ROMANOV AUTUMN
Chapter Thirty

Jack and Alyiah had a bit of difficulty accepting the loss of their newborn son. Alyiah felt it was her fault, and it took several days before she could look Jack in the eye.

"If you think I’m blaming you for this, you’re crazy," he said, taking her hand and squeezing it firmly. "It was not your fault."

She closed her eyes when he kissed her, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

Alyiah eventually recovered from the ordeal, and the two of them tried to get on with their lives as they had before. It helped considerably that The Nutcracker rehearsals were fully underway, though Alyiah could not participate in the dancing any longer. However, Jack allowed her to help him with the set, and taught her to paint using watercolors. She was actually quite good, and it gave them time to be alone together, as well.

More often than not, they would forget about work and begin kissing, only to be interrupted and scolded lightly by Mme Artoire.

Gabrielle was ecstatic about her chance to finally meet the Imperial family on opening night, and Alyiah had to calm her down several times. The performance went very well, and she was received with a standing ovation and roses at her feet.

It was a great surprise, however, when the Tsar asked for Alyiah specifically on opening night…both she and Jack, even though they were not expected to meet him.

"Sir, I am honored," Alyiah breathed after curtsying, and the Tsar smiled kindly.

"When I was introduced to Gabrielle, she told me you had retired from the company," he began in a soft tone, and Alyiah felt her cheeks growing very warm. She eyed Jack uncomfortably, and he merely smiled in response. "I wanted to wish the best of luck to both of you, and to give you a little token of our appreciation."

Alyiah’s mouth opened and closed as the Tsarina presented both of them with velvet boxes, and they were encouraged to open the gifts immediately. Jack fumbled with the latch, and when he opened the top of the box, he found a solid gold Faberge egg inside. It was not very big, but when he was told to open the egg, a small replica of the double-headed eagle came out with a tinkle of music.

"Wow," he breathed, and Alyiah couldn’t speak, she was so thrilled. "Thank you very much…"

"You are welcome," the Tsar replied. "It will be a shame not to see either of you again, though I am glad we were able to be introduced." He held out a hand, which Jack took timidly, and Alyiah immediately fell at her rulers’ feet, praising him repeatedly in Russian. Jack felt his throat choke up with emotion as he watched this, and soon they were called away.

Mme Artoire beamed with pride when she saw the golden eggs, and warned them to keep the tokens safe.

"We will," Alyiah gasped, and clutched the egg to her breast.

When the final performance was over, a farewell party was held for Alyiah and Jack. There were many tears shed, but Alyiah promised her friends she would try to return to Paris someday.

"You have been such a good friend to us," Elise sobbed. "I will not know what to do without you here."

Alyiah kissed Elise on both cheeks and smiled. "You will be fine," she insisted, and felt Jack put his arm around her shoulders, glancing up at him. He had grown quite a bit over the past few months, and though his face still held that youthful smoothness, he was clearly edging into adulthood. After all, he would be nineteen the coming year, which would be 1901.

After the party, Jack and Alyiah parted ways so they could begin the process of packing up their things. Jack still did not have very much, a mere duffle bag full of clothing. The Romanov egg he covered with a handkerchief and tucked it very safely in the bag, making certain the fabric had not torn due to excessive use.

A light snow began to fall the night before their departure, and Jack sat watching it through the window. He’d been through so much since leaving home; most of it seemed very surreal. Especially now that he’d met the Tsar of Russia, he felt as though he were living in some type of fairytale!

Alyiah came to his room around nine o‘clock, shivering from being out in the cold despite her cloak. Jack drew her into an embrace, rubbing her arms and shoulders in an attempt to warm her. She sat with him on his bed, picking at a frill in the quilt.

"It is very hard to believe I may never see this place again," she told him sadly, and he smiled.

"Maybe we will for a honeymoon?" he suggested, and she grinned, leaning in for a kiss on the lips.

"Perhaps," she replied. "Oh, I do hope my parents will approve! I don’t know what I will do otherwise!"

Jack cleared his throat. "Well, all we can do is let the chips fall where they may," he replied, and confusion filled her expression. "It’s an American expression," he explained, "which basically means let life take it’s natural course."

Alyiah nodded in understanding, and leaned her head against her chest. "If I cannot have you, I will never be complete," she whispered, and Jack hugged her tightly. "Oh, Jack…I…I still do not understand why we could not keep our son," she whispered. "It is not fair!" She began to weep softly, and Jack placed his lips against her hair.

"Some things don’t have rhyme or reason for them," he replied. "Alyiah…did you see him?" he asked, and she hiccoughed, listening to the beat of his heart.

"No," she replied. "They took him away."

Jack closed his eyes for a moment; he could see Dr. Granier’s point in doing that…the sight of a dead child, especially if it was your own, would have been traumatizing.

"We’re going to have a fresh start," he promised her, and she wiped her eyes, gazing at him.

"It’ll take time, but we’ll have another chance." He kissed her, and she stared at him, wanting to question his idea, but the look in his eyes told her not to. When she finally fell asleep, Jack settled down amongst his pillows and drifted off, as well.

*****

Noel woke them in the morning, and a carriage took them to the docks after many sad good-byes. Jack wasn’t looking forward to another ship voyage, especially due to the fact that he had a tendency to get seasick.

Alyiah, however, was thrilled to be on the Baltic again. She told Jack how much she loved leaning on the deck and gazing out at the ocean, daydreaming about what could possibly be past the horizon line.

Jack stood with her on deck as they prepared to leave port, and both jumped when the great horn gave two loud blasts in warning. They had a comfortable cabin in second class, with a nice porthole window.

The first couple of nights, Jack was awakened by violent bouts of nausea, and Alyiah sat with him while he retched repeatedly into a bucket. When he wasn’t getting sick, she blotted his sweat-covered face with a cool, damp rag, and tried to calm him with a Russian lullaby.

He thankfully felt much better after the first week of sailing, and was able to join Alyiah in the fresh air. However, due to the winter weather quickly approaching, it was quite cold, and they could only stay outside for a short amount of time.

When they weren’t on deck, they sat reading or writing in the small library. Jack prepared another letter for Olivia, guilty that he hadn’t written anything in the past few months. He was unsure of whether or not to write about his tragedy with Alyiah’s pregnancy, but decided he had a duty to be truthful. I owe her that much, after leaving without much notice, he thought, and had a hard time fighting back tears as he did so.

Thankfully, Alyiah was so immersed in her book, she did not notice.

*****

The trip to Russia took three full weeks, and they arrived a couple of days before Christmas. Alyiah was not at all surprised to see a thick blanket of snow on the ground…the cold in Russia was extremely bitter, which made a typical Wisconsin winter seem warm. As Jack stood outside, he watched his breath come in white puffs, and in less than a full minute, his nose was practically numb.

They took the train from a station near the shipyard to a station about four miles away from the capitol, St. Petersburg. Jack stared through the window as they passed the buildings, which were capped by great golden domes.

"Don’t worry so." Alyiah chuckled when she saw him fidgeting, and he turned, forcing a smile when she reached for his hand.

They arrived at the station by early afternoon, and Jack watched as Alyiah bolted for a middle-aged man who was dressed in thick brown trousers and a cotton shirt. He lifted her into his arms and they began laughing, speaking very quickly in Russian. Jack immediately felt like a stranger; Alyiah spoke French for the most part while they were in Paris…she occasionally went into her own language, but it wasn’t often.

Eventually she pulled Jack over and introduced the man as her eldest brother, Sergei. She spoke in Russian again, and Sergei eyed Jack with the utmost curiosity, stretching out his hand. Jack shook it with a polite nod, and glanced at Alyiah, who was smiling widely. They were taken to a horse-drawn cart without a cover, and Alyiah explained that the ride to her family cottage would take about a half an hour.

Jack was shivering violently by the time they reached the Vernonin home, and had difficulty keeping his teeth from chattering. Alyiah’s body heat was the only thing that made the trip somewhat bearable, and Jack was slightly embarrassed when he gave a violent sneeze after entering the stone cottage.

"Oh, dear." Alyiah sighed after blessing him, and led him to the main room by the fireplace. "You are completely frozen!" She touched his icy cheeks with her hands and glanced at her brother, whose dark hair was covered in white flakes of snow. She asked Sergei if a fresh pot of tea could be prepared, and at that moment, a woman close to Alyiah’s age came running down the steps. Immediately Alyiah broke away from Jack, embracing the new arrival, and they once again began speaking in Russian.

Jack discovered that it was her sister, Geena, a tall girl with curly blonde hair and dark eyes. She looked similar to Alyiah in the face, but it was much more square. When Alyiah brought Geena to meet Jack, the sister smiled and gave a small curtsey.

"It’s a pleasure," Jack replied.

She looked at him intently before saying, "Thank you."

Jack glanced at Alyiah with surprise, and she chuckled.

"I have taught my sister a bit of English," she replied. "Sergei knows a little, as well as my other brothers, Abram, Gleb, and Pyotr. However, Abram and Gleb are out doing their jobs in the village, and Pyotr is upstairs in his room."

Oh, boy, Jack thought, rubbing his still-cold nose, and watched as Alyiah continued to converse with her siblings. He thanked Sergei when he was offered a cup of tea, and blew on the steaming liquid before taking a sip.

"Where are Father and Mother?" Alyiah asked Geena, who pointed upstairs.

"Resting," she replied, and Alyiah excused herself to hitch her skirts and alert her parents of her arrival. Jack, meanwhile, was encouraged to sit down in the main room and make himself comfortable. Or, at least, that was what he gathered from the way Geena treated him. Sergei merely watched him very closely, clearly hesitant to trust this intruder on their family.

When Alyiah came down again, she was helping a rather old man to walk, and a woman slightly younger was following them. She was smiling when the man reached the ground, and he blinked through rather large glasses at Jack as she pointed to him.

Jack stood at once and waited for further instruction. Normally in America, a new guest was greeted with a shake of the hand, but he was unsure if it was the same in Russia. However, Sergei did just that at the train station, but he did not want to overpower Alyiah’s elderly parents.

When she introduced him at last, they began asking questions in Russian, and she warned them that he did not speak it very well. Mr. Vernonin hobbled over to his guest and held out a hand, which Jack took and shook gently. Mrs. Vernonin listened patiently as Alyiah explained how she and Jack met; how he rescued her and was approved to work for the ballet company. They were gracious for this, naturally, but when Alyiah mentioned they wanted their relationship to go further than friendship, Mr. Vernonin pulled his daughter into the main room at once.

Jack once again was left to stand waiting awkwardly, and he glanced at Geena, who was smiling at him. "You are in love with my sister?" she asked once they were alone, and he looked at her, his heart racing with anxiety. This was the moment of truth; if Alyiah’s parents forbade their possible marriage, he did not know what they would do. Perhaps eloping was possible; after all, the Vernonins apparently struggled with Alyiah in the household, so her loss would be their gain. But he did not want her to be disowned in any way, and was grateful he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

"Yes, very much," he replied, and Geena gave him another smile.

"I can tell," she said, "by how you look at her, and how she looks at you."

Jack blushed, straining his ears for any sign of crying in protest, but it sounded fairly quiet in the main room. No one spoke a word until Alyiah came out, and Jack held his breath. When she embraced him tightly, he felt every muscle in his body relax at once, and accepted a kiss from her.

"What did they say?" he asked, touching her cheeks with his fingertips, and she smiled at him.

"They have agreed to at least a year long engagement," she replied. "They want you to find steady employment. It helped considerably when I told them you had a house in America."

Jack felt as though he could burst into tears with happiness…he embraced Alyiah again, just as her parents came into the kitchen. He was received with a kiss from her mother, who began babbling very fast in Russian; Alyiah had to use hand motions for her to slow down a little, but was able to translate what she could.

"They say they are unsure of how they will feel about my marrying an American, but you seem like a good man, so they trust you will care for me."

Jack nodded, thanking them, and he smiled when Alyiah linked her fingers through his. She encouraged him to come with her upstairs so he could settle into the room he would be provided with during the length of his stay. "Did I not tell you it would all right?" she asked, once she brought him into her bedroom. It was medium-sized, but larger than any of the bedrooms Jack had stayed in over the past two years.

"Are your parents all right with this?" he asked, and she pressed her lips against his.

"Where else would you stay?" she inquired. "Surely not downstairs. You’d catch your death!"

Jack chuckled, wrapping his arms around her again, and peered into her eyes. "I love you so much," he whispered, and she kissed him again. "I need to give you a ring to seal our engagement…"

Alyiah took his hands and pressed them against her heart. "Your word is enough," she replied, and he prepared to kiss her again when he heard a child’s voice in the background.

"Oh, Pyotr!" Alyiah exclaimed, and Jack whirled around to see the youngest of the Vernonin boys watching. She began reprimanding him in Russian, and he argued back with her, sticking out his tongue and running off after a moment. Jack laughed heartily when the boy was out of earshot, and turned to Alyiah, whose face was set in a scowl for the moment. "I am so sorry," she breathed, and he chuckled.

"I wish I had a younger brother," he replied. "What did he say?"

Alyiah blushed. "I do not think it’s appropriate to say what he told me in English," she admitted, and he coughed lightly, turning to gaze through the window. Alyiah followed him, and he whistled as it continued snowing heavily outside.

"I’ll tell you," he began, "if I thought Wisconsin winters were cold, I’ve been sorely mistaken."

Alyiah chuckled. "Yes, it does get very bitter," she agreed, and came up from behind, placing her arms around his body. He took her hands and squeezed them, bringing them to his lips for a kiss.

After spending time alone upstairs, they were called down to help prepare dinner. When Abram and Gleb arrived, the house became very noisy indeed. If Pyotr was rowdy with Alyiah, he turned that up a notch when his brothers were around. Gleb was thinner than Sergei, and had a head of mouse-colored hair and hazel eyes; Abram was the middle brother, and rather chubby, with reddish-gold hair and blue eyes.

Jack did what he could to aid the family in preparation for the meal, and had to avoid the stares of Alyiah’s brothers. Once they were sitting, Alyiah began to speak about Jack to Gleb and Abram, who were listening with raised eyebrows. Jack answered questions as best as he could, wishing the ground could swallow him whole. It wasn’t until he caught Pyotr sticking out his tongue and making a horrid face at him that he felt the tension break considerably.

"Tell him if he keeps that face for too long, it may stay that way," Jack whispered to Alyiah, who nearly choked on a mouthful of her soup with laughter when she realized what he was going on about. She told this to Pyotr in Russian, and the boy grinned in response.

After supper, a bottle of vodka was passed around, which Jack strongly refused. Sergei encouraged him to go on, and Alyiah glared at her brother when he asked if Jack was too much of a girlie to take it in. Jack scowled and clamped his lips shut; he’d promised Alyiah he would never drink again after he’d gotten so ill from overuse in Paris.

"Sergei?" Alyiah began as he continued teasing Jack, and the older man looked at her, setting the vodka bottle aside and standing. She immediately ordered him to follow her into the hallway, and Jack glanced at Abram, who was downing a glass of his own vodka.

"You do not drink?" Abram asked, and he cleared his throat.

"I promised your sister I wouldn’t," he replied. "I got very drunk in Paris after having too much, and she was rather upset with me."

Abram blinked and turned to Geena, who was again smiling. They jumped when they heard a loud smack in the distance, and Jack heard Alyiah’s footsteps as though she were running upstairs. He excused himself and stood, hurrying to find her. He met Sergei in the hall, who was rubbing his cheek, and gave Jack a dark look for a moment before storming off.

Jack shook his head and went up the steps, finding Alyiah’s bedroom door closed. He could hear muffled sobs behind it, and knocked gently. "Alyiah?" he asked, checking the knob, which was luckily unlocked, and stepped inside. "Sweetheart, what happened?" He came over to the bed where she lay with her face to the wall, and sat down beside her.

"I hate him sometimes," she choked. "Oh, Jack, he called you so many horrid names, and I could not take it…I slapped him."

Jack touched her hair and sighed, bending down to kiss her cheek. "What did he say?" he asked, and she turned to him, sniffing a little.

"Basically he thought you were a pathetic excuse for a man, and he could not see me being happy with someone like that," she sobbed, and Jack felt his body bristle with anger.

"Because I wouldn’t drink vodka?" he asked, baffled, and Alyiah shook her head.

"No," she replied, "because he did not like the look of you when you first met at the train station. I told him you were more of a man than he ever was, because you knew how to follow your heart, and treated me with respect."

Jack hugged her tightly, and she buried her face against his chest. "Alyiah, I will prove your brothers wrong," he promised, and she took a deep breath.

"You are going to drink?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"There are other ways," he replied, and she smiled faintly, squeezing his hand.

"Do not get hurt," she begged. "My brothers are very strong men, and they could do considerable damage to you…" He touched her lips and raised an eyebrow. He went back downstairs, and Alyiah felt panic rising in her throat. She would not let her future husband injure himself unnecessarily, and rushed downstairs after him. She saw Jack standing with Sergei outside on the patio, and before they knew it, Jack slugged him across the face. Sergei fell to the ground in shock from the blow, and Abram, Gleb, and Pyotr rushed to watch as the two men continued to fight, though it was clear Jack was much stronger than Sergei.

Alyiah’s face turned white, but she was secretly pleased that Jack would do this for her. When he was done, he came back inside, rubbing his aching knuckles, and Alyiah watched as Sergei lay on the ground, clutching his stomach.

"What did you do?" she asked, and Jack looked at her.

"When I asked what he wanted from me, he wanted me to hit him," he replied, and Alyiah’s mouth dropped. "So, I appeased him."

"Oh, Jack," she breathed, and he collapsed onto a chair, shaking a little from the intensity of the situation. Sergei eventually came inside, and a grin was on his face as he approached Jack, speaking in Russian.

"He said he would have several bruises to wake up to tomorrow," Alyiah translated. "He is impressed. And he also wishes to say he is impressed by how you refused to drink because of my feelings towards it." Jack nodded respectfully, and was relieved by the fact that Alyiah’s parents had retired shortly after dinner, giving him time to interact with her siblings. "Are you sure you’re all right?" she asked, and Jack smiled.

"Yes. I’m fine," he insisted, and she kissed his cheek.

For the rest of the night, Jack played cards with the boys, beating them at several rounds of Bezique, which was a Russian game Jack had never heard of. He taught them a round or two of American poker, and kept glancing at Alyiah, who sat with her sister gossiping over what had been going on since she was in Paris. They caught eyes more than once, and Alyiah smiled each time.

When it grew late, Jack came upstairs with Alyiah, exhausted from the day’s events. He could hear the winter wind blowing loudly against the window, and gave a shudder as they prepared to climb into bed. "Is this real?" Alyiah asked as they snuggled together, listening as the normal sounds of daily life dwindled considerably. "Do I truly have you?"

Jack kissed her forehead gently and peered into her eyes. "As long as we’re on this earth, you will have me," he replied, and she smiled.

Chapter Thirty-One
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