Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Alice was a slight woman, there was just over a foot between them. Her eyes were large, a sharp green (not really dark or light), behind gold framed glasses. She was pale, with freckles on the bridge of nose and the longest, tawny blonde, hair he'd ever seen. She always dressed like she meant business, and behaved as such as well. There was an air of authority about the young woman that drew Ivan in like a moth to a flame. Up close she smelled like the sea, like a salty breeze on a warm day, and old books, all must and worn.

They knew each other for a few short weeks. Had just a few nights together, and she was always gone by morning. And then she disappeared. As if she'd never been there, and time passed, just over a year, before he would see her again.

He didn't expect to see her again. She was beautiful, and smart, and he craved her presence, but he never expected to actually see her. And yet, just as easily as she'd disappeared, she was back. Standing on his doorstep, with a bundle of blankets cradled in her arms and a heavy bag at her side. She wasted no time moving into the house once the door was opened, brushing passed Toris like he didn't exist, and making a beeline for Ivan's office.

Once upon a time, Ivan had spread her out on his desk, it had been a particularly interesting evening. Today, however, she barged in, flinging the door open, and lifting her heavy bag to drop it over his papers while he stared at her open mouth. Like he was seeing a ghost. Speechless and pale.

For a long time they just eyed each other, neither moving. Ivan was too startled to think, and Alice held his startled gaze with an almost bored expression on her own face. At the door, Toris stood, peaking around the frame to look at the two of them, confusion on his face. He had not worked for Ivan back when Alice was part of his life, and was a more recent addition to the Braginsky household. But the tension between the two was immense and somewhat frightening.

"Alice..." Ivan finally stood, slow and careful, as if he feared moving too quickly might startle the woman that stood before his desk. She did not budge, and he found himself walking around the desk, one arm reached out, fingers nearly brushing against her cheek. But he didn't make contact, and she did not lean into him.

Instead, the woman turned fully towards him, carefully evading that small contact, and held out the bundle in her arms. Her eyes locked on him, daring him to try and demand something from her. He didn't. He just let his eyes slowly slip down to look at the blankets.

Carefully, Alice pushed back the top of the blanket, to show a small babe, with bright blonde hair, sleeping peacefully in his bundle. He was small, young. All pink skinned and round like a healthy baby should be.

"This is yours." She told Ivan, as if it were the only fact he needed to know. And as far as she was concerned, perhaps it was. "I cannot keep him, and there is no one else I know who can take him."

Alice did have brothers, and a sister, Ivan knew. But she had only mentioned them a few times in passing, and always with a fair amount of disgust or annoyance in her voice. Thinking of his younger sister, Ivan understood how sometimes siblings were not people you turn to for things of this nature. Though to think that no one in Alice's family would care to help her was... baffling to someone like Ivan, who liked to think his family was quite close.

She shoved the baby at him, and he just barely managed to catch it, holding it a bit awkwardly for a moment. Ivan had never held a babe in his arms before- he'd been too young when Natalya was born, and his life did not involve children or babies often. Certainly, no one had ever trusted Ivan much with one. The child in the blankets stirred at the rough movement. His face scrunched up, and Ivan watched closely, felt his shift under the swath of blankets, but not wake.

There was a long silence, before Alice turned on her heel and made for the door, and Ivan reached out to grab at her wrist, carefully shuffling the baby to hold him in one arm, "You cannot just leave like that."

His voice was stern, not pleading, or imploring. It was a stated fact, and one he would not budge on. But she just looked over her shoulder, those green-green eyes locking with his blue-violet ones, and he found his grip loosening. She slipped away from him, like water dribbling through his fingers, and he was left standing there, grasping at air, as her heels clicked against the polished wooden floor.

Alice moved through the house, mostly unopposed.

Toris did try to stop her. Followed her to the front, and stood in her way at the door. He asked her to not leave yet, "Please, I don't know who you are, but you can't just leave a baby with him, Ivan.. he doesn't know anything about children." He said, trying to explain, without verbally saying it, that he truly didn't believe that Ivan was capable of raising a child. Toris has seen the things that his boss could do to people, the way he could break them, scare them, terrify them into submission. The idea that this woman, whoever she was, thought a child would be safe with him... was baffling.

Ivan had similar thoughts.

Alice didn't even pause. She fixed Toris with a stare that seared straight to his soul, and he stumbled away from the door, if only to get the feeling of her eyes off of him; and she left. As if it were nothing of importance.

She walked out the door she'd come in from, and left the Braginsky household without another word. Without a second thought. With a heavy weight on her shoulders, and a determined look on her face.

Author's Note: So, this started out as my really just wanting to write Mafia boss!Ivan as a dad to Alfred. But of course, I'm horrible at keeping things simple, and it shifted a bit. Still the base idea, but there's more going on in the background than the little cute collection of Ivan trying to play dad than I had originally planned on doing. So, we'll see how it goes~ Also, please note that the title is subject to change in the future.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.