Alexandra was so relieved by the good news about Alexei that she forgot to be cross at Illya. "They've already stopped the bleeding!" she exclaimed.
Illya smiled. "I told you they would."
Alexandra and Illya entered Alexei's hospital room to find him sitting up in bed smiling. "They've been taking really good care of me here, Mama." He glanced at Illya and smiled shyly.
"It is wonderful to see that you are doing so well," the blond told him.
"They have new medicines now that can stop the bleeding even better than Father Grigori could," Alexei replied.
"Indeed they do," Illya agreed.
"I'm so happy." Alexandra embraced her son.
The hospital wanted to keep Alexei overnight for observation, and an extra bed was brought in for Alexandra, who insisted on spending the night with her son. Illya left, promising to return the next day.
The following morning he went back to the hospital to escort Alexei back to school and Alexandra back to work.
Olga and Tatiana rushed to meet their mother when they saw her coming.
"Is Alexei already back in school, then?" asked Olga.
"Indeed he is," Alexandra told her.
"I have never known him to recover from a bleeding episode so quickly," said Tatiana.
"Modern-day medicine is to thank for it," Alexandra replied. Illya smiled at her words, as they were so similar to the ones he'd spoken to her only the day before.
That weekend was predicted to be sunny and hot. Illya knew exactly what he wanted to do, and who he wanted to do it with, but he wasn't at all sure how to go about asking her. He told himself that perhaps it was too soon, perhaps she didn't know him well enough, perhaps she wasn't yet well enough adjusted to life in 1968. Friday evening he realized that it would probably be his last opportunity, so he mustered up the nerve and approached her.
"Alexandra?"
"Yes?"
"I know this may seem kind of sudden, but...well, you see...the weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend, and I was just wondering...would you like to go swimming with me on Saturday morning?"
"Why, that sounds like a lovely idea!" Alexandra's eyes lit up, and Illya heaved a huge sigh of relief.
When he arrived to collect Alexandra and her family Saturday morning, Illya had to suppress a laugh when he saw the swimsuit Alexandra was wearing. It covered not only her entire body but her upper legs as well. He was relieved to see that Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia were wearing more modern swimsuits.
"I tried to talk them out of wearing those indecent swimsuits, but they wouldn't listen," Alexandra apologized.
Illya smiled. "I actually find Tatiana's swimsuit very attractive. I was just wondering whether you might be more comfortable in something similar."
Alexandra's eyes widened. "You are a very different man from my Nicky, Mr. Kuryakin."
"With all due respect, Tsarina, a lot more has changed over the past fifty years than just methods of transportation and the quality of health care," Illya said gently.
"Next you'll be telling me that intimate relations outside wedlock are now considered acceptable!"
Illya's mind automatically went to Napoleon. "To many people they are, yes."
Suddenly Alexandra's eyes held a faraway look. "I told you once that Nicky gave in to temptation before we were wed."
"Yes, I recall."
"Her name was Mathilde Kschessinska, and she was a ballerina. Nicky met her when he was twenty-one. His father practically threw them together. Their affair lasted three years."
"I am sorry that happened." Illya felt awkward.
"Right before he asked me to marry him, he confessed the affair and begged me to forgive him. I did, of course. What else could I have done?"
"But at least he ended the affair before marrying you."
"Yes, and he was always faithful to me after we were wed. I've always felt that I should consider myself very fortunate in that regard. And yet..."
"Yes?"
"A part of me has always wondered what it would have been like to have been Mathilde Kschessinska."
