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sandwich out of Gaia’s hands and threw it on the floor.
    â€œDon’t you dare correct me!” she screamed, slamming a hand on the counter. “You frightened me terribly, and you can’t even say you’re sorry. You’re rude, and you’re inconsiderate, and I wish you did not live in my house!”
    Gaia stared at her, mouth open in disbelief.
    â€œWould you chill out?” she said.
    â€œIt’s no big deal.” “It is a big deal,” Tatiana told her. “If my mother were here, I would tell her that I want you to leave.”
    â€œYour mother.” Gaia moaned, rolling her eyes again. “Yeah, there’s an authority figure I’d be comfortable with.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Tatiana snapped. “You are going to insult my mother?”
    Gaia seemed to be about to speak, but she stopped. “No. I wasn’t going to say anything.”
    â€œGood. Because if I had to have you permanently in my life, I’d. . .”
    Now it was Tatiana’s turn to hold back. She wasn’t going to give Gaia any ammunition to hurt her with. If Gaia didn’t know their parents were romantically involved, Tatiana wasn’t going to tell her.
    â€œI have to live with you, I suppose,” Tatiana said. “So until my mother returns from her trip, why don’t you move into the living room? You and I can avoid each other more easily that way. We don’t even have to meet in the kitchen if we stick to a schedule.”
    â€œFine. I hate sharing a room,” Gaia said. “I don’t need you all up in my business.” She picked up her sandwich from the floor, brushed it off, and took a bite, dribbling crumbs on the tiled floor. Then she strolled out of the kitchen and toward their bedroom, grabbing her duffel bag out of the front-hall closet on her way.
    â€œI don’t want to be inside of your business, anyway!” Tatiana called after her. “Damn!” she said, then let loose a torrent of curses in Russian. Gaia spoke about a bazillion languages. She’d probably get the gist.

T O M

    I’m not going to sit here and moan about my life. I made a choice as a young man, and I knew my existence would never truly be my own after that. But when I step back and look at it, I have to be impressed with the chaos I’ve survived.
    At least I’ve survived. I can’t say the same for a lot of people I loved.
    When Katia told me Gaia was coming, I wasn’t fully prepared to be a father. I was wrapped up in my wife and didn’t want to share her with anyone. But once Gaia was born, I was struck to the core. My God, this soft little creature looked to me and Katia for everything. We became a culture of three, a little tribe that stood outside the regular world and created our own society.
    I had twelve years of near bliss. Isn’t that more than most people get?
    And then it was taken away. And I don’t know if Albert Tennyson was right when he said that it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Because the absence of that warmth has been torture.
    Natasha has touched me in a way that no one has been able to since Katia’s death. Natasha’s giving me a taste of that bliss and, dare I think it, promising me the potential to live that way again. I fought her. I’ll admit it. I didn’t want to fall in love again. But this hitch in our plans—this day of complete idleness in the middle of an operation—is sealing the deal on my feelings for her.
    For a full twenty-four hours I have nothing to do but drink her in.
    I’m not a great believer in fate, but whatever the cause of our delay, it has had the result of pushing us together, when we’d never have found the time otherwise. And it seems like it’s just meant to be.
    Listen to me. I sound like a stupid kid. If I were my superior, I’d fire me in a second.

T A T I A N A

    Hello, Ed! Are you