Work Text:
February 1993
Valentine’s Day is a new concept to Alexei his first year in Ohio. Is it about celebrating love or is it a greeting card company’s capitalist manipulation of love? Either way, both reasons annoy him. He’s currently pretending to be a typical American husband and father while lusting after Melina, his partner and quite possibly the most beautiful woman in the world, waiting as patiently as he can for any sign that she desires him as much as he desires her. She must know, at least. She is very smart. A genius, he’s been told. And there have been no signs in the six months they have been in Ohio, so clearly she doesn’t. He hates this mission. He’s beginning to think Dreykov is punishing him for something.
Because of this tedium, he can easily play the typical sexually frustrated American husband and commiserate with his male coworkers at the North Institute. In the days leading up to the holiday weekend, they worry over what to get their wives or girlfriends at the last minute. Most of the men have procrastinated and will be in “some serious shit.” The next day, after their lack of preparation has resulted in a night on the couch, they’ll blame it on the long hours at work , but really they’re just assholes. Alexei knows this. And because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself, he pretends to be one too. It’s far too easy.
As a Russian, he wasn’t much aware of the holiday and it being his first February in Ohio, he only became aware of it when he ran an errand with the girls and was inundated with all of the pink and red hearts and cards festooning the local pharmacy’s card and candy aisles. He was sure Melina was aware of it, as she was of all aspects of their mission, and that she would come up with a story to tell the guys back at work. She might even tell him to tell the guys he got her lingerie and she really liked it, knowingly twisting the knife like the trained Widow she is. Their imaginary sex life is quite amazing when he’s told to bring it up with colleagues or neighbors over beers, their actual sex life is nonexistent and, therefore, extremely frustrating.
Alexei is correct. Melina is fully aware of the holiday. She is on top of everything. To play the perfect Midwestern stay-at-home mom, she makes sure Nat gets a box of valentines to hand out to her classmates the Friday before the holiday. Nat picks out Snoopy ones that don’t express anything more than general friendship.
The night before the class party, while Alexei shovels the snow on the driveway with ease, the girls huddle over the dining room table sorting through the box of valentines. Yelena has been appeased with sticker duty since she has no such festivities of her own to attend and it was a task Natasha didn’t mind relinquishing.
Melina goes through the list of Nat’s classmates that came from Mrs. Beebe, checking off the names before Yelena affixes stickers.
“Did you get both Lauras?”
“Yes.”
“And both Lindsays? And that they have different spellings?”
“Yes and yes.” Nat checks her spelling on the flimsy envelopes before handing them over to her little sister.
“All three Michaels? 3?”
“Yes. And Mrs. O’Hara’s class has two Michaels.”
“American originality,” Melina says snidely under her breath before directing her attention to Yelena reaching across the table to the candy bowl. “That’s enough candy hearts for you, Little Miss! Focus on the stickers.”
“But, Mama! I only had … 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!” Yelena complains as she counts on her left hand, each finger on her right affixed with a sticker.
Melina picks up the crystal dish and moves it to a high spot on the shelves, hoping Yelena doesn’t get the idea to climb it later like the feral child she often is.
When all 21 cards are accounted for and placed in Nat’s homemade valentine mailbox – a shoebox adorned with pink and white tissue paper – for safekeeping, Melina gets the girls to go get ready for bed. Alexei comes back inside, wearing his winter coat over a T-shirt and his grey sweatpants, stomping the snow from his boots. He steps out of them and sheds the coat. He does not notice Melina staring at him a little too long as he is checking out the cards. As Melina goes upstairs to check on the girls, she reminds him of Nat’s school party. She doesn’t notice that Alexei snags one of the remaining cards.
The Rushmans don’t do much to acknowledge the actual holiday other than Nat sharing the leftover candy with her sister. The girls watch The Princess Bride after dinner while the adults tackle the dishes. The girls fall asleep before the movie ends, laying across their parents. Alexei stares a little too long at Melina when Westley compliments Buttercup on her perfect breasts. Before Melina can notice, he stands up to carry Nat up to bed and turns off the TV. She carries Yelena up. The girls are tucked in and the adults go to bed. Another day in suburban purgatory for Alexei Shostakov.
Before heading to work Feb. 15, while they get the girls ready for the day, Melina details how Al and Melanie Rushman celebrated Valentine’s Day. Al bought her flowers and whispers “lingerie” – again he was correct that she would twist that knife – and Melanie made Al’s favorite meal – lasagna – from scratch and not pre-made from the frozen food section like Melina actually did. Melina also puts one of the leftover Snoopy cards in his lunch bag. Little did she know that he had left a similar one on her bedside table before he left for work.
Alexei lets the assholes at work believe it’s from his daughters, but to him it gives him hope.
Melina finds the one he left for her when she goes to make the bed. It makes her smile and she tucks in the book she’s started reading.
*
February 1994
This year is better. No more sexual frustration. Their actual sex life is a million times better than anything he could share with his co-workers. It’s real. In fact, he doesn’t want to share any details with those assholes. This year, he’s in love.
That doesn’t mean he and Melina will succumb to an American capitalist holiday. This year, they return to the store to once again pick out valentines for Natasha’s class, holding hands, as they do now, while Yelena suggests cards for Nat.
“You should get Disney princesses this year!”
“No way! I want these.” Nat says as she picks up the box for Animaniacs.
The family makes their way to the cashier. Yelena tries her very best to grab some candy along the way and Alexei wrangles the 4-year-old around the middle to stop her.
“Daddy, please!” He easily picks her up with his free hand.
“It’s almost as bad as Halloween,” Alexei says to Melina, Yelena twisting to get out of the super soldier’s firm grasp with no luck.
“Almost? It’s just as bad. All the hearts.”
“So you don’t want me to get you anything this year?”
“We don’t need the greeting card companies to celebrate. I bet there isn’t a card for our situation, anyway.” She whispers.
“Certainly not.” He whispers back at her.
*
When he leaves work on the 14th, the same assholes are making the same comments they made the year before. He plays along, pretending to be just another clueless husband.
He and Melina don’t have major plans, but they are real. Not just scenarios concocted merely to tell his coworkers or their neighbors later on. Plans that a couple in love would make who just happen to have two young girls and no babysitter for the night. Plans to stay home when it’s been hovering around zero degrees for the past week and Melina has expressed repeatedly that she has no desire to wear heels in the snowdrifts of Ohio. Plans that include Melina cooking a special dinner just for the adults and ordering a pizza for the girls, and possibly a few other activities after the girls go to bed.
Before Alexei returns home, Melina is tackling a recipe she got from her pal Donna a few weeks ago, something Donna called “the love meal.” A lamb dish. She’s never cooked lamb before, but in the past 18 months, she has learned how to follow a recipe pretty well and how to keep the girls, especially Yelena, occupied when trying something new. Once Nat returns from school, she plants the girls in front of the TV, finding them cartoons to watch.
Nat also keeps her little sister occupied by showing off the valentines she received that day from her classmates, nothing romantic, just general friendship, but the younger girl doesn’t understand that. Yelena marvels at the various cards, the ones with Lisa Frank animals, Looney Tunes characters, Michael Jordan and more.
“Does this soccer valentine from Jake mean he’s your boyfriend?”
“No. Everyone had to give everyone a card.”
Melina hears bits of their conversation and asks from the kitchen, “Little Miss, where did you hear the word boyfriend?”
“TV!”
“Great.” Melina sighs quietly as she peels carrots.
The doorbell rings. “Nat, that must be the pizza I ordered for you two. Grab the cash on the counter and get it please. You can give it all to the guy.”
“Sure, Mom!” Nat replies, as Yelena follows her to the door cheering for pizza. The little girl was a little concerned about what her mom was cooking for dinner anyway. Nat pays the delivery guy and carefully brings the pizza to the counter, Melina brings down plates and gets some milk for the girls.
“I’m going to let you sit in the living room, so be very careful.”
“OK, Mama. Thank you.” Yelena beams up at her before carefully taking her plate and cup to the living room.
Soon after, Alexei returns from work, shedding his coat. He kisses his girls on their foreheads as they eat their pizza who barely notice him. “Did you save me a slice at least?”
“You and I are eating something else, babe! It’s almost done. Go wash up and sit at the dining table.” Melina shouts from the kitchen island.
“OK,” he responds as he makes his way up to the kitchen. He checks her out. She’s wearing a plaid shirt of his, a pair of sweatpants and white gym socks, it is 4 degrees outside, and she looks utterly devastating. What can he say? He’s a man in love.
He wraps his arms around her midsection, skimming the waistband of the sweatpants with his rough and cold fingers. She bats his hands away as she shivers at his touch. He relents but tugs lightly at the flannel shirt. “Is this one of mine?”
“Yes,” she answers with no shame. He hums as he heads upstairs to clean up as she gets the lamb out of the oven.
When he returns he surveys the dining room set up for just the two of them, asking if Melina would like some wine with dinner.
“Yeah, some of the Pinot Noir would be nice. Thank you.”
She brings the side dishes – roasted carrots and potatoes – to the table and takes a sip before returning to get the lamb that’s been resting. He offers to carry it and she says she can. “Sit, sit.”
He does what he is told. He sits and takes in a smiling, happy Melina bringing the lamb dish to the table. Her smile could get him to stay an eternity in suburban purgatory.
Since this is a new recipe, Melina is quite nervous about the dish. She sits next to Alexei, her chin resting on her hands, as he takes a bite. He makes an enthusiastic noise. He likes it. Very much.
“Vkusnyye! This is delicious.” He gives her a quick peck with a little lamb juice dribbling off from his lips. She smiles and starts to eat from her own plate. She takes a sip of her wine.
Since the girls have their pizza, there will be leftovers of the adults’ dinner. Leftovers Melina plans to pack in Alexei’s lunch the next day. Leftovers he can show off to his co-workers. No detail is too small in her plans.
At some point, after she finished her plate and he’s on his second helping of everything, she climbs into his lap. She gently wraps her left hand around his neck and makes him stop eating so she can give him a big kiss and then another one; her right hand pauses on a button on her shirt making sure he notices before she undoes it and then the next to reveal a red bra. His eyes obey her unspoken command.
“That’s new.” He knows all of her underwear by now.
“I couldn’t resist some capitalist manipulation,” she whispers into his ear.
“How am I to resist?” he responds before kissing her neck. She lets him, knowing full well that she’s going to have a hickey if he continues. She won’t mind wearing a turtleneck tomorrow anyway. Or maybe she won’t wear something to hide it and it’ll give some of the ladies at school dropoff something to gossip about.
“Mama, I finished my milk and I didn’t spill!” Yelena yells, peeking from around the corner.
“Until later,” Melina whispers in his ear before switching back to mom mode and getting up from his lap and buttoning just one button, “Good job, Little Miss. I knew you could.” Melina taps Yelena’s nose as she takes her plate and cup and proceeds to check on Natasha.
Yelena beams at the praise, and confidently skips over to Alexei and gives it a curious glance at his plate. “Daddy, there’s some pizza left if you want it.”
“No thank you. The pizza is for you and your sister. Mama made me a special meal. It’s delicious.”
“Is it?” Yelena asks with all the seriousness the 4 year-old can muster. Nothing could be tastier than the pepperoni pizza she just had. Nothing. He pulls up the little girl to his lap and teases her with the last carrot on his plate before he eats it.
Nat rushes into the kitchen with her plate and empty cup and rushes out with Melina urging her to go take her bath. Melina returns to the dining room and sees Yelena in her former spot in Alexei’s lap. She takes her plate and Alexei’s to the kitchen. She both wants her spot back and Yelena to get her pajamas on for the next phase of the evening.
“Little Miss, I think we can skip your bath tonight, but I want you to go and get your pajamas on. The pink ones, remember? And then I have another treat for you and your sister. OK?”
Intrigued by the idea of another treat, Yelena eagerly gets down from her dad’s lap and runs to her room. “OK!”
“You go and get comfy clothes on.” She tells Alexei.
“The grey sweatpants?” He smiles up at her.
“Yeah, the grey sweatpants.” She smiles back at him, that damn smile of hers. He knows his sweatpants are the equivalent of the red lingerie she has on at the moment. They appear very casual, very fatherly, but somehow they do things to her like nothing else.
“In front of the children?” He jokes.
She gives him a quick peck, then says, “The movie will distract them. Also, they’ll fall asleep soon enough. Just like last year.”
Once the girls return in their pajamas and Alexei in his sweatpants and T-shirt, Melina pulls out dessert bowls and the butterscotch pudding she made earlier from the fridge. The girls are all snuggled on the couch next to their dad and Melina puts in the family’s VHS tape of The Princess Bride before taking her spot between Nat and Alexei.
The girls have memorized the movie in the past year. Yelena often repeats the giant’s line of “I only dog paddle” a lot, because of her continuing obsession with dogs. She tries her best to imitate the man’s voice. While Nat likes Inigo Montoya’s repeated phrase. Many a tickle fight between the girls has started with Nat repeating it; the tickle fights either in laughter or tears. Tears, mostly.
Same as last year, the girls fall asleep before the end. Same as last year, when Westley compliments Buttercup’s breasts, Alexei gawks at Melina. This year, however, Melina notices. She blushes. Same as last year, he gets up and carries a sleeping girl up to her bed, Yelena this time, while she nudges Nat awake long enough to walk her to bed.
Melina removes her sweatpants and dingy socks when she enters their bedroom and waits for Alexei at the foot of their bed. Desire pools within her. She’s a woman in love, a fact that never fails to surprise her. She had no idea it was possible, especially with a man like Alexei. That he loves her back is just as surprising. She wasn’t raised to love someone, to be loved.
She can hear him close Yelena’s door and pad downstairs to check on locks and lights. She can hear the excitement in his quick steps up to their room.
“Get up here!” She wants to yell loud enough to wake the girls, to wake the whole neighborhood, but she restrains herself.
His excitement, his own desire for her, is evident on his face when he rushes into the room and closes the door behind him. His eyes light up when he sees her eager for him to return to her, half-naked.
He pounces on her, pushing her on the bed with a fraction of his strength. He abstains from his typical first move and starts unbuttoning his former shirt while also kissing her neck. Maybe she will get that hickey after all. Before he has the last button tackled, she stops his work with the slightest movement of her hand. He obeys and looks at her wondering if he has done anything wrong.
She smiles. It reassures him.
“Check the pocket,” she says softly to him. Being this sentimental, this intimate, even with him is almost too much. She wasn’t brought up to be this way. She is glad it’s with him, so very glad.
With eyebrows raised, he pushes himself up slightly and nimbly reaches inside her shirt pocket, copping a feel of one of her perfect breasts as well. He pulls out the Snoopy card he gave her last year. How he didn’t notice earlier isn’t a mystery, he was distracted by the peek at her new bra.
“Melina! You kept it!” His smile grows like a character in the cartoons the girls watch on Saturday mornings.
She smiles and nods, unable to speak, to express how much love she has for him. In her head, she blames the stupid “capitalist holiday” manipulating her and Alexei. But really she can’t blame it on anything but what’s in her heart and his. He kisses her passionately, clutching the sides of her face, and then suddenly rolls away from her. She’s taken aback and pushes herself up on her elbows as he gets up and walks over to his discarded khakis. He pulls something out of his wallet and walks back to the bed. She is curious. She sits up.
“I have kept this,” he brings up the valentine she gave him, “since last year.”
He hands it to her and he gets to see her smile again. She smiles down at it and then back at him. She has no words. Her brain, so full of knowledge, so full of facts, cannot find the words to express to him how dear this is to her. She takes the valentine she gave him tonight and puts both on his nightstand. Perched on the lamp.
She then pulls herself up and starts to unbutton the remaining button on her shirt. On his shirt. He does his best not to crush her.
*
The next day, at lunch the guys take notice of leftover lamb chops and he shares that he and his girls had a very quiet night in, watching The Princess Bride. The other men brag that they got a new golf club or something and got their ladies awful jewelry. He doesn’t mention the return of the Snoopy cards. It’s something between him and Melina, and only them.