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The kitchen was more like a kitchenette. It had an older stove and refrigerator, but no other major appliances. There was a small countertop microwave as well as a coffee maker on the narrow but clean countertop.
Nikolai's bed was the largest piece of furniture in the room and took up one entire corner. It was king-sized, but there was no headboard or footboard. Despite the sparse furnishings, there were lots of pictures and little personal items all over the place. On the refrigerator were several hand-drawn pictures as well as numerous photographs of Nikolai's family. There were a couple of kids’ toys strewn about the floor. On the nightstand next to Nikolai's bed was a basketball made out of Legos.
I smiled because I was pretty certain I knew who the creator of the Lego item was. The only space that was separate from the main living area was a bathroom. It too looked very dated and had just a shower, no bathtub. I suspected Nikolai barely fit under the spray considering his height. I realized my mistake in even thinking about Nikolai in the shower because my mind immediately went elsewhere.
Like whether or not two people would fit in that very shower and still be able to do… things.
"Sorry," Nikolai murmured as he began cleaning up some of the toys. "Elena sometimes brings Maks up here at night if he's not feeling well."
"Is he still sick?" I asked in surprise.
Nikolai hesitated. “No, he's over his infection, but he has trouble sleeping. Always has. His doctor just says he's being fussy, but…"
The uncertainty in Nikolai's voice was clear. "But?" I prodded as I moved closer to him.
Nikolai paused before saying, "He's not like that, Jude. He's not fussy. I mean, I'm not an expert on kids or anything, but when he's not sick, he’s one of the most chill kids I’ve ever met." Nikolai shook his head. "There's just something off about all this."
He went to a small closet and began pulling out a pillow and blanket. I could tell he didn't want to talk about his nephew anymore and I couldn't really blame him. I hadn’t known Nikolai for long but what I did know was that he had a protective streak a mile wide. He wanted to be able to fix his nephew but couldn't. It had to be killing him. I wanted to offer up a chance for him to talk more about things, but I knew it wasn't my place.
"Are you okay sleeping on my sheets?" Nikolai asked as he took the pillow and blanket over to the couch. "I can wash them for you, but that'll take a little bit of time and I know you're tired. Normally I have a second set of bedding, but a lot of my stuff is in storage at the moment." Nikolai seemed embarrassed as he looked around. "This is all… temporary."
I wondered what that meant but figured it was another topic he didn't really want to talk about. I almost laughed because there were a lot of things about Nikolai that I wanted to know that seemed to be out of bounds.
"It's fine," I said. The idea of sleeping on sheets that smelled like Nikolai seemed like a dream come true as far as I was concerned. I nearly laughed out loud at the thought. God, I must be really tired if I was excited about sleeping on another man's sheets.
"I don't mind taking the couch," I said, though that was a lie. Not the part about taking the couch, but about not sleeping in Nikolai's bed. I had a feeling I was going to have some very delicious dreams if I slept in his bed. I glanced at the couch and realized I could have some there as well.
"It's not a problem," Nikolai said. "Let me fix you something to eat really quick."
I wasn't really hungry but as tired as I was, I wasn't ready to fall asleep either. I wasn't sure where to sit as Nikolai moved to the kitchen and began pulling things out of the refrigerator.
“Oh, hang on a second,” he said when he saw me standing awkwardly near the kitchen window. He moved past me and pulled a piece of wood that was attached to the wall upright. I realized it was a folding table. From the gap between the fridge and the wall, Nikolai pulled out a couple of plastic folding chairs. His eyes caught mine as he started setting them up. I could see the apology on his lips, but he didn't utter it. I hated to see that he felt embarrassed by his situation. I wanted to tell him I was more than familiar with living in tight spaces and on extreme budgets than most people.
As soon as he had the little table set up, I went and sat down on one of the chairs. "Thank you," I murmured as Nikolai began to move around the kitchen.
