

He sat on the floor, took her shoes off her feet, and began to rub her feet.

"Oh, that feels so good!" Andrea moaned. "You're an angel, Anton."

"I used to give Nadya foot rubs a lot," Anton told her. "She worked hard all day, came home tired, and I gave her a foot rub."

Andrea swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Does it make you sad when I talk about Nadya?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Andrea said, feeling instantly guilty. The last thing in the world she wanted was to come across as a jealous, insecure control freak.

Anton chuckled indulgently. "It is all right. I understand."

"Does it make you feel sad when I talk about Dennis?"

Anton frowned. "You never tell me much about him. What was he like?"

"He was...very different from you. Dennis was very patriotic, proud to be an American. A lot of guys who went to Vietnam got drafted. Not Dennis. He volunteered. He couldn't wait to...defend freedom and democracy."

"Denny is very much like him, is he not?"

"Actually Denny is a lot like his father. It's funny, because of course he never knew him. I never thought those kinds of things could be inherited, but maybe I was wrong."

"Or maybe he picked it up from school, friends, or other relatives."

"Perhaps you're right." Andrea was thoughtful. "My parents have always been that way as well."

Anton laughed. "What did they think when you fell in love with Russian sailor?"

"They thought I was crazy. They were really happy when I met Dennis."

"Yet they are always so nice to me and Dasha when we visit."

"I think it made a real difference that you told my dad about your father being at Stalingrad."

Andrea didn't even realize that she'd fallen asleep in the recliner until the sound of laughter awakened her. She opened her eyes to see that Denny and Darya had arrived and that Anton had covered her with a quilt.

"Oh my God, I need to hide the presents!" she exclaimed.

"I put them in the closet already," Anton told her.

"What would I ever do without you?" asked Andrea.

Anton laughed.

Later, Denny and Darya went into Denny's bedroom, and Andrea and Anton went to Anton's house, as was their usual arrangement.

The weekend before Christmas, Andrea stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few things, and on the way out, she saw a mother with two children standing beside a big box with the words 'free kittens' written on the side. Curious, she walked over and looked into the box. There were three kittens left, a black one, a white one, and an orange one.

"Why, this one looks just like Sasha!" she exclaimed, picking up the orange one.

"So you already have a cat?" the woman asked her.

"No. Sasha was a friend's cat, but it died."

"I'm so sorry," the woman said.

"My friend was devastated," Andrea told her. She petted the orange kitten, and it purred and leaned into her hand.

"You are adorable," she told it. "I'll take this one," she told the woman, who smiled.

Andrea quickly took the groceries home, then took the kitten to Anton's house. "Andrea!" he exclaimed happily. "Come on in. It is lovely to see you, as always. I made borscht, and you are just in time to help me eat it."

"Borscht?"

"Beetroot soup. It's very nice on a cold day."

"I've never had that before."

"Well, today you shall have it." Anton noticed the kitten for the first time. "Ah! Do you have new friend?"

"Someone was giving them away outside the supermarket. This one was so adorable I just couldn't pass it up." She handed the kitten to Anton, who held it carefully in both hands.

"You are a tiny one," he said to it. "Hardly big enough to leave your mother."

"I know how lonely you've been since...well, since..."

Anton grinned. "I will have to call you Malinka," he told the kitten.

"Does that mean tiny?"

"Malenkaya means 'little one.'"

"But what if it grows up to be a big, fat cat?"

"I will have to change the name, then." Anton laughed, and Andrea joined in.