'Your belly has just popped.' Dimitri says as I meet him at the front door. He has been away for three full weeks to finish everything at the university. And I can't remember if I ever had to miss him for three whole weeks. But I missed him so much.
'What is it with you and calling your pregnant wife fat.' I say and put my hands on my hips. A smile on my lips as he shakes his head and takes another step towards me. He places his hands over mine and bends down to give me a quick peck on the lips.
'I love seeing my wife pregnant of my children.' he says and kisses me more passionate.
'You have a huge problem comrade.' I say laughing. I move myself out of his embrace and get my jacket and purse. Dimitri laughs at my comment.
'Are you ready?' he asks me and I nod. We walk towards the car and he sits behind the wheel. And in a reflex the moment we are on the road he reach out his hand and I clamp it between mine. Something we have always done while driving.
'I can't believe they took a flight together.' I say with a chuckle. Still can't believe it. Today we will be picking up Abe and Olena. First we had wanted to have a surprise party and then announce that we are having another child. But being pregnant with triplets it became too hard to hide my belly.
I'm coming closer and closer towards those four months and the belly that I have isn't easy to hide. So in the end we just decided to tell them. And after we had told them the news we would invite them over here. Since they are both retired they will be staying the whole summer here.
They both reacted the same way. They are both loving grandparents and were very excited to have a small baby in the family again. For Abe it had been the longest since he had to hold a baby. I have always been his only child so after the birth of Tamara and Anthony he hadn't had a new baby in his family.
But for Olena it had only been four years. Viktoria had at the age of thirty-three been pregnant of the latest child in the family. But Olena reacted like Abe. You would think that after having fourteen grandchildren she would have enough. But there she was on the phone, even wishing that we would have multiple babies. Something we hadn't told them yet.
Abe was so excited that he had dropped the phone three times. He was becoming old at the age of sixty-eight. The moment we had told him that he was going to be a grandfather again he wanted to jump right on the plane to come see us.
But we convinced him to wait a little longer and come around the same time as Olena. That way I wasn't stuck in one house with my father and my mother in law. I needed Dimitri when it came to these two.
Olena had turned seventy-five this year but you wouldn't give her that age. Yes her hair had turned completely grey and she has more and more lines appearing on her face. And even when she walked a lot slower than years ago when we first met, she was still full energy.
Even when Abe had retired a couple years ago he was still working on a couple of things. And sometimes he had to go to Russia for his work. Dimitri and I both knew that every time he would go to Russia he would visit Olena.
Not in a romantic way or anything. They would just talk and drink coffee together. Things like that. They wouldn't admit it to us. But Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria told us about it when it first happened, fifteen years ago.
And now fifteen years later Abe had received the position of grandfather to the children of Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria. The old man loved that and you could see it when you looked at him. But when we had called with the news and he didn't came to America right away, he went to Russia.
And now they stepped into that plane together so they could talk a little more. I even think they set up a couple of bets on what gender the child would be. And on how many children there are in my belly.
'Well, that way we only need to go to the airport once.' He says with a smile. I know that he is happy to see his mother. The big bad Russian is a true mother's boy. And even after forty-five years that hasn't changed a single bit.
'We should visit Russia sometimes. We haven't seen your sisters in forever.' I say and sigh loudly. In the years that we are married I have become really close to his sisters. Especially Viktoria. But since she has a four year old and we have been busy here we haven't seen each other for years now. And even when we talk on skype it isn't the same.
'That won't be happening soon.' He says and looks for a small moment towards my belly. I let out a sigh and lay my hand on my expanding abdomen. I have so many mixed feelings about this pregnancy it is weird.
'Are you not enjoying this pregnancy Roza?' he asks with his brows furrowed in worry. I lay my head against the headrest and give him a small smile.
'I am. I am. But it seems so much harder this time. I have worked so hard since that last pregnancy and I never thought that I had to give it up again.' I say and feel the tears in my eyes. Stupid, stupid hormones they make me cry about every single thing.
'Are you scared?' he asks me and squeezes my hand. I shake my head and he raises one eyebrow up. Still wishing I could do that.
'I am terrified.' I admit to him. In all those years I have worked so hard to finally get my degree and find work. And now that I am pregnant again and even pregnant of triplets, I have no other choice than to quit working. I never thought about myself as a stay home mom.
'Don't be terrified milaya. I am right by your side and we will figure it all out.' he says. I can see and feel at the way he acts that he wants to wrap his arms around me. And I wish he could wrap his arms around me in this moment.
We talk a little more in the ride towards the airport but we are both ignoring the more important subject. Not that we don't want to talk about it. But I don't want to have my eyes red rimmed when we are seeing our parents. And I know that he wants to be able to hold me if that is necessary.
He parks the car and we step out. I pull him towards me before we walk inside. My hand in his neck and I draw his mouth to mine. His arms wrap around me and I fist my other hand in his shirt. We kiss a sweet passionate kiss for a while until he pulls back.
'I have missed you these three weeks Dimitri.' I tell him when I remember that we haven't taken the time to talk about it.
'I have missed you too my Roza.' He says and bends down for another kiss. We pull back at the same time and start walking. We are holding hands and I bump into him once in a while.
'Are you going to tell me all about your weeks without me?' I ask him with a smile. He looks down and gives me one of his full smiles.
'I am going to tell you every single detail if you want.' He answers. And I know that he will do that if I want to hear it. I want to hear every single detail that he want to tell me. So I know that when we go to bed tonight that he will collect me in his arms and will tell me everything.
'But I am going to tell you everything under one condition.' He says with a cheeky grin. We have arrived at the gate where our parents will arrive.
'What condition?' I ask him. Already knowing what condition he is talking about.
'That I am allowed to make sweet love to you.' He says and bends down a little to give a quick peck on my lips. Before I can answer him I hear a loud groan and we both look up. Our parents are standing a couple of feet away from us but in earshot.
'You know I don't want to hear that.' Abe says. He looks mostly mortified. Even after twenty years of marriage and four children he doesn't want to think that his daughter is having sex. Olena stands next to him, her cheeks a little red and her eyes on the ground.
'Old man.' I say and pull him in a hug. He wraps his arms around me tightly and he tell me how much he missed me and how much he loves me. I tell him the same thing as new tears are forming in my eyes.
After Abe and I let go of each other we switch and then Olena and I have our arms wrapped around each other. And it doesn't matter that she isn't my real mother, it feels like she is. She tells me how much she misses me and how much she loves me as I do the same.
Dimitri picks up the two suitcases and carried them towards the car. Abe wanted to protest but after a little staring competition I hooked my arm in his and pulled him towards the car. He keeps asking me questions about the pregnancy and I keep answering them. Hearing Olena and Dimitri talking behind me in Russian.
Saying that they were a little bit shocked to hear that we were expecting triplets isn't covering their reaction. They sat there for a couple minutes just staring before they could react. But in the end they liked the idea of getting three new grandchildren.
And we ate together, just the four of us. After dinner we sat outside for hours and talked a lot before we decided to go to bed. It had been a long day. For Dimitri but even for Abe and Olena. Flying from Russia towards America was a long flight.
In our house we have don't have any spare rooms so we made the beds in the children rooms for them. And when the children arrive home this weekend we will make new arrangements who is sleeping where. That will be interesting.
And when the weekend is over we will have a full house. All our four children will be coming home for the entire summer. So we have four children, ourselves and our parents. And we haven't heard if they are bringing friends over.
They have done that before. And how much I love it when they are bringing friends home it wouldn't be very practical this summer. But if the house is going to be too full they just have to sleep in a tent in the garden.
But right now I am lying in our big bed with the love of my life. He is sitting against the headboard and I am sitting between his legs. My head is resting against his chest and four hands are resting against my stomach. I have pulled my sleeping shirt up so we can touch the bare skin.
For the last half hour we have told each other what we have been doing in the last three weeks and it feels good to have him with me again. To be able to touch him and see him when I talk with him. And even when we talked every day. Talking like this is so much better.
'I can't even tell you how much I have missed you.' He says as he is giving me small kisses in my neck and on my shoulders. I tilt my head to one side so he has better access.
'Don't ever spend so much time without me again.' I say and I feel him nod. After that we spent some time showing each other how much we love each other before we fall asleep. His strong, big arms wrapped around my body and my head resting on his chest.