4. "Wash your hands, then hug me."
"Daddy's home!" Maria exclaimed, sprinting from the kitchen to the front door where her father was standing.
A smile rose to Dmitry's face as he saw his children running towards him. He bent down to envelop both into his arms. Despite a tiring day at work, Maria and Ivan instantly raised his spirits. He kissed his six-year-old and three-year-old on their heads.
"What have you guys been up to?"
"Me, Mommy, and Ivan—we made brownies!" Maria excitedly exclaimed, jumping up and down, "come and see, Daddy!"
He waited a second before following Maria to his family's delicious creation. Ivan was lightly tugging his pant leg and he noticed a mess of batter on his son's hands. Realization hitting him, Dmitry inspected his clothing to find small traces of flour and chocolate on his shirt and pants. Deciding not to worry about it now, he looked down at Ivan. The younger boy lifted his arms up and began to repeat, "up, up" until Dmitry complied with his wishes. Dmitry took a breath and leaned down to pick up Ivan, careful not to get more food on himself.
Walking into the kitchen, he immediately saw Anya and Maria hunched over at the counter. As he inched closer, his ears filled with music as he heard his wife's laughter. Anya leaned back holding her stomach, laughing at something Maria just said. Dmitry noted that Anya was wearing black leggings and an old tee shirt of his. The shirt was filled with splatters of brownie batter and a bit of flour dusted her face. Despite this, she still looked beautiful to him.
As Dmitry set Ivan down, Anya turned and noticed their presence.
"Dmitry, you're home!" Anya nearly ran toward him, opening her arms for a hug.
Sticking out his hand to halt her, he said seriously, "Wash your hands, then hug me. The kids already got batter on me."
Anya just rolled her eyes, before she raised her hand and swiped some batter on his cheek.
"Hey! Anya!" Dmitry stepped back to prevent another attack. This caused Anya to smile and giggle lightly. Dmitry decided that if Anya wanted to play this game, he would play it too. So he walked over to the counter and stuck his finger in the batter, placing a dollop of it onto Anya's nose.
"Now it's war," Anya proclaimed before taking an egg and cracking it on top of Dmitry's head. Dmitry simply narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips together. Despite how annoyed he was, it was enjoyable to see Anya nearly in tears from laughing. Before she could get away, he scooped her in his arms and spun her around. Then he tickled her with kisses on her neck. With her guard down, he took the remaining bit of flour in the bowl and dumped it on her head. At that point, all four were laughing with tears in their eyes. They must've looked ridiculous, but they couldn't have cared less.
Ding!
The oven timer went off and Anya composed herself enough to take out the brownies. The Sudayev family ate their brownies at the kitchen counter, not caring about how messy they all looked.