Luka frowned a bit as he surveyed the bags and boxes and bottles assembled on the table. He shifted Lauren in his arms and absently popped a raisin in her mouth. He didn't look up as Abby approached. She picked up the bottle of white wine and her eyes widened.
"Wow," she said. "You definitely have your work cut out for you. Is this to drink while you are working or does it go in the bread?" Luka rolled his eyes and frowned at her.
"It goes in the bread," he said. "Along with the figs that I have to chop and the almonds I have to blanch and the raisins and the hazelnuts and the honey and the two kinds of flour..."
"Okay...okay," she laughed and held her hands up. "Maybe I should stay home and keep that one out of your way."
"Tata will be here," Luka said absently as he went back to checking his supplies. "And Mati Levac will probably come by as well." He looked up. "The woman always seems to sense when I am doing this and has to give me her advice." Luka stopped when he noticed the woeful expression on Abby's face. He set Lauren down on the floor and circled the table to wrap her in his arms.
"I'd rather be here," she sighed as she leaned against him. "She doesn't like me, Luka."
"She likes you..." he chuckled. "Why wouldn't she?" There was a knock at the door and Mati Levac opened it and laughed as she saw them.
"Auto je cekivanje za nju," she said. Her eyes shifted to the table and she clucked in disapproval. Luka rolled his eyes and nodded.
"I know, I know..." he said. "I should have blanched the almonds and chopped my figs last night." He pressed a kiss to Abby's forehead.
"She said that Javor and Valerija are waiting outside for you.." Abby nodded sadly and slipped her purse over her shoulder. The jovial neighbor said something else and Luka gasped.
"Mati Levac!," he scolded indignantly. "I know what I am doing. I don't need to have you making sure I do it...right!" Abby lifted Lauren and kissed her cheek before handing her to the older woman. She waved sadly at Luka and stepped outside. Javor was leaning against the car and grinned as he opened the door and bowed gallantly. He laughed as she rolled her eyes at him and slid into the back seat next to Valerija.
"Do I pick up Jelena and Nastaya now, Mama, or are they meeting us somewhere?" Javor asked as he slid behind the driver's wheel. He glanced back and winked at Abby.
"They are meeting us at Trg Bana Jelicica," Valerija said. "Jelena had some errands to do first." Javor nodded and turned the key to start the car. Abby settled back in her seat and gazed out the window. She shifted uncomfortably and glanced toward Valerija. She had not taken her eyes off Abby. Valerija smiled slightly.
"So," Valerija said quietly. "What do you think of our family?" Abby's face reddened and she shrugged.
"Um...that Luka is lucky to have all of you?" she said. Valerija's expression didn't change.
"Only Luka?" she asked. Abby turned her attention to the passing sidewalks and then looked back at Valerija. She was still watching her.
"I want you to see something," Valerija said. She leaned forward and spoke to Javor in Croatian. He nodded and the car turned at the next street. Abby watched out the window as they left the newer section of Zagreb and wound their way through the older streets of the upper section, the older section, of the city. The car came to a stop on a cobblestone street in front of a huge cathedral. Abby's eyes were wide as she looked up at the old tiled roof and twin spires that reached to the sky. Javor closed the door behind them and leaned against the car.
"You're not coming in?" Valerija asked. He grimaced and shook his head. She shrugged and made her way up the steps with Abby right behind her.
"One of a mother's greatest disappointments, I think," Valerija sighed. "Except for funerals, baptisms and weddings, my sons shy away from anything to do with the church these days."
The heavy wooden front door opened easily on well oiled hinges and their footsteps echoed as they entered the huge sanctuary. Valerija crossed herself and bobbed as she slipped into one of the back pews. Abby followed suit and sat beside her.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Simple." Valerija sighed as she gazed around. Abby nodded. Sunlight streamed through huge stained glass all around them. Other than that it seemed no different than other Catholic churches she had been in.
"So why have you refused to marry Luka?" Abby's eyes widened and she turned to look at the woman beside her.
"Refused?" she said. "Did he say that?"
"You have a daughter with him," Valerija went on. 'You seem to love him. I know he loves you. Why have you refused?"
"Is that why you don't like me?" Abby asked. Valerija's perfectly shaped eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
"And I thought it was because you were friends with his wife," Abby sighed.
"Friends with Danijela?" Valerija said with a smile. "I suppose it would be thought so since we grew up in the same part of town. She was nearly five years older than I however. Difficult to be friends with that much time between you as young girls. Besides, Danijela thought I was a bit of a bitch." Abby quickly bit her lip and suppressed a smile. They were both silent.
"I love Danijela," Valerija said quietly as she looked around. "Even more so for dying when she did." She turned to Abby who was frowning in confusion.
"Has Luka ever told you about that time?" she asked. "When Danijela and the children died?" Abby shrugged.
"Just that they were killed when a mortar round hit their apartment building," she said quietly. "And that he had gone out for supplies." Valerija nodded slowly.
"It was the 16th of November in 1991," she said. "Luka spent the next four days digging them out, making arrangements for them to be buried, tending to their funerals..." Valerija took a deep breath. "Communication was bad. None of us knew it had happened."
"On November 20th," she went on. "... the hospital in Vukovar was stormed and 260 patients, doctors, civilians were marched to a nearby field and massacred. Their bodies were buried in a pit. If Luka had been there, it would have been 261. Instead, after he learned what had happened, he made his way to a nearby town with other refugees and then home to Zagreb." Abby was unaware of the tear that had slipped down her cheek. She didn't know what to be thinking. She felt as though she were hardly breathing.
"If things had of happened any differently..." Valerija's voice trailed off and she sighed. "He came back a devastated, broken man. It broke my heart that he chose to leave Croatia for the United States. I am afraid Andro has made it difficult for him each time he has come home. And always, he has gone back. But it was the right thing for him. His mother knew. I know that now as well. I have seen it." She turned her head pointedly to face Abby again.
"So why are you refusing to marry him?" she asked again. Abby fought down the bristling that had built up inside her. This woman loved Luka. Probably even as much as she did herself. All of them did. She sighed and cocked an eyebrow at Valerija. Maybe it was time to let someone in on her secret.
"Well...actually," she said very slowly. "I've got something you can help me with." Valerija gazed at her for a long moment and then a smile began to spread across her face.
Luka was sleeping on the couch when she opened the door of the apartment. Abby dropped her packages quietly on a chair and slipped her coat off. She laid it carefully over the back of the chair and admired the 8 loaves of crusty bread lined up on the table. She leaned over to sniff the fruity, honey laden smell and smiled. She made her way to the couch and sat on the edge of the coffee table and watched him sleep for a moment. She smiled and leaned over to press a kiss to his lips. Luka's eyes fluttered open and he grinned as he stretched.
"Hey..." he said as he reached for her hand. "Have fun?"
"Yeah...I really did," she said as she threaded her fingers through his. "I learned a lot."
"Like what?" he chortled.
"Like...people in Croatia actually exchange gifts on St. Nicholas' Day on the 16th but your family waits till Christmas when you are in town?" she said. She frowned and looked around. "Where's Lauren?"
"Tata took her to play in the park for a bit," he said. "I think he's planning to stop by the coffee shop to show her off. And don't worry...I dressed her cute. Everything matched. I promise."
"Soooo...we're alone for a while?" Abby drawled slowly. Luka's eyes searched her's and then a smile crossed his face.
"Uh...yeah," he said slowly. "Quite a while, maybe, since they just left." He swung his legs off the couch and pulled himself to a sitting position. He leaned over and slipped a hand to the back of her neck and drew her face closer to his.
"No Valerija Viper bites?" he asked softly.
"None at all..." she whispered as their lips barely touched.
"I'd forgotten. Danijela thought she was a bit of a bitch..." he said.
"She told me that..." Abby said. Luka pulled back and frowned.
"She knew?"
"She's Valerija," Abby scoffed. "She knows...everything." Luka nodded thoughtfully. Abby sighed in disappointment and sat back again.
"Are we gonna do this or not?" she asked. Luka grinned and swept her up into his arms. She laughed as he tore through the apartment and dropped her roughly in the middle his father's big bed. Abby raised herself up on her elbows and glanced around them.
"Isn't this kind of kinky?" she asked as he whipped the tee shirt off his back. "I mean, it's your dad's bed after all." Luka stopped and looked around. He shook his head.
"Naw," he said after a moment. "I am sure he and Mama made good use of it as well." Abby laughed as he grinned rakishly and slipped his jeans off before dropping onto the bed next to her. Luka held her chin in his hand and searched her face for a moment before their lips met. Abby's hands dropped weakly as his lips traced over her eyes and her cheek and then down to her neck.
"Uh...Luka..." she whispered breathlessly.
"Yeah..." he sighed as his fingers unbuttoned the soft blouse that she wore. He pressed kisses down her chest to the crevice between her breasts. His nose nudged the lace of her black bra aside. Abby shifted and eased the blouse and a bra strap off her shoulder.
"I want us to get married here," she said softly. "Here...in Zagreb...with your family."
"Okay..." he sighed as he slipped the other strap off her other shoulder and eased the bra down to her waist. He twisted it around and unfastened it. He dragged it off her and tossed it over the side of the bed. He looked up and saw that she was frowning at him.
"I'm serious..." she said. He shrugged.
"Okay," he said. Her frowned deepened and her eyes never left his. Luka sighed and slumped back into the pillows.
"I have the chapel at St. Stephens and a priest ready for us on the twenty seventh," he said warily. "And the paperwork is all in place too. You just have to sign a couple of things." She pulled herself up and raised herself onto her knees.
"What?" she cried. His face was flushed but he wasn't sure if it was because she was suddenly angry or if it was the sight of her bare breasts in front of him. He sincerely hoped it was the latter. He tore his eyes away to look at her face. He smiled slightly.
"Could you...uh... please act surprised when you open up your Christmas present from me?" he asked. "It's the paper work that needs to be signed." Abby slumped and gazed thoughtfully at him. His grin began to fade and she shook her head. She leaned forward and their mouths met. Luka's fingers slipped into her hair and he carefully eased the hair clip free so her hair spilled over his face like a curtain. His arms encircled her and he rolled her over on the bed. He pressed his face into her neck and began to sing softly.
"Going...to the chaaapel...and we're gonna...get maaarrried..." Abby laughed and pulled his head back so she could look at his face. Luka grinned.
"I love you, Abigail Marjorie Wysczenski Lockhart, with every single beat of my heart," he sighed. "Will you marry me on December the twenty seventh?"
Abby's own heart thudded in her chest as she studied his face. This face that had seen so much...that had lived through every possible bad thing that could happen to a man. The face that had given her a daughter. The face that she loved waking up to every single morning and going to sleep with every single night. The face that she had loved since the very first moment she had kissed him in the ER ambulance bay. The face that she wanted to grow old with. His smile had faded as he waited. She smiled and pressed a hand to the side of his face.
"Yes..." she said. "But why the 27th? Could you have at least asked me..." Luka shook his head and stopped her as he captured her lips in a kiss. Abby's arms wrapped around his neck and she laughed.