"But all I got you was a box of chocolates," Jan said guiltily.
"That is all right," Ilya assured her. "They are very good chocolates. Nice gesture. It is thought that counts. I do not want you to spend money on me, sweet Jan. After all, I have job, two jobs now, really, and you do not."
"You work so hard, Ilya."
"To me, you and baby are worth it."
March arrived, and with it, windy weather.
"It is much warmer here than it is in my country," Ilya told Jan. "In U.S.S.R., snow is still heavy on ground in March."
"I'll bet you had a lot of fun making snowmen and going sledding or on sleigh rides when you were little, didn't you?"
"Ah, yes." He smiled fondly at the memory. "My Mama, she bundle me and my sisters up in warm clothes, and my Papa, he take us outside, and we have snowball fights. When we get too cold, we go back inside, and my Mama give us hot apple cider to drink."
"You must really miss them," Jan said softly.
"Yes, I do." Ilya was quiet.
"Perhaps they could visit sometime," Jan suggested brightly.
"Perhaps." Ilya looked so sad that Jan kissed his cheek, and he brightened immediately.
Several weeks later, Jan was sitting in her second period class taking notes when it happened. She felt a tiny flutter, similar to that of a baby bird's wing, in her abdomen. Oh, my God, my baby! she thought. I can feel its movements now! A thrill of excitement went through her. She couldn't wait to tell Ilya when she met him for lunch.
But he didn't meet her at the usual time and place as expected. She waited a few minutes, then strolled around the cafeteria looking for him, but couldn't find him anywhere. Disappointed, she finally gave up and ate her lunch alone.
After lunch, she went to her afternoon class, then waited in the parking lot for Ilya. Thirty minutes passed. Back and forth she paced, all kinds of frightening thoughts racing through her head. At last, after almost an hour, she saw him in the distance racing toward her. Relief flooded through her body.
"Oh, Jan, I am so sorry!" he panted when he was within hearing range. "My professor, he know that I work on computer, he ask me to fix his. I think that it will not take long, but it take through lunch, couple of hours more. I am very sorry."
"It's OK." Jan gave him a fierce hug. "I'm just glad you're all right. I was so worried!"
While they were embracing, Jan felt the tiny flutter in her abdomen again. "Did you feel that?" she asked Ilya.
"It is baby!" Ilya cried happily. "Oh, Jan, I love you so much!"
"I love you too," Jan replied. "So you didn't even eat lunch yet?"
Ilya chuckled. "It is all right. I will eat something when we get home."
As soon as they were home, Jan headed for the kitchen and began to take sandwich fixings out. "Oh, I'll do that, hon," Alice offered.
"It's OK, Alice," said Jan. "I want to do it. It's for Ilya."
"Oh, I see." Alice winked knowingly.
Jan made Ilya a huge sandwich using everything she could find in the refrigerator that looked delicious. "Ah, Jan, you make me sandwich fit for king!" Ilya exclaimed when he saw it.
"Well, I knew you were really hungry," Jan reasoned.
Ilya ate the sandwich and was still hungry enough for dinner a couple of hours later. After dinner, he and Jan did homework and studied until bedtime.
"I wonder what our baby's going to look like," Jan mused sleepily as she and Ilya cuddled together in bed that night.
"I guess it will look like combination of you and me," Ilya replied.
"But you have brown hair and brown eyes, and I have blonde hair and blue eyes, so we're kind of like opposites," Jan pointed out.
"It does not matter what it will look like. We will still love it just the same." Ilya yawned. "Go to sleep now, sweet Jan."
