93The end of May came and went in the blink of an eye. Dimitri and I had taken Levi and Katerina to the beach over Memorial Day weekend and had gotten back to Austin late last night. When I woke up the next morning, Dimitri wasn't beside me, but his side was still warm. I couldn't hear any noise in the house, so I took a moment to myself and scrolled through the notifications on my phone.
The first email I noticed was from my professor for my Intro to Gender Studies course. She wanted to meet for lunch sometime this week, so I emailed her back, letting her know that I could meet today if she was available.
A reply with a location and time came less than five minutes later. I felt uneasy as I got out of bed and went in search of Dimitri. It didn't take long to find him. I leaned against the door frame of Levi's room, watching Dimitri soothe him while changing his diaper. I smiled as I watched them interact; Levi was smiling as Dimitri played with his toes.
Dimitri snapped Levi's onesie back in place and lifted him into his arms. He noticed me as he looked up and smiled.
"Hello, Roza," he murmured, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"Hi," I said, taking Levi from him and cradling him close. "You're great with him."
Dimitri smiled again. "He's an easy baby."
I bit my lip before looking up at Dimitri. "Do you want children? Children of your own, I mean."
He gave me a look. "Katya and Levi are my children. At least in my eyes, they are. It doesn't matter to me if they're biologically mine or not."
I pressed the subject anyways. "But do you want that? Biological children?"
Dimitri sighed. "I've always wanted kids. I doted on my nephew for years because he was the only child in my life because of my want for children. But like I said, to me, Katerina and Levi are mine. That being said, if a third child is something that you're interested in, I wouldn't be opposed."
"Okay," I said. "It wouldn't be any time soon since we have a few obstacles to overcome first, but I would love to have a baby with you. I've always wanted a big family."
Dimitri's smile was blinding, and he leaned down to kiss me. Levi squirmed in my arms, and Dimitri pressed a kiss to his forehead too.
"It doesn't matter how long it takes," he said. "We're both still young. We have years to have more children. Not to mention that it would probably be best to wait until Katerina and Levi are older to add another child, especially since he's going to be crawling soon," Dimitri said as we walked down the hallway towards Katerina's room.
"Don't remind me," I said. "He's growing too fast."
We both paused outside of her room. I peeked into her room and saw that she was still sound asleep.
"Will you wake Sleeping Beauty while I feed this guy? They both need to get some new clothes, so I was thinking of taking them to the mall. And one of my professors for the fall emailed me and asked if I would be able to meet with her sometime this week, so I told her that I could meet her this afternoon."
"Are you going to take them to the meeting?"
"Yeah, I was planning on it because I told her that I would meet her for lunch at a small restaurant right near campus."
"I'll come with you to the mall, and then I'll take them while you're in the meeting. Find a park or somewhere so Katerina can play and have fun," he said, heading into Katerina's room.
"You're the best," I said as I walked down the stairs and into the living room.
An hour and a half later, we were pulling up to an Old Navy near downtown. Giant signs in the window advertised the sales they had going on, including most baby and toddler items on sale for $4.99.
As we got closer to the doors, having situated Katerina and Levi in the stroller, I saw a smaller sign that advertised the fact that they were hiring.
"Maybe I should apply here," I said as we walked into the store.
"You can, if you want," Dimitri said, his eyebrows furrowed. "But you don't have to, Rose. I make more than enough within my position at the FBI that you wouldn't have to worry about getting a part-time job."
"I know," I said. "I looked up the salaries once. But I just want to feel like I'm contributing."
Dimitri pulled me aside, into a corner of the men's section. "Roza, you are contributing. You basically paid for the house and so much else, and raising Katerina and Levi is already a full-time job. I'm not going to force you to not apply or anything, but I don't want you to feel as though it's necessary."
"I consider it," I said, before walking to the baby section.
I took advantage of the sales, stocking up on onesies in a variety of sizes since it was unlikely that they'd be on a giant sale like this any time soon. For Levi, I picked out matching Team Mommy and Team Daddy onesies, a grey one that said Best Bro Ever as well as a couple of striped ones. Dimitri grabbed a red dinosaur one off the shelf in a couple of different sizes as well as a few plain grey and black ones. We both laughed at a long sleeve onesie that had a vampire on it with the words teething is scary, and Dimitri added it to the cart since Levi would start teething any day now. We grabbed a few romper-looking onesies too, including a grey one with rainbow stripes and a blue one that had moons on it. Dimitri added a handful of shorts to the bag before we moved on to the toddler section for Katerina.
I picked out a couple of floral rompers for her to wear that she noticed immediately while Dimitri grabbed a grey sweatshirt that had a sun on it and said hello sunshine. Katerina also immediately ran over to the leggings section and picked out a couple of pairs of polka dot leggings in pink, purple, and blue. She also got matching polka dot shorts and a handful of t-shirts and tank tops. There was a recurring theme of polka dots and Minnie Mouse in her shirts, but it was exciting seeing her so happy. She also got a yellow totally amazing sister shirt to match Levi's best bro onesie before we moved on to dresses. She picked out matching blue and pink patterned dresses, while I grabbed a couple of striped and plain colored dresses.
By the time that we got to the checkout, we had spent well over five hundred dollars, but they were both going to be set for months now in terms of clothes, and I could never resist a good sale.
Dimitri dropped me off in the parking lot of the restaurant after Old Navy and promised to stay close by in case I needed something or in case the kids needed something from me.
The second I stepped into Kerbey Lane Café, I felt like I was being transported to heaven. The entire restaurant smelled so delicious, and as a waitress passed with a steaming bowl of queso, I fell even more in love. I knew that I would have to bring Dimitri and the kids back here another day because Dimitri would surely love it, and I had no doubt that it would become a regular place for us.
It took me a few seconds to spot my professor, but as soon as she saw me, she waved me over. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach, and I tried to push it away.
"Hi, Rose," the woman said, a smile on her face. "Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."
"Thank you for reaching out, Professor Novak," I said, sitting down across from her.
"Please, call me Beth."
The waiter came over to take our drink orders and Beth ordered a Coke and a bowl of the queso that I had been eyeing on the way in. I ordered water with lemon.
"I really do appreciate you meeting with me on such short notice, especially since we're still a few months out from classes beginning. I also apologize for emailing your personal account, but that was all that the school had on file since you haven't created your student email yet."
"I'm excited for classes to begin, actually. It's been a while since I was in an academic setting, and while I wasn't originally going to reapply to universities, my best friend pushed me to, and I'm actually glad that I did. UT Austin seems like a great university to attend."
Something flickered in her face, but she didn't say anything as the waiter placed the chips and queso on the table.
"Are y'all ready to order?"
Beth went first, ordering off the lunch menu, while I stuck to the breakfast menu and ordered a cinnamon roll pancake. He jotted down our orders before hurrying off again.
"Yes," Beth said, picking up our conversation once more. "UT Austin is one of the best schools to attend, but maybe I'm a bit biased. But you returning to school is actually what I wanted to talk to you about."
Confusion must have shown on my face because she continued.
"The reason I asked you to lunch today is because I wanted to discuss the syllabus with you," she said, pulling out a packet of paper. "One of the modules we'll be covering in the course this semester involves crimes committed against women, both sexual and nonsexual."
The feeling of dread came back.
"And one of the cases I had included in the syllabus is yours."
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