Thank you to anyone who reviewed. It really inspires me to update. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Dmitri's Russian Market had become a well-known and regularly patroned establishment in their neighbourhood since they had opened two years prior. It wasn't a business that was going to make them famous or pad their pockets with enough cash to keep them on easy street, but it was surviving and filled Galina with just as much pride as she got from mothering her children. As with everything else she cared about, Galina threw her heart and soul into making the market what it was and often worked late into the night, after everyone else in the family was sleeping, to keep things running smoothly.
Although the space was small and in need of upgrades, everything in it was pristine and organized to a fault. She imported several Russian products that other immigrants remembered fondly and were thrilled to see and stocked her shelves with items found in a traditional Russian grocer. Her main customer base were people just like her and Dmitri, who had set out for America in search of a better life but who also missed the comforts from home. Galina loved the chance to speak Russian with them and reminisce about the country they had all left but still loved.
A lot of other people, young and old wandered into the market by chance or curiosity and would often return again. Galina greeted everyone who entered her store personally and made them feel like a guest in her home. She'd share recipes with women who were shopping for ingredients they weren't exactly sure what to do with, offer samples of the sweets she prepared fresh every morning, and knew all her regulars by name. The place might be called after her husband, but it was Galina who had brought everything into fruition.
She had just taken the cash register out of the safe when she turned around and narrowed her eyes at her son's mischievousness. "I don't think so, baby boy," Galina playfully scolded. Setting the cash register on the counter, she scooped up Maxim from his perch on top of the crates that had been delivered that morning. "You still feel like climbing?" Galina sighed, shaking her head at her youngest son. "The park didn't tire you out?"
"I'm not here!" Maxim announced, firmly clenching his eyes shut as he went still in his mother's arms.
"Where did Maxie go?" Galina asked in mock fear, playing into the toddler's game of peek-a-boo. Maxim firmly believed he went invisible if he shut his eyes. By his own logic, if he couldn't see mama, well then mama couldn't see him. He often "disappeared" when it was time for bed or to get dressed, and Galina found it adorable every time.
"I'm right here!" Maxim exclaimed, opening his bright blue eyes and grinning cheekily at her.
"Oh, good," Galina breathed in relief, "I was so worried."
Balancing her son on her hip, she carried him behind the counter and into the back room that served as dual storage and a playroom for the boys.
It was child proof, littered with toys, with a couch for the boys to nap on and an old television for them to watch. It wasn't always the most stimulating, the long hours the boys had to entertain themselves while their mother worked. Sometimes Galina felt downright guilty about it, although she took them out to play every morning, noon, and night. She did the best she could and would often give the boys little baking projects to do at her side in the kitchen. Yuri liked the job of bringing everything on the shelves forward for display and Maxim loved splashing in the water when he tried to help with the dishes. They were good boys, although boisterous, and liked to say hello to the regular customers who came in and doted on them. They loved attention.
"Mama, can I watch Sesame Street?" Yuri asked, looking up from the fire truck he had been pushing around on the floor.
"Yes," Galina agreed. She set Maxim down on the sofa and smiled as Yuri scrambled up beside him. Their mother picked up the remote control she kept out of their reach on the back of the television.
"Ma, can we have something to eat?" Yuri asked hopefully.
"You just had breakfast," Galina replied absentmindedly, while flipping through channels to find the one they liked.
"But can we have a snack?" Yuri pressed.
"Will you still eat your lunch later?" Galina asked. She found the channel and then returned the remote to its safe place.
"Yes," both of her sons promised in unison. They nodded their heads imploringly.
"I'll bring you some Vatrushka when I get a minute," Galina promised them both, to resounding cheer. It was a favourite in their household and one of her best sellers too. Many people came in daily for their coffee and something sweet. In her small corner of the neighbourhood, she was famous for them.
Hurrying back into the kitchen, Galina paused to pull back the oven door and peer in at the food still baking. She timed it well and pulled out a single tray before shutting the door hurriedly. Leaving it to cool, she reached for a knife so that she could slice into the round Vatrushka that had been resting. She set two pieces aside for her boys, and then placed the rest into the display case on the countertop. The coffee was freshly brewed, her food was almost fully prepared, and the crates were stacked neatly out of the way until she got a spare moment to deal with them. Galina gave everything a final once over and then walked to the door to unlock it. She was open for business and another day had begun.
It was always a rush to get everything ready in time, but somehow Galina always managed to do it. She'd get flustered, impatient, and tired, but the moment her customers arrived she would maintain a calm disposition of a woman who had it together, and of a mother who always got it right. Her image was important to her and she cared deeply about what people thought of her, although she wished she didn't. Typically, engaging with her patrons was the only adult stimulation and conversation that Galina ever received. She had no friends that she socialized with in the evenings, she rarely even left the house without her boys in tow. Dmitri was hardly ever home to help watch them, and the boys didn't like staying with him anyways.
The bell above the door dinged, alerting her attention. "Good morning, Igor," Galina smiled at the familiar face. "Hello, Anna," she greeted the little girl who was clutching her father's hand. "That's a pretty dress."
"Hi, Mrs. Reznikov," Anna replied politely. "Can I have a treat?"
"If it's alright with Papa," Galina replied, sharing a small smile with the girl's father as she turned to pour his regular coffee. He took it in a Styrofoam cup because he drank it on the go. They lived across the street and the girl would be attending Kindergarten with Yuri in September. Two cream, one sugar. Galina had it measured to perfection.
"Can I, Papa?" Anna asked, tugging on her father's hand.
"Yes," Igor nodded, as he did nearly every morning. Galina passed his coffee across the counter and then pulled out the tray of sweets from her display so that Anna could see better.
"Which one would you like, honey?" Galina asked her. She nodded towards the oven. "Or...I have some apple piroschki that just came out of the oven. They're your favourite, right?"
"Yes, can I have one?" the little girl asked eagerly. "Please," she added, at a stern glance from her father. Her black braids swung excitedly as she tossed her head.
"Yes, you can," Galina replied. "But I'm going to put it in a bag so that it doesn't burn your fingers. It's still hot." She dished out the sweet for the little girl and a minute later the pair had paid and were on their way, soon to be replaced by another.
She was busy and entirely focused on her customers, which her sons knew to expect. They behaved well, sometimes needing called reminders to use their indoor voices. Bored of the television, Yuri had come into the kitchen to get the snack his mother had promised but forgotten to deliver. The two brothers ate them on the floor of their playroom, crumbs everywhere, and then got back up to play like it was business as usual.
Yuri busied himself building tall towers out of his blocks, and always was sure to give Maxim a few blocks of his own so he would feel like he was playing too. The boys crawled across the floor chasing their trucks, made pretend meals with the plastic food in their toy kitchen, and then Yuri took all the cushions off the couch and built them a fort. Their mother kept a close eye on them while she hurried around the shop pouring coffee, running the registrar, talking to people, and placing fresh trays in the oven when she began running low of certain items. They amused themselves until lunchtime, which was always the same as whatever special Galina had prepared for the store that day. As they began to grow restless, Galina put on a video to distract them.
"Ten more minutes," she assured them, handing them each a glass of milk. "Behave yourselves...and then I'll take you to the splash pad in the park. Would you like that?" Her offer was met with approval and then Galina turned to go attend to the customer who had just walked through the front door.
"Mamochka," Galina said in surprise, as she came face to face with her mother-in-law. Dmitri's mother was an older woman who was taller than her daughter-in-law and wore her hair in a severe bun most of the time. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Mrs. Reznikov waved the question off. She sunk heavily down into a chair at the round table and sighed. "Do you have any coffee prepared?"
"Yes," Galina said tightly. "Do you want milk?"
"Just a dash," her mother-in-law replied. Galina gritted her teeth together as she went to lock the front door and put up the sign announcing that they were closed for two hours for lunch. Then she went to prepare the coffee.
"Thank you, darling," Mrs. Reznikov said appreciatively, when Galina set the cup before her. She looked her daughter-in-law over with a scrutinizing eye. "And how are you feeling?"
"Much better," Galina replied. Instinctively her hands reached up to rub at her pregnant belly through the apron that was marred by flour and some peach puree. She crawled her hands back until she tugged at the ties of her apron and then slipped it over her head.
"Good," Mrs. Reznikov nodded. She picked up her mug of coffee and took a generous sip. "Dmitri's been so exhausted trying to keep up with everything when you were sick. It's been so hard on him."
It's been hard on all of us," Galina replied stiffly. Pulling out the chair across from her mother-in-law she sat down for the first time in hours. "But it will be all worth it soon."
"Do you know what you're having yet?" Mrs. Reznikov asked, tapping her fingers against the rim of her cup.
"Not yet," Galina replied promptly.
Mrs. Reznikov pursed her lips. "You're carrying so low," she lamented, as though this were a negative thing.
"I always carry low," Galina replied, placing a hand on the bump she could feel subtle flutters from.
"And you only have sons, so far," Mrs. Reznikov pointed out with a sigh. She picked up her coffee mug and took another generous sip.
For the most part, she and Galina got along quite well. She was generally very soft spoken and kind, and she never told Galina how to raise her children. She didn't have much interest in them at all actually. "Children are children", she had once said. "I had three of them, I'm finished now." With an attitude like that, Galina had known from the start that her mother-in-law would not be a babushka whom she could lean on for support or babysitting when she needed some help. With no family of her own in this country, it would have been nice for her in-laws to take a more proactive role in their grandchildren's lives, but Galina had long ago made peace with the situation. Her in-laws were fine, so long as she didn't expect too much of them.
"Is Dmitri working today?" Mrs. Reznikov inquired of her son.
"Yes," Galina replied simply. She had made the mistake of confiding in her mother-in-law once before about the problems they were having in their marriage. A stupid thing to do, she now knew, but in all fairness, she had been asked. Some part of Galina had really wanted to hope that when her in-laws had said she was as good as a daughter to them, that they had actually meant it. They did in their own way, but it would always be conditional. Mr. and Mrs. Reznikov would treat her as a daughter, so long as she treated their son the way they believed a wife should. Dmitri was their child, and they automatically sided with him over her if they caught wind of any conflict. Nothing could ever be Dmitri's fault, in their eyes. It explained a lot about why Dmitri always seemed to have such a strong sense of entitlement. Galina understood that she would always be a second-class citizen in their family because she was not blood, but they were all the family she had now. She'd be terrified to lose them.
"He's working so hard, lately," Mama Reznikov said mournfully, "he was at our house for supper last night and he just seemed so tired. I think he's really stressed out. Have you noticed that he's stressed out lately?"
Galina could feel her mother-in-law's eyes burrowing into her own and rubbed her hands over her baby bump to calm herself. Galina hadn't known that Dmitri had run off to his mother's house for dinner. She wondered how frequent of an occurrence that was. If he hadn't been working, he could just as easily have come home to eat with his wife and sons, but Dmitri did what he wanted.
"Mama, can we go now?" Yuri asked, rushing into the front of the store with his little brother hot on his heels.
"Say hello to Babushka first," Galina said sternly, frowning at the rudeness.
"Hi, Baba," Yuri said shyly. Maxim scurried around the table to his mother's side and then held his arms out so that he could sit on the minimal space still available on her lap.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Reznikov asked, watching Yuri begin to spin himself around in a circle.
"Just over to the splash pad in the park," Galina replied, as she settled Maxim onto her lap. "The boys can run through the sprinklers and cool off. It's so hot today."
"Can we go now, Mama?" Yuri pleaded.
"Soon," Galina frowned. "Why don't you get your sandals on? Do you want to come with us?" she asked, turning her attention back to her mother-in-law.
"No," Mrs. Reznikov shook her head. "I need to get home. I'm in a rush. Just thought I'd stop in."
"We'll see you soon," Galina said, although she knew they wouldn't. Her in-laws rarely visited and complained extensively to Dmitri that Galina didn't visit them more. They expected her to put forth all of the effort. She set Maxim back on his feet and then stood up to embrace the older woman briefly on her way out the door.
"Just, be nice to Dmitri," Her mother-in-law whispered as Galina unlocked the door to let her out. "He's been very stressed lately about work and three kids is going to be a lot for him to handle. You need to try and make him smile again the way that you used to."
"I don't think I was ever particularly skilled at that," Galina said honestly, her accent thick with controlled anger.
"Yes, you were," Mrs. Reznikov gave her what she appeared to think was an encouraging smile. "You looked so happy on your wedding day."
"I did?" Galina asked coldly, blinking in disbelief, but her anger prevented her from formulating a wittier response before the woman had already made her departure. Did Mamochka seriously look at her and think she had time to worry about how to make Dmitri feel better? She knew he had it way easier than her. He avoided most responsibilities and expected his wife to bear the full load alone. Why wasn't anybody worrying about how often she smiled?
"Mama, I need help!" Maxim whined, carrying over his own pair of sandals that he had gone to fetch. Galina knelt down on the floor to help him on with his shoes and then plopped hats onto both of her sons' heads. Attempting to push her mother-in-law's irritating comments to the back of her mind, Galina locked the door behind her and then stepped out into the beautiful sunshine with her two little boys.