Saturday came along with no word from Ivan. I know he said he would call me on the weekend but Friday counts as the weekend right?

"I'll just text him," I muttered to myself, grabbing my cell phone from the coffee table. "What should I say?"

Deciding to keep it simple and not sounding like I was desperately waiting for his call, I typed in "Hey, dude. Plans today?"

It didn't take long for his reply, the phone buzzing loudly in my pocket as I poured myself a glass of coke. I put the bottle down, flipping the phone open to his text. "Nothing exciting. Going to the grocery store. Want to come along?"

He was right; that didn't seem exciting at all. But what else could we do? He probably wouldn't want to be away from Natalya for too long. At least it was spending time with him. So I replied with "Sure. I'll leave now. Meet you at your hotel."

There was no reply from him but my guess was he was waiting for me to arrive. I brought my car, not sure if he would have multiple bags to carry. The drive only took fifteen minutes, knocking on his room door in twenty.

Toris was the one to open the door with a warm smile. "Ah good morning, Alfred. Come on in." He held the door open, closing it behind me.

I spotted Ivan on the couch with Natalya buried in his chest. "Once she's asleep, we can go," he whispered to me, rocking her gently.

For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence as we stood around, watching him cradle his little sister. Her heavy breathing and tiny snores broke the silence as she held onto her brother. Ivan picked her up, bringing her to bed and tucking her in. He motioned for me to come out into the hallway with him, quietly closing the door behind him. It wasn't until we got to the elevator before he spoke. "Poor girl isn't doing so well today."

I just nodded in agreement. I hadn't seen her face since she was buried in Ivan's chest but the last two times I saw her it was clear she was sick. Guess I won't be getting much time with him unless she gets better.

We walked out of the hotel's front door as he spotted my dark blue car parked out front. He turned and looked at me in confusion. "You brought your car?"

"I wasn't sure if you would have multiple bags to carry," I shrugged, unlocking the door for him.

"I'm not really sure," he sighed, getting into the passenger seat. "There isn't much we can cook in the room. All we have is a mini fridge and a microwave."

"That's easy, bro. We have tons of microwave ready foods here," I chuckled, sounding like the heroic answer to his problem.

"I suppose so," he rolled his eyes, putting on his seat belt. "I'd rather not feed Natalya something that would make her sicker."

"Whatever, dude!"

We both laughed, taking the quick drive to the grocery store. Once we parked, he got out and stretched while I grabbed a cart. He had a soft smile on his face as we walked down the store's first aisle.

"You seem in a fairly good mood today," I observed out loud, pointlessly looking at the meat. He won't be able to cook any of that without an oven or stove.

"As much as I love Natalya, it's nice to be out," he mused, walking next to me. "Poor baby can't do much right now."

"We'll have to get her some microwavable soups here then," I told him. He nodded in agreement, looking at some frozen meals on the other side of the aisle. "These are good." I tapped on the window to where the frozen Hungry-Man dinners where.

He grabbed one, looking at the back of it with a look of disgust. "These are horrible for you!"

"Isn't all the best food horrible for you?" I couldn't think of something that wasn't.

"Maybe in your world," he sighed, putting it back and freezer. "These would be better."

He grabbed some diet frozen meals; the kind women take to work when they want to lose wait.

"Dude, those are for girls."

"Do I not have a girl to feed?" He elbowed my side before heading into the next aisle. "Ice cream, frozen treats…these are pointless right now." He shrugged, going to the next aisle again.

"Crackers, snacks and cookies. Any of this?" I asked him, looking at some cookies.

"Soda crackers for Natalya for sure. Pick out some cookies for me?"

I looked at the boxes but I didn't know what kind was best for the three of them. Oreos are my favourite but chocolate chip was a safer choice. And what about Fudgee-O's? Who doesn't love Fudgee-O's? I went with Oreos, putting a box in the cart.

"Oh! Oreos are my favourite," Ivan mused, smiling this sweet smile that made my heart melt.

"Yeah. Mine too."

We went around the corner to the international foods aisle. There wasn't much here so we skipped through this one. The breakfast-cereal was next.

"Do you need any cereal?"

"I'm not sure. I know Natalya doesn't like cereal but I'm not sure on Toris," he sighed, looking puzzled at all the boxes.

"Maybe pick up a box anyway." I went over to the more fibre oriented section. "These ones are healthy. Those are sugary and delicious." I pointed over to the other boxes.

"What kind do you like?" He asked me, reading labels on several boxes.

"To be honest, I've tired of those cereals. They all taste the same." I went over, grabbing a box of Honey Oates. "I like quite like this one."

He looked at me in amazement; probably expecting me to pick the most unhealthy cereal. But then he just shrugged and added it to the cart. "I'll try them then." Smiling, he went to next aisle, looking at the soups.

"Those ones are microwavable," I told him, picking up some different options. He went through, picking up kinds Natalya would like. "Hopefully they will make her feel better."

"Honestly, I don't know what would make her better," he sighed but his smile never faded.

The trip really didn't take long. We had only been gone for half hour at this point. Two stops left: Bakery and junk food aisle.

At the bakery, we spotted some fancily decorated cakes and cupcakes. Ivan's eyes softened sweetly as he picked up one decorated one like a sunflower. "I should get this for Nata to make her feel better. She loves cupcakes."

He started to look a little more down then before. I guess as much as he liked being out, he was worrying about his little sister.

"We're almost done," I mentioned, hoping to cheer him up again. He shrugged heading into the best aisle; chips and chocolate.

"Barbeque is good," I pointed to a bag with a campfire on it. "Grab them and some other kinds to last for a while."

I did as he asked, turning to him on the other side of the aisle. He was looking at chocolate, picking out a lot of different kinds. "Natalya loves sweets," he told me, just randomly picking things.

A cheery song started playing from Ivan's pocket. "Uh oh."

"What?"

"It's Liet. That could be bad."

"Hello?" Ivan spoke into the phone, leaning against the shelf and accidentally hit speakerphone button

"Ivan, I don't want to do!" Toris' panicked voice called out from the phone. You could hear what sounded like crying in the background.

"What's wrong?" Ivan asked him, instant worry showing on his face.

"Natalya woke up and just started crying. I tried everything! She won't calm down!"

Toris sounded very stressed and desperate for help.

"Give her the phone," Ivan told him, looking so worried and tired himself. There was a pause, indicating that she had the phone now. "What's the matter baby?"

"Where are you braht? Will you be back soon?" Natalya sobbed loudly into the phone.

"sh…baby…I'm on my way back. I just went to get some food."

"Okay," she whined.

"Go lay with Toris and hold the phone," he instructed her. She did as she was told, telling him so. "Good girl…" he paused for a moment before he started singing a lullaby in what sounded like Russian. I never knew he could sing nor have I ever heard him sing for real. He had a deep voice yet it sounded light and airy. More than anything it was beautiful. I didn't know the words; allowing me to focus more on his voice. I learned something new about him today and I loved it.

There was no more sounds coming from the phone; safe to assume that Natalya had stopped crying. A few moments later, Torus' quiet whisper came though. "That put her to sleep. See you soon." He hung up quickly, probably hoping not to wake her again.

"I hope you do not mind, I need to hurry back," he sighed, taking the cart to the registers and unloading the cart. "You're welcome hang around the room though she may need me a lot."

I wasn't about to pass up this opportunity up. "Sure. Why not?"

He smiled again, grabbing some of the bags and leaving me with the heavy ones. I called him lazy but he just said "You're the hero aren't you?"

He didn't say much on the ride home, just watching the window. Twenty minutes later, we were back at his room. The sound of the bags hitting the counter woke Natalya from her nap. As soon she saw him, she burst into tears and through herself in his arms. "Come on, sweetheart." He scooped her up and carried her to bed, shutting the door behind him.


I guess I am picturing this hotel room more like an apartment, so we'll just say the bedroom is sectioned off for now. This chapter got too long so I had to break it up. The more romantic stuff is in the next chapter.