Erica returned to Matt's to say good-bye to him the following day.
"Well, I guess this is it," she said, giving him a hug.
"I guess so," he said, hugging her back. "I've got your address. I'll write to you as soon as I know where I'm going to be."
"All right. I'll look forward to hearing from you."
Erica felt an odd sense of emptiness as she returned home. Now all her friends were gone, either dead or back in the United States. All except Yuri.
She found him sitting on the porch drinking lemonade.
"Your friend is gone?" he asked her.
She nodded. He went to her and embraced her. "I have been thinking about Boris," he said. "Sometimes I just miss him so much. It is hard...perhaps if we have boy, we could name him Boris." Erica nodded. Perhaps his middle name could be Matthew.
A few nights later, Erica and Yuri were watching TV together when suddenly Erica felt a tiny flutter in her abdomen. It was so slight that at first she wondered whether it had been her imagination, but then it came again, more definite this time.
"Yuri!" she exclaimed. "I just felt the baby move!"
Yuri put his hand on her abdomen, and a few minutes later, it happened again. Yuri grinned. "Is healthy and strong, yes?"
Yuri went with Erica to her next ultrasound appointment.
"You're sixteen weeks along now, so you can see more detail than before," the ultrasound technician told them. As she moved the wand over Erica's abdomen, they were able to see their baby's movements. They could clearly see its arms and legs now.
"You can now see if it's boy or girl?" asked Yuri.
"Sometimes, but not always," the technician replied. She moved the wand again. "Not yet," she said. "But we'll be able to tell at your next ultrasound at thirty-two weeks."
"That's a long time away," said Erica.
Yuri smiled. "It will be here before you know it."
A couple of weeks later, Erica received her first letter from Matt.
Dear Erica,
Well, here I am in boot camp. Boy is it hard! Up at dawn, exercise, spend hours marching. Harder work than I've ever done in my life, but it will all be worth it just to know that I'm doing my part to drive the filthy Communists from my beloved country. I hate them so much for what they did to Toni and the rest of my friends, and I can't wait to see them driven from the shores of the United States. I honestly don't understand how you can love one of them after what they did to Toni.
Well, I guess that's all for this time. I hope that you are doing well. Please write soon.
Love,
Matt
Erica hid the letter in the bottom of her underwear drawer where Yuri wouldn't find it. Then she wrote back to Matt.
Dear Matt,
Thank you very much for your letter. Yuri and I are both doing fine. I had another ultrasound at sixteen weeks. We could see our baby waving its little arms and kicking its little legs. Wow! I can also feel its movements now. I already love it so much even though it isn't even born yet.
I still miss Toni so much it hurts. It's very painful to know that she won't be here to enjoy her new niece or nephew. But I can't just keep hating them like you do. To me that would be letting them win. And I can't hate Yuri because of what happened to Toni. He lost his friend too, and he's hurting from that just like I'm hurting.
I wish you all the best, and if you see Jed, please give him all my love.
Love,
Toni
She went to the post office and mailed the letter. Then she went back home and took a nap.