Vsegda, Always

“An heir?”

Alina hacks up half her tea, spoiling one of her finer dressing gowns. She’s too busy dabbing at the mess with napkins, cheeks warm, to notice the bemused look her husband gives over the top of the newspaper from where he sat reading across the breakfast table.

She quickly learns he isn’t joking.



(Or: Aleksander Morozova asks his wife for a baby, and she doesn't find herself opposed to the idea.)