Title: Vodka & Orange Juice
Summary: AU. A delicious end to their complicated story. Red/Gloria. One-Shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own OITNB or any of its characters. They belong to Jenji Kohen, I do, however, own my writing so please don't steal- Johanna002©
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A/N: Happy Birthday to the most amazing, most smart, most beautiful human being that I have ever met, VeraRose19. I love you so, so, so incredibly much. I hope you have a wonderful & magical birthday! XOX.
-01-
"But Mommy, please," three-year-old Nicky begged as she leaned heavily against her mother's leg. "Please, mommy, please can we stay up? Pretty, pretty please?"
"No," Galina told her breathlessly as she tried to put the key into the keyhole. Her arms were full of grocery bags and the kids' backpacks, and even though the circulation in her forearms was becoming restricted, she refused to make another trip out to the car.
Finally succeeding in getting the door unlocked, she motioned with her head for her children to walk in ahead of her.
"Ow! Mommy! Yuri pushed me!" Nicky tattled obnoxiously as she pushed her other brother back forcefully.
It was the sound of laughter behind her that kept Galina from losing it entirely on her children. "You have company," she reminded herself, as she bit down hard on her lip to keep from screaming.
"Move, move," Galina ordered her children as she tried to walk past them. "Yuri, Maxsim what is the matter with you?" she asked them, kicking their boots to the side. "Since when do you stop in the doorway when other people are coming in behind you?" she wasn't anticipating an answer. "Nicky, stop tattling on your brothers. You've been whiny all day today and I'm tired of listening to it. I want all of you to brush your teeth and be ready for bed in the next five minutes."
"I don't want to," Nicky pouted, stomping her feet on the ground and pulling up the fabric of her skirt.
"I don't care what you want," Galina told her as she deposited the bags on to the kitchen table. "Don't argue with me, please. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. Now, all of you," she motioned between her three children, "do as I asked. Brush your teeth and get ready for bed."
Finger pointed in the direction of the bathroom; Galina kept her expression fixed as she watched three of her four creations march in a single line. The tap water running and their little voices arguing over who got to stand in the center of the mirror, she shook her head and rubbed her hands tiredly over her face.
At that moment, her youngest, just barely a year old began to cry.
Turning her head in the direction of the sound, she was met with Gloria's warm brown eyes and teasing smile. "He doesn't think the rules apply to him yet," she explained as she rocked her friend's baby back and forth.
"Well he's in for a rude awakening," Galina teased. She walked the few steps toward her son and playfully tickled his back before kissing the side of his head. "I just told your brothers and sister I didn't want to hear any whining, and that goes for you too."
"Ohhh," Gloria gasped, looking down at baby Vasily, where his head was buried in the crook of her neck. "Are you in trouble now, too? No," she sang, squeezing him tightly. "You're just a tiny baby, you don't do anything wrong, huh?"
"Ha," Galina scoffed, turning back to unpack the groceries they had just bought. Stacking the items into categories, so that she could easily put them away into the fridge and cabinets, she shook her head in exhaustion and let out a loud yawn.
"I'm sorry today was so chaotic," she apologized to Gloria. "I wish I could say it wasn't like this every day, but surprisingly this was a better day than most. I'm usually on my own with them."
Gloria smiled at her. "It wasn't that bad," she told her honestly. She didn't point out the fact that Galina had been doing this on her own for many years already.
"They're awful," Galina told her seriously. "They don't listen to anything that I say. They think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. I get so sick of it, and sick of being ignored. I hate yelling at them, but my god. I don't know what else to do."
"Kids can be very annoying sometimes," Gloria tried to empathize with her. "Not mine, though, because they're angels." She planted a loud, wet kiss to Vasily's cheek.
"You don't even have kids," Galina laughed, swatting at her with the new duster she had just bought.
"That's why they're angels," Gloria joked. "But honestly, Galina," she pulled a chair from the table and lowered herself into it, settling the baby onto her lap and bouncing her leg up and down to keep him occupied. "You don't need to apologize."
"I just don't want to scare you off."
"I like it when you get loud and feisty," Gloria winked at her. "It's my favorite version of you, you know."
"You're such a liar," Galina rolled her eyes, but a huge grin was pulled across her lips.
Gloria laughed as she tickled the baby's side. "I'm not," she promised. "In my head, I'm like 'OMG. Look at her!' and then I feel hearts dilating in my pupils and my heart just skips a beat watching you."
"After I put the kids to bed do you want to have a drink with me?" Galina asked her friend innocently.
Suddenly, all joking and playful flirting had been extinguished. Gloria arched an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Is that a good idea? Last time we drank together…" she looked over the sofa, hoping Galina would catch her drift.
"Dmitri and I are separated," Galina reminded her thickly. "It's over now. For good. You know that."
"I just don't want anything to ruin today," she admitted, looking down at the baby in her lap. "It's just…" she exhaled a breath, settling her very long-winded argument for a simple explanation. "I've missed you."
"I know…" Galina said softly, her lips curling upward in a sad-half smile. "I've missed you, too."
Silence blanketed the room, except for the kids' horse-playing in the bathroom just a few feet away. After putting away the last of her groceries, Galina reached her arms out for her son. "I'm going to get them ready for bed, and read them a book," she explained. "And once that's done, I'm going to have a drink."
…
It was nearly forty-five minutes later when Galina appeared from the master bedroom. Since the moment her eldest son, Yuri had been born, she'd begun co-sleeping with her children, and nearly eight years and four children later, she found it was a habit that was still going strong.
Most nights Yuri and Maxsim, now eight and six, would sleep in their room, but Nicky and Vasily, three and just barely a year old respectively, were not quite ready to make that transition and she was in no rush to force them. She welcomed the times she'd wake up to all four of her children in bed with her, and if she were being honest, she preferred it a lot more than she ever did sleeping with her husband.
"Ex-husband… soon to be ex-husband," she reminded herself as she flexed her naked left hand. She'd taken her ring off just an hour after he had told her he was leaving her and hadn't even had time to miss it. Most of the time, she hadn't even wanted to wear it.
She pulled out the juice, the vodka, and a large glass from the cupboard. Pouring a large helping of the clear liquid into the cup, she brought the cup up to her lips and took a drink. It burned deliciously going down, and she closed her eyes, savoring the sensation.
"I thought we were having screwdrivers, not just straight vodka," Gloria admonished her as she made her way into the kitchen.
"You're still here?" Galina asked, taking another drink.
Gloria arched her eyebrow. "Did you want me to leave?"
"No," Galina shook her head quickly. "It was just quiet." She licked her lips and reached up into the cupboard for a second glass. Once it was made, she handed it to Gloria, and they stared at one another for a minute, all of the unspoken words and emotions, that they'd been forced to process independently, passing between them.
"C'mon," Gloria told her, motioning to the living room. "I'm sure there is some documentary or another that you've been saving to make me watch."
Galina smiled, her joy radiating in her skin and eyes. "I have several," her accent was incredibly thick. "A good one about Russia came on a few days ago."
"Mmm," Gloria brought her cup to her lips. "I might need some more of this if you want me to get through that."
"Agh," Galina waved her hand, dismissing her. She grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard and lead the way into the living room. Sitting down, she patted the spot next to her and reached for the fleece blanket she had laid over the back of the couch. Situating it across her and Gloria's lap, she unrolled the bag of chips with one hand and brought her drink to her mouth with the other.
She used the remote to mindlessly flip through the channels, and Gloria reached into the bag for a chip.
Crunch, crunch, snack, munch.
Galina flipped the channel.
Crunch, crunch, snack, munch.
She flipped the channel again.
Crunch, crunch, snack, munch.
She turned the volume up two notches.
Crunch, crunch, snack, munch
She changed the channel once more.
She brought her cup to her lips and through the glass was still half full, she drank it down quickly. "I'm getting some more," she told Gloria, pushing the blanket off of her. "You want some?" She didn't wait for a response, instead, taking the glass out of her hand.
Gloria's cup was just as full as hers had been, but Galina didn't have time to think through those logistics as she poured them both some more, filling each glass up to their rim. She walked slowly into the living room, her lips on the rim of her glass, slurping at the liquid so that it didn't spill all over the floor. Taking a seat next to Gloria once more, her legs tucked underneath her, she passed her, her glass and they drank silently, eyes focused intently on the tv.
She could feel her pulse pounding against her temples. She knew it wasn't from the alcohol, but by the fact, they were sitting so close together, and she imagined that Gloria's head felt much the same.
She reached for a chip. Crunch, crunch, snack, munch. And another. Crunch, crunch, snack, munch. Her hand was on her thigh, her cup was half empty again, and her eyes were still focused on the tv. She anticipated it before it happened, knew that it was going to, yet, when Gloria's hand reached for hers, a jolt of shock and electricity rushed through her, knocking out all common sense that she possessed.
They didn't say anything, just sat there quietly holding hands. Drinking and pretending to watch the show she had found. Gloria's hand separated gently from hers and was now making gentle, absent-minded traces against her palm.
It shouldn't have felt so good, but it did. It was hardly anything, just the mere, barest of touches, yet, at the same time, it was everything and more.
Somewhere, somehow, in the limbo between reality and heaven, the chips had been moved and their cups were both empty and on the ground. Galina twisted, readjusting herself on the sofa so that her back was to Gloria's chest. She reacted purely on want, and Gloria let her. She pulled Gloria's arm over her shoulder and across her chest, demonstrating and demanding the attention that she wanted.
"Your hair smells good," Gloria told her quietly. She was sure Galina was smiling goofily at the compliment and she wished that she could see it, however, there was no way in hell she was going to move her. This time, unlike that last time, when they'd found themselves in this position, she wouldn't have to pull back.
If Galina tried to kiss her, she wouldn't have to turn her head. She wouldn't have to tell her to stop or behave. If she wanted to, she could even let her do more than kiss her.
She shook her head softly to dispel the thought.
An hour ago, she was telling her this probably wasn't the best idea. Now, she was hoping that Galina would somehow telepathically be able to read her very thoughts.
"Your heart is racing," Galina told her, interrupting the thick silence that had engulfed them.
"I know," Gloria's voice was unsteady. She felt Galina's breath catch in her throat, and she knew what she wanted to hear.
It was obvious.
Unintentional or not, they had recreated one of their best moments together: the first time they'd said I love you. She knew that was what she was supposed to say now. She knew what Galina wanted to hear.
"Are you okay?" There was concern in Galina's tone. She was worried that after everything, and despite how obvious it still was that they both cared very deeply for one another, that she was too late. That whatever there could have been between them, was gone.
"Yea…" Gloria said slowly, inhaling and exhaling deeply in a futile attempt to ease the pounding muscle within her chest. "I'm just picturing what you look like naked."
"Gloria!" Galina exclaimed; her eyes wide in shock as she smacked Gloria's thigh playfully.
The two of them erupted into a fit of laughter and Gloria buried her face into Galina's thick red hair. She brushed the thick mass away gently, placing a delicately kiss to the side of her neck and then lightly nipping at the skin. She could feel her pulse clearly beneath her lips and purred teasingly against her ear, "I love you, ya know."
Galina nodded her head, overlapping her arms around Gloria's where they were secure around her front. "I love you, too."
They sat there holding one another, enjoying the privilege and freedom of being able to sit this way without any guilt. There was still so much to figure out and talk about. Even if things didn't go further than this very moment. Even if it'd take several more weeks or months until they had a first kiss or a first time, or whether or not, those things would ever happen… she would always love her.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this. I've truly missed writing, but y'all, nursing school is no joke. Send me good vibes, please, because I need them. Also, don't forget to show VeraRose19 some birthday love.