boyfriend? That certainly wouldn't be a normal question for a kid to ask about another man unless they knew their loved one liked boys instead of girls.
The knowledge that Nikolai apparently played for my team should've been just another piece of information, but it opened up a whole new can of worms. First off, I now had this almost obscene hope that I somehow had more of a chance with the man. And second, while I realized Dannie wasn't any kind of threat, it was now even more likely that Nikolai had or would hook up with Angel.
"Jude," I heard Nikolai say. I didn't realize how far into my head I’d gone until I came back to earth and found myself face-to-face with an older man and woman who were standing beside Nikolai. The man I recognized as his father, which meant the woman was probably his mother. Good Lord, how long had they been standing there and how much of the conversation had I missed?
I needed to get it together. The fact that Nikolai was gay changed absolutely nothing.
"What? Sorry," I blurted as I looked frantically around. Nikolai was still holding his niece in his arms, but he managed to free one hand up enough to close gently around my upper arm. I didn’t allow myself to read too much into the move.
"Jude, these are my parents, Dimitri and Anna Falkov."
The older couple both smiled and nodded their heads at me. Then they began speaking Russian to their son.
"They say it's nice to meet you," Nikolai said, then explained, "They both understand a little bit of English but don't speak much of it."
"It's nice to meet you too," I said to the man and woman. Dimitri looked like an older version of Nikolai while his mother was considerably shorter than her husband and son. She had a warm energy to her and smelled like cinnamon. I recalled the fact that the parents owned a bakery. Right after that came the memory of throwing their struggling business in their son’s face.
God, I'm such a dick.
The need to escape became greater and greater.
"Falkov?" someone called. We all looked down the hall to see a nurse scanning the area. Nikolai's parents immediately rushed toward her. Nikolai looked at me and said, “There must be news on Maks."
"Go," I said with a jerk of my head. "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded.
“Don’t leave," Nikolai said.
As much as I wanted to get the hell out of there, I knew that if I left, Nikolai would feel obligated to come after me. I couldn't and wouldn’t do that to Nikolai or his family.
"I'll stay, I promise.”
Nikolai held my eyes for a moment before nodding. He took a few steps down the hall but stopped when his niece whispered something to him. He looked down at her and then turned around. "Are you okay if she stays with you?" Nikolai asked. “She’s not a fan of hospitals."
I looked at the little girl. "Of course," I said. "That's fine."
I had no clue what to do with the child, but if keeping an eye on her helped Nikolai out, I’d do it. I considered his comment about her not liking hospitals and again wondered if this wasn't a first-time experience for the family.
Nikolai said something in Russian to the little girl and set her on her feet. She sidled up next to me and put her hand in mine.
"Thank you," Nikolai said to me. He gave my free hand a squeeze before he turned to join his parents. The nurse led them into a room.
I looked down at Natalia. "Do you want to sit?" I asked. I looked over my shoulder at the busy waiting room.
"There's a play area over there," she said as she pointed to a small room across from the waiting area. "They have good Legos."
I let the little girl lead me to a large room that was packed with kids playing with various toys. Natalia held on to my hand as she directed me to a corner where there was a large plastic bin.
"Sit," she said as she dropped to the floor and crossed her legs. She began rifling through the bin until she found a smaller plastic container packed full of Legos which she promptly dumped between us. I felt a little awkward being one of the only adults actually interacting with a child in the room, but once Natalia began explaining what she wanted to build, it was surprisingly easy to drown