Leaping for Your Dreams

***Geno’s POV***

We were waiting in the First Class lounge for our flight to New York. We were on our way _home_. Ok not quite we still had 12 hours of flying ahead of us before that happened. Annushka had her nose pressed against the glass watching the planes with wide eyes. I wasn’t sure she’d ever been on a plane before. I mentally checked over everything I would need for the flight. I had gum for takeoff and landings, my sleep mask for the second leg and most importantly I had my book to read while we were in the air. Yeah I was a book guy. I caught hell for it during the season cause there were so many guys who preferred video games or card games. No, give me a good book any day.

“You’re quiet, everything ok?” My lovely wife asked as she turned from watching the planes to watching me.

I chuckled. “Da, everything good. Long flight ahead; have everything you need?”

Misa came over and sat down next to me. “Yes both of us have everything we need for them both. I even made sure that her stuffy was close at hand in her carryon.” She kissed my cheek.

“Sneaky woman.” She was _very_ sneaky. She’d lead me to believe that she was nowhere near ready for this trip when in fact she was not only ready, she had things as personalized as she cared to make them. I had ordered new luggage sets for all of us in front of her, but she had then gone behind my back and made sure we had ID tags we would instantly recognize in the airport as well as luggage straps to help us spot them. My silver luggage now sported Steelers ID tags and a green bag strap. Misa had a butterfly tag she loved as well as red straps on her luggage and Annushka had Disney Fairies Luggage tags for her backpack and luggage and purple straps. Misa had also gotten us all sets of packing cubes so we could easily know what was where inside our bags. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had made sure that at least she and Annushka also had changes of clothes in their bags as well.

An hour later we were boarding the flight. We couldn’t get seats all together, being that we were in first class, but we were able to get all in one row. Neither Misa nor myself would be able to cuddle on this flight and I wouldn’t be able to hide really but at this point I didn’t care as much as I just wanted to get this flight over and get home. Misa and Annushka sat next to each other and I was across the aisle. This wasn’t the long flight; that would be the flight from JFK to Moscow.

We landed in Terminal 2 at JFK after about an hour. Annushka handled it pretty well; a few complaints about her ears but those were solved by gum and water. In fact I figured we needed to get some food and more gum before our long flight. Getting off the plane was easy and getting to Terminal 1 was also easy. I knew the trick, having done this many times before.

Our first stop on Terminal 1 was for food. We had an hour; we could “waste” 20 minutes getting something to take at least to the line with us. I normally wouldn’t have fast food, but this would be the last time we could get American style fast food for a month. “McDonald’s before go to the customs line?” I asked quietly. Misa nodded in agreement and Anna was also very happy about this idea.

It was a good thing I thought about getting it to go, the customs line was very long. When we got to the front of it, we were done. Fortunately we had gone through the TSA screening so this was easy for us. We presented our passports and tickets and all the other documentation we needed to travel.

“This is your wife and daughter?” The Customs agent asked me. I nodded and handed over all the needed paperwork to prove this. He leafed through it, checking for who knew what. After making sure of the paperwork, which I had smartly filed with the Russian Embassy as well, the agent looked up and smiled. “Добро пожаловать домой Мистер и миссис Малкин. Вы тоже, Анна Малкина, добро пожаловать домой. (Welcome home, Mr. and Mrs. Malkin. You, too, Anna Malkin, welcome home.)” I felt something loosen in my chest. No longer would I only speak my native language with other hockey players or my immediate family.

Anna flowed well with the welcome. “Спасибо, сэр. Я очень рад повидаться с семьей моего папы. (Thank you, sir. I am very happy to see my dad's family.)” She took hold of my hand and flashed the grin I had come to love so much in the few short months she had been ours.

The agent stamped our passports and handed them back to us. We were officially on our way home now. We walked through the security checkpoint and I spotted the Duty Free store. “Пойдем получить некоторые резинки и вещи на самолет. Они помогут с вашими ушами Аннушка. (Let's go get some gum and stuff on the plane. They will help with your ears Annushka.)” She nodded and we headed over there. Misa and I agreed that after we cleared customs we would only speak Russian unless we had to speak English.

We boarded the plane and found that our seats were together on this one. We immediately put Anna between us. This way she would be protected from those who might want to say things to me. It would make talking more difficult, but to protect her we would do it.

Hours into the flight Anna fell asleep on my shoulder. This was probably a good thing as it was a long flight and any sleep you could get would be good. “Гено, который встречает нас в аэропорту? (Geno, who is meeting us at the airport?)”

“Денис, он останется с нами и вернуться домой на следующий день. Мама и папа сказали мне, что они хотят прийти на следующей неделе. (Denis, he will remain with us and return home the next day. Mom and Dad told me that they want to come next week.)” I replied trying to keep my voice down so Anna could sleep. Misa nodded while yawning herself.

“Звучит хорошо, дает нам время, чтобы обосноваться в и иметь дело с вещами. Ваши друзья будут удивленный. (Sounds good, gives us time to settle in and deal with things. Your friends will be surprised.)” I chuckled low; she was _more_ than right. She leaned over and kissed Anna’s forehead. “Как вы думаете, что они примут эту новость? Как вы думаете, они будут любить меня? (How do you think that they will take the news? Do you think they will love me?)”

I leaned over and kissed her carefully. “Вы можете поставить со мной на моем худшем случае, они будут любить вас. Я уверен, что Оксана уже пытался превратить их в своих друзей, но вы будете выиграть их тем, кто вы есть, реальный человек, а не поддельный. (You can put up with me at my worst; they will love you. I am sure that Oksana has already tried to turn them into her friends, but you will win them over by who you are, a real person not a fake one.)” She blushed, but it was true. She did put up with me at my worst not my absolute worst, as I wasn’t injured like I had been before but still. I knew my friends, most of them had tolerated Oksana because she was with me, none of them truly liked her for her.

Soon after we joined our child in slumber. When we woke it was due to them turning on the lights and letting us know they were about to start breakfast service. We had gotten a few hours of sleep, now the trick would be staying up and getting ourselves adjusted to Moscow time.

The landing gear touched the ground and the three of us were yawning. I was very glad I asked my brother to come pick us up. We packed up the things we had gotten out and after getting off the plane; we slowly made our way to baggage claim. Of course I was recognized but no one approached, for that alone I was grateful. We gathered our bags and _then_ I began looking for Denis. “Вот маленький брат, почему бы вам не помочь ваш малыш, я возьму это. (Here little brother, why do not you help your baby, I'll take it.)”

I turned to my right and came face to face with my older brother. My relief must have shown clearly and he clapped me on my shoulder and took my bags without another word. I helped Anna and Misa with theirs and we made our way out to the car. “Давай девочка. Время, чтобы добраться до машины и вернуться домой. (Come on baby girl. Time to get to the car and go home.)”

We got home pretty quickly and hauled our bags upstairs to the flat. The door across the hall opened as we set things down and Sarge was there to greet us. “Добро пожаловать! Рейс был хорошим? (Welcome back! The flight was good?)”

Misa chuckled. “Полет был долгим, нам может потребоваться помощь бодрствовать сегодня. Каким был ваш? Надеюсь, не плохо. (The flight was long, we may need help to stay awake today. How was yours? I hope that's not bad.)” She caught Anna and kept her upright as I unlocked the door. Sarge nodded, understanding how flights were and how difficult it was to get on the proper time sometimes.

I went inside and took my largest bad with me. Misa was still talking to Sarge in the hall. Something felt off about the house. Quietly, I spoke to Denis. “Держите их в зале в течение нескольких минут. Что-то здесь не так. (Keep them in the hall for a few minutes. Something is wrong here.)” He nodded and stepped back out with my girls. I continued through the 3 bedroom flat and noticed something I did not like. I crept down the back hall to the master bedroom and opened the door.

Laying on my bed was the one woman I never wanted to see again. “Добро пожаловать домой ребенка. Я вижу, ты упал, что шлюха, и пришли ко мне домой. (Welcome home baby. I see you've dropped that slut and came home to me.)” She got onto her knees and waved her hand towards herself beckoning me to her. “Иди сюда и сделать меня кричать мое Большой русский любовник. Давайте праздновать свой возвращения на родину должным образом. (Come over here and make me scream my big Russian lover. Let's celebrate your homecoming properly.)”

I couldn’t speak, not for lack of things to say, but rather for sheer surprise at her audacity. My anger bubbled up and I shouted. “Денис, Сергей пришел помочь мне получить это шлюха из дома! У вас есть 30 секунд, чтобы получить свое дерьмо и оставить, пока я позвоню в полицию, а вы арестован за незаконное вторжение. (Denis, Sergei came to help me get this bitch out of the house! You have 30 seconds to get your shit and leave before I call the police, and you are arrested for unlawful entry.)”

Fortunately my brother and Sarge both understood who I was talking about and quickly came in to “help” her out. I couldn’t speak due to the anger I had. Once she was gone I was able to finally be coherent. “Денис пожалуйста, оставайтесь с Анной время Михаэла и я иду в ЗАГС и убедитесь, что сука не может потянуть это дерьмо снова! (Denis please stay with Anna while Michaela and I go to the registry office and make sure that the bitch can not pull that shit again!)”

Misa did not argue, she just made sure we had all the paperwork we needed to file to make sure that our marriage had been recorded and the adoption as well. We left shortly after, tired and irritated.

Hours later we came back through our door. It was tricky to get them to understand that I _had filed the paperwork with the embassy when it happened and was now double checking that it had gotten to them as well. When we finally got all of that straightened out we were told that until we had been married for 5 years Misa and Anna would not be granted more than a 30 day visa to visit. Upsetting but it was the law. We got home to find Denis and Anna playing a game. While we waited for them to finish we decided where to go for dinner, no one wanted to cook.

After dinner I gave up and we all went to bed exhausted. I set my alarm so that I would not miss out on my training with Sarge the next day. Despite the horrible beginning, it was good to be home.