It was early evening when we landed back in Austin, which was past midnight in Italy. I wanted nothing more than to go back to the house and take a nap, but as Dimitri and I walked down the stairs to the baggage claim area, I could see Katerina practically bouncing in Karolina's arms as they waited for us. I could see that Olena was holding a sleeping Levi, and I couldn't help but smile through my yawn as I looked down at them.
Katerina must have spotted us because the next thing I heard was a little girl's cry of "Momma! Daddy!" and looked up to see her squirming out of Karolina's arms. Karo let her go as we reached the bottom of the stairs, and I opened my arms for Katerina to barrel into them. I swung her up into a hug, squeezing her tightly.
"Hi, Katya," I whispered. "I missed you. Did you have a good time with Babushka and your aunts?"
Katerina nodded. "I missed you more."
She reached out far enough to drag Dimitri into the hug too and squeezed him as tight as she could. Dimitri pressed a kiss against her forehead before gently extracting himself from her hold to greet his family. I wrapped my arms back around Katerina, making sure I had a good grip on her, before following him.
Karolina greeted me with a hug, squishing Katerina between us, which caused her to burst into giggles. Karo's eyes lit up, and she started tickling Katerina, which made her laugh harder.
"Katya, go to Auntie Karo so I can say hi to Levi, okay?" I whispered once her shrieks of laughter had quieted down. She looked like she wanted to protest but did as I asked.
I walked the short distance to where Dimitri and Olena stood with Levi and leaned against Dimitri, wrapping one of my arms around his waist. He shifted slightly to support me and pressed a kiss to my forehead, while still listening to what his mother was saying in Russian.
"How's the jetlag?" Olena asked, switching to English since I didn't know Russian.
"Exhausting," I said with a small smile. "But we'll get through it. I'll probably go to bed a little earlier tonight than usual and hope for the best tomorrow."
Olena laughed. "Yeva will help you adjust, I'm sure."
Dimitri chuckled at that. "Babushka doesn't mess around."
I yawned again, and Dimitri guided me to one of the benches that lined the baggage carousel. Olena followed and handed me Levi once I was sitting.
"Stay here," Dimitri said. "I'll grab the suitcases."
I nodded and cradled Levi in my arms. "Were they good for you?" I asked Olena as she sat down next to me.
She nodded. "Levi started pulling himself up while you were gone, and Katerina played a great cheerleader. And Levi and Zoya enjoyed playing with each other as much as babies can. Lissa gave us some tips for Katerina's favorite things and watched Levi a few times so that we could have a "girls" day together," Olena said. "Our "girls" day consisted of playing at the park and watching Disney movies before getting dinner at Steak 'N Shake."
"I'm sure she enjoyed that," I said, smiling. "She used to have all of my attention before Levi came, but she's handled the last nine months remarkably well."
"I think that just goes to show how great of a mom you are, Rose," Olena murmured. "Forgive me if this is too personal, but are you and Dimitri planning on having more children?"
I glanced over to where Dimitri was watching suitcases start to slide down the chute. I could see Karolina out of the corner of my eye, and it was clear that she was listening without making it obvious that she was.
"You're fine," I said, "it's not too personal. I did ask Dimitri a while ago if that was something he wanted. Children of his own. He was adamant that Katerina and Levi were his children, as far as he was concerned. He expressed interest in having biological children of his own if it was something that I wanted. Which it is. I told him then that I've always wanted a large family, and I wouldn't mind adding another child or two to our family, especially since I see the way that he is with Katerina and Levi. It probably won't be for a while. We'll probably wait until Katerina and Levi get a little older, maybe until after I finish my bachelor's degree."
"Oh, Roza," Olena said, "I'm very happy to hear that. I'm grateful that Dimitri has you in his life and that we now have you as a part of our family."
She hugged me, careful of Levi between us, and I couldn't help but shed a few tears. I quickly brushed them away before she (or anyone else) could notice. I finally felt like I had a mother that actually cared.
The last week before classes started at the university passed by quickly and, before I knew it, I was standing in front of the giant tower on UT's campus. The building next to the tower was my first stop of the morning, as I needed to get my student ID created before I could go to class.
The line inside the academic center that housed the ID center wasn't long, and I was at the front of the line before I knew it.
"Name?" a bored-looking student asked from behind the computer.
"Rosemarie Belikova," I said.
Lissa had taken care of all the paperwork required to change my name in UT's system while Dimitri and I had been on our honeymoon, and this was one of the first times that I was actually getting to say my new name out loud.
"EID?"
I glanced down at my phone where I had added it into my notes app so I wouldn't forget it. "RH3929."
Since my EID had been assigned after I was admitted to the university months before the wedding, it still used my maiden name to create it, and there wasn't a way of getting it changed.
"Stand in front of the screen," the student directed. "Smile."
Less than five minutes later, the student was handing me the plastic ID card, and I walked away, staring down at it. It was still a little surreal to believe that I was really here.
As I walked back outside, I glanced down at my watch and saw that I had a little under ten minutes to make it across campus in time for my first class. Since it was Wednesday, my first class was my Intro to Gender Studies course, for which I was more than a little nervous.
As I walked into the William C. Powers, Jr. building, my phone vibrated with a text, and I pulled it out while I refilled my water bottle.
From Dimitri (8:57): Good luck in your first class. We love you!
From Dimitri (8:57): [Image]
The picture was of Dimitri and Katerina making silly faces at the camera while Levi sat between them in his bouncer smiling. I quickly saved the photo as I walked onto the elevator, and after noting that my floor was already pushed, I made the picture the background on my phone.
To Dimitri (8:58): I love you too.
I put my phone on Do Not Disturb and slid it into my purse as I stepped out of the elevator and onto the fourth floor. My room wasn't hard to find after that, and I quietly walked into the room, taking a seat on the left side of the room, close to the wall. I sat toward the middle of the classroom, not wanting to sit all of the way at the back, and seem like I didn't want to be there, even though the thought of someone sitting behind me made me queasy.
Beth smiled when she caught my eye, and I managed to smile back. She started handing out packets of paper, presumably the syllabus, as more students started to arrive.
"Are you okay, Rose?" she asked softly when she reached my desk.
I nodded. "I just don't like the idea of someone sitting behind me."
Beth's brow furrowed. "Why don't you sit in the back then?"
I blushed. "I don't want to seem like I don't want to be here."
She laughed softly. "I don't mind. I want you to feel comfortable here, and if that means sitting in the back, then so be it."
"Thank you," I whispered. I grabbed my purse, notebook, and the syllabus and moved back two desks so that I was in the corner.
A few more students came in, sitting in various places around the classroom so there was no real rhyme or reason for how we were organized. It was five after nine when Beth shut the door and walked back to the front of the classroom.
"Good morning, and welcome to the first day of the fall semester," she said. "For those who don't know me, I'm Professor Novak, but please feel free to call me Beth. My TA for this course is Mia Reynolds, but I'll let her introduce herself."
A girl with shoulder-length brown hair stood up from a desk near the front, almost directly in front of me, and turned to face the class.
"Hi, y'all. As Beth said, I'm Mia. I'm a sophomore studying English Composition with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. I took one of Beth's classes my first semester at UT and haven't looked back. Sophomores aren't typically TAs, but Beth took a chance on me, so I'm asking that y'all go easy on me." She laughed slightly and turned to sit down.
I didn't even need to fully see her to recognize her but getting a full look at her only confirmed that the voice I was hearing belonged to the same Mia that was with me at Adrian's "Underground House".