"Not bad." Irina glanced around the motel in approval. "Not bad at all."
Arkady grinned. "Best we could find on short notice." He picked his wife up and carried her to the bed. "Right now, I want to show you just how much I've missed you since we left Russia." He hesitated. "If you feel comfortable with the idea, that is." Gently he laid her down and then joined her, propping himself up on one elbow and gazing down at her.
"Why shouldn't I feel comfortable with it?"
"After what you've been through, I'd certainly never want to do anything that might traumatize you even further."
"I love you, Arkasha." Tears came to her eyes as her hand gently caressed his cheek. "Nothing could ever happen that would take that away from us."
As they began to kiss, passion flared in them both. she pulled his shirt off over his head, then wriggled out of her dress. When her hand lightly grazed his crotch, he instantly felt himself stiffen. Quickly she relieved him of his pants, and he gasped with surprise and joy when he felt himself embraced by the warm cavern of her mouth.
Afterwards he returned the favor, then made love to her very slowly and tenderly, taking special care not to cause her any discomfort. She cried just a little afterwards, and he held and comforted her. "Did I hurt you, darling?"
"Oh no, not at all," she quickly assured him. "I just feel kind of emotional right now."
He held her closer. "I love you, Irina."
"I love you too, Arkasha."
He kissed the tip of her nose. "So what do you want to do now, just rest a bit?"
"Yeah." She yawned. "I'd like to do some sight seeing later. It's been so long since the last time I was here that I want to see how much has changed."
"We're invited to the Kuryakins for dinner tomorrow evening."
"The Kuryakins?"
"Mark's parents. Will and Deanna will be there too. Will told me he has important news."
"I wonder what that could be..." She yawned again and curled up into a ball. Arkady curled around her spoon-style and held her tight, thinking how close he'd recently come to losing her, not once, but twice. He never wanted to let her go.
"Now for the big news," Will announced. "Several days ago, I asked Deanna to do me the honor of becoming my wife, and she agreed." He embraced Deanna, who was sitting beside him, and they both beamed.
"Congratulations!" Lisa exclaimed, and the rest of the guests joined in.
"So when's the date?" asked Mark's mother, Marion.
"We haven't decided," Deanna replied. "We're considering doing it right here in New York city, if we can find a clergyman willing to perform the ceremony."
"I remember my own wedding so well." Marion clasped Illya's hand. "It was in a Russian Orthodox church right here in New York city. All our friends and relatives were there. I remember the church with the onion domes and the crosses with the double bars and the big cabinet in front with all the icons. It was very impressive."
"Ours was in a Russian Orthodox church as well," said Irina. "It was right after Yeltsin had become President and all the churches were being restored. We were married in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the bank of the Moskva river. Arkasha was so nervous that he dropped the ring." Everyone laughed, even Arkady. "For our honeymoon, he took me to Siberia and showed me the port where he boarded the Polar Star for his factory job. It's so beautiful and peaceful there, nothing but the pure white snow and ice. If not for the bitter cold, it would be almost paradise."
Arkady fell silent as his mind drifted back to his time aboard the factory ship and his relationship with the corporate representative Susan Hightower, and he felt the familiar pang of guilt. Susan had been the only part of his years in exile he'd kept from Irina. It wasn't that he'd intended to be dishonest, he tried to tell himself. It was simply that he hadn't wanted her to be hurt. Yet a part of him was forced to admit that at least part of the reason was that he'd feared she'd reject him if she'd known about Susan.
"What were you so deeply in thought about?" Irina asked her husband on the way back to the motel.
"I was just wondering how you'd feel about living in New York city again." Arkady told himself that it wasn't exactly a lie, as the matter had been on his mind a lot recently.
"I loved New York!" Irina enthused. "The only reason I moved to Germany was to be closer to you."
Arkady smiled. "Well, that's no longer an issue, is it?"
Irina's brow wrinkled in thought. "But if we were to stay here, what would you do?"
"I've already spoken to the head of the New York police department. He said he knows my reputation and would be honored to have me as a member of the force."
"What the hell are we waiting for, then?"
As it turned out, Will and Deanna were unable to find a clergyman in New York city who was willing to marry them, so in the end, they decided to beam back aboard the Enterprise so that Captain Picard could marry them. They told Arkady and Irina of their plans and invited the Russian couple to attend the wedding.
"I have to admit, the opportunity to see the inside of a space ship is tempting," said Arkady. "But would it be safe for my wife in her condition?"
"It would be very safe," Will assured him. "Dr. Beverly Crusher is an excellent physician and would be more than capable of dealing with any issues that might arise."
Arkady looked into his wife's eyes and saw that they were shining with excitement. "We'll go," he told Will and Deanna.