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“Carla, I would like you to meet my sister Natalia, she’s the one attached to you,” The Russian said, and bent down to give Brodie some rough-and-tumble.
“Tia,” she corrected him and then looked back at me. She was a cutie – the opposite to The Russian in coloring; as dark as The Russian was, she was as fair as snow with blonde hair in braids, blue eyes and pale skin.
“Hello Tia and ...”
“Brodie,” she said, introducing me to the family Labrador.
“Ah Brodie, of course,” I said.
She released me from the hug and took my hand. “Mom’s been cooking and cleaning all day, but you can’t tell her I told you that because she said we had to make you feel welcome and we weren’t allowed to ask you any nosy questions.”
I laughed again and The Russian just shook his head as we started up the path, Brodie racing in front and Tia taking both of our hands like our love child ... I wish.
“Do you like my brother?” she asked.
“I do, most of the time,” I said.
“Me too, except when he tickles me,” she said.
“I thought you loved that,” The Russian said, and grabbed her and began tickling. She squealed with delight and he lowered her to the ground as his mother and father appeared in the doorway. I could see traces of The Russian in both of them – his mother was tall, thin and fair; his father was tall, of solid build and dark.
He embraced them both and then introduced me.
“Good to meet you Mr and Mrs Renwick,” I said.
“James, please,” his father said, shaking my hand.
“And you must call me Lana,” his mother said. “Come in, please Carla, you are most welcome.”
His father sounded very much American and with a surname like Renwick, I suspected he was. His mother’s accent was still very noticeable in her clipped words and I guessed from The Russian’s nickname where she came from.
We stumbled in with Tia and Brodie trying to push through the door at the same time. Inside, the house was spacious but full of family clutter ... photos, trophies, drawings, games – a large unfinished jigsaw puzzle sat on the snooker table and the game Twister was spread out on the floor; I swear I hadn’t played Twister since primary school.
I would have liked to play nude Twister with The Russian ... really, where had that thought come from in this wholesome family moment?
Framed photos of the family at many different walks of life adorned the walls and I intended to spend some time looking at the young Alex on Santa’s knee and in other poses as soon as I could get to them. Yep, that would be stored away for later teasing.
“Don’t even think about it,” he whispered in my ear, following my gaze.
“What?” I asked innocently and he narrowed his eyes at me.
The Russian’s dad, James, busied himself getting us both a drink and within a minute two more girls—both in their teens—came down the stairs. The family was split ... Tia and one of the other girls looked like their mother, Lana; The Russian and the eldest girl looked like their father, James.
“Alex has a girlfriend,” Tia teased. “Carla these are my sisters ...”
Lana re-entered the room after checking on dinner, which was filling the house with a mouth-watering scent. “Tia, I’m sure your brother can do the introductions ... Carla is his guest.”
Young Tia sighed as if her skills were not appreciated.
The eldest of the two girls stepped forward and offered me her hand. She was a very attractive female version of The Russian, only shorter, shorter than me too, with long dark hair and large dark eyes.
“Hello Carla, I’m Ana,” she said.
“Anastasia,” Tia piped up.
“Quiet please, Natalia,” she said, putting Tia back in her place. We shook hands.
“Good to meet you,” I said.
