Alek passed her his handkerchief.

“Thanks.” She dabbed her eyes. “Look on page fifty-three. It explains why a woman’s more likely to cry when she’s pregnant.”

Alek flipped through the pages until he found the one she’d mentioned. He scanned the text and nodded.

“How have you been feeling?”

She shrugged. “All right, I guess. I don’t get sick in the mornings the way most women do. I usually get nauseous around three-thirty in the afternoon. I don’t know why I bother with lunch since it comes right back up again.”

“Have you had any other problems?”

“No,” she was quick to assure him. “Actually, I’ve been feeling great. And the nausea should be over soon.” She smiled. “You’ll be proud of me. I’ve been eating well, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.” She stopped when she noticed the way he was staring at her. “Is something wrong?”

Alek’s eyes left hers and he shook his head. “Never mind.”

“No, tell me, please.”

He hesitated and Julia felt a jolt of fear. She’d read about this, in the very book that rested on the table between her and Alek. Some men were turned off by their wives during pregnancy.

“You are more beautiful than ever,” Alek whispered.

Julia bit her lower lip and a sigh trembled through her.

“That disappoints you?”

“I’m not beautiful, Alek. Judging by the way Jerry and my assistant are constantly fussing over me, I must look awful.”

Emotion produced a second quivering sigh. “I’ve missed you so much,” she admitted. “I wanted to tell you about the baby right away.… I learned I was pregnant the afternoon you moved out. I came home from the doctor’s office to find you packing.”

“And you didn’t tell me then?” he bellowed.

“Would it have changed anything if I had told you?” she asked calmly.

“Yes,” he answered, then lowered his gaze. “I don’t know.”

“I’d hurt you and was hurting so badly myself. If I’d told you about Junior then, I was afraid it might sound like blackmail.”

“You realize now that I would never betray you?”

“I knew it then, I always knew it…in my heart. I just did a poor job of showing you. I couldn’t get past my own fears.” A tear ran from the corner of her eye. “No words can ever express how sorry I am for the pain I caused you. When we got married, I didn’t expect to fall in love with you. I’d steeled myself against it. I’d been in love once before and, as you know, the experience cost me and others dearly.

“A green-card marriage seemed workable. I was determined not to involve my heart, but day after day you treated me with love and affection, chipping away at my defenses no matter how much I fortified them.

“When Ruth died… I don’t think I would’ve survived that time without you. Your comfort and love meant the world to me. I’ll always treasure our day at the beach.”

She stopped to catch her breath and to keep her voice from cracking. “This much is a fact—I love you, Alek, and I’m deeply sorry for the pain I caused you. I swear I’ll never doubt you again.” Tears fell unheeded from her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Julia.”

She noticed he didn’t call her my love the way he so often had in the past. Covering her face with her hands, she wiped away the moisture, expelled a sigh and forced herself to smile. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for contacting Roger?”

“If you can forgive me for letting my pride stand in the way.”

“Your pride? Oh, Alek, I trampled over it a hundred times, and still you loved me. I didn’t know how to deal with love and I made so many mistakes.”

“I made my own mistakes.”

“I asked Anna about you countless times, but she refuses to talk about you. I don’t think she’s forgiven me for hurting you.”

“Ah, my sister,” Alek said slowly. “She played the same game with me. I asked her about you so often, she finally told me that if I was so curious, I should go ask you myself.”

“She was right, you know. Neither of us had any business putting her in the middle, pumping her for information about the other.”

“I agree. But I still don’t like it that you didn’t tell me about our baby.”

Julia thought her heart would melt at the tender way he said baby. Alek was going to be a wonderful father. She hadn’t gone into this marriage with any great expectations; she hadn’t thought she’d be married long, despite her undeniable attraction to him. Falling in love with Alek had come as a delightful surprise.

His gentleness, his patience, his comfort had seen her through that bleak time surrounding Ruth’s final days and the dark weeks that followed. Without him, she would have become lost and tormented. How wise of Ruth to recognize the type of man Alek was. To recognize that he would become her compass, guiding her toward happiness.

“I would’ve eventually found a way of getting in touch with you,” Julia said. “Soon, too.… I don’t know how much longer I would’ve been able to keep this baby to myself.” She stopped talking, realizing Alek had come to her because he’d learned of her condition. Slowly she raised her eyes to his. “Who told you I was pregnant?”

If Jerry had known where Alek was all this time, she’d have a few words to say to him.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“All right, if you must know, a private detective told me.”

“You hired a detective to—”

“No, Jerry was the one who did the hiring. A man named Peck. Your brother thought it was my right to know about the baby.”

It didn’t escape Julia’s notice that he still hadn’t referred to her as his love.

“I see,” she said. “And now that you know, what do you expect to happen?”

He frowned. “That depends on several matters.”

“Yes?” she pressed when he didn’t elaborate. “What sort of matters?”

“I’ll expect to be a major part of our child’s life.”

Julia nodded in full agreement; she was hoping he’d be a major part of her life, too. “I’d like that. Is there anything else?” she asked when he didn’t continue.

Alek seemed to need time to think over his response. “I’d very much like to be your husband,” he finally said, “to live with you and love you and perhaps have another child. Would this be agreeable to you?”

She threw her arms around his neck with such fervor that she nearly toppled the chair he was sitting on.

“Be careful, my love….”

“Say that again.” She choked out the words through her tears. “Call me your love. Oh, Alek, I’ve missed hearing that so much. Wait, kiss me first.” She had so many requests he obviously didn’t know which one to comply with first. It didn’t take him long, though, to direct her mouth to his.

“My love.”

“Oh, Alek.”

“Julia.”

Their names were trapped between two hungry mouths. Between two eagerly beating hearts.

Their mouths strained toward each other. Julia felt the emotion rise within her. She’d missed him so much, more than she dared to admit even to herself. He was speaking to her in Russian, short snatches of words between frantic kisses.

She tightened her arms around his neck.

He surprised her by standing and carrying her into the bedroom. “You are so romantic,” she told him, languishing in his arms.

“I plan to get a whole lot more romantic in about thirty seconds.” His intentions were clear as he lovingly placed her on the bed.

“Oh, good.… Hurry, Alek, I’ve needed you so much.”

He stripped while she watched him, marveling at his maleness and his readiness for her. Sitting up, Julia struggled out of her T-shirt and tossed it aside. Her tennis shoes came next. “I really should shower,” she commented as the spandex pants flew in the opposite direction.

“No time now,” Alek said. “Later, we’ll shower together.”

“But I just finished a workout.”

“And you’re about to start another,” he said.

Long minutes later, they were exhausted, panting in each other’s arms, their bodies linked, their hands and hearts entwined.

“I love you, Alek.”

“You are my love,” he returned as their bodies thrilled, excited and satisfied each other.

Julia slept in her husband’s arms afterward, her head on his chest. When she stirred into wakefulness, she found his hand pressed against her abdomen and heard him communicating in whispers to his child. Since he was speaking Russian, she could only speculate on what he was saying.

He noticed her looking at him and smiled shyly. “I told him to be good to his mother.”

“Him?”

“A daughter would please me just as well.” He smiled. “Someday a young man will come to me and thank me for having fathered such a beautiful daughter. Wait, and you’ll see that I’m right.”

“Someday a young woman will come to me and tell me our son is totally awesome, or whatever expression is popular at the time.” She wrinkled her nose. “They change every few years, you realize.”

“I sometimes go crazy with the things you Americans say. Your strange idioms and slang—they’re constantly changing.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll catch on. I’ll help you.”

“Awesome,” he said with a mischievous grin.

They showered and Julia dressed in a thick terry-cloth robe and padded barefoot into the kitchen. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.”

Alek grinned again. “I see your appetite has increased.”

It was true. “I suppose it has.” She opened the refrigerator and took out a container of ice cream and served them both large bowls.

“Should we call Jerry?” Julia asked. “We seem to owe him a great deal.”

“No, I don’t want to share you with anyone just yet. Tomorrow will be soon enough. We’ll invite him and Anna,” he said, and Julia nodded delightedly.

They sat in the living room, cuddled against each other, eating their ice cream. “The late news is on,” Julia commented. “Okay with you if I turn it on?”

“Of course.” He took the empty bowl and set it aside. Then he brought her back against him. His roving hands distracted Julia from her intention and she gasped at the sensation that shot through her.

“I keep up with current events as much as I can,” she said, trying to get her mind off the subject at hand. “I missed the earlier newscast because I had a doctor’s appointment.”

Alek’s eyes widened with concern.

“It was the dentist, don’t worry.” She leaned forward to pick up the remote control. The screen flared to life just as the sportscaster began the latest update on the Mariners. It was heavenly to sit quietly with Alek’s arms around her.