All the Things You Are

Jelena carefully applied the last of her makeup and placed the little compact back in her purse, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She wore a simple black pantsuit with her curly dark hair pulled away from her face with a clip, a simple silver and marcasite blue topaz necklace around her neck and matching earrings that were a gift from Jaromir.

And he got her a diamond necklace that would make Elizabeth Taylor blush. I hope she doesn't wear that to dinner, she thought with a frown.

Jelena took one last glance in the mirror and left her room. "Why are you wearing such a plain outfit? Do you know who we are having dinner with?", Vera hissed.

"Yeah, and I hope you don't drop your diamonds in the soup", she replied sweetly as Vera glared. Vera looked stunning in a sheer white silk strapless evening gown that fitted her body perfectly, a gleaming and magnificent diamond necklace and matching earrings glittering in the parlor light. The necklace had large alternating diamonds and emeralds in a gold setting, the earrings each having a large diamond and emerald hanging from a pendant.

Jaromir emerged from his room and smiled at the women, giving Vera a quick kiss. "You look beautiful, ladies", he said gallantly.

Vera smiled coolly as she straightened his tie, not liking how he didn't compliment her personally. Before she could say anything, his phone vibrated and he saw the driver was downstairs. The same BMW was waiting for them downstairs as Jaromir opened the door for the women, the driver closing the doors. Jelena felt her phone vibrate and smiled when she saw the text from Ausra, texting that she was back in Pittsburgh and they would meet up later.

"Who is that?", he asked.

"That's my friend Ausra Gintaras Raudonas, she's my fellow Russian studies major. She's Lithuanian and Russian, she's in the Society for Creative Anachronism and really into Medieval culture", she explained.

"Of course you don't have normal friends, my family would never allow that sort around us", said Vera in a huff.

Jelena clenched her fists and mentally counted to ten as she tried not to punch Vera's smug face. They arrived at the Lemieux estate a moment later as the driver parked in front of the house opened the door for the women, Jaromir taking Vera by the hand and leading to the door. Mario was waiting for them as he shook hands with the women and clapped Jaromir on the back. "Bienvenue a chez Lemieux, Jaromir et mesdames. Nathalie is with the other women in the parlor and Sid is also here", he said.

Jelena followed them inside and saw a middle-aged blond woman along with a younger blond sitting on a couch in the parlor, a young man in a black suit pouring himself a Scotch and mixing it with a bit of water.

"Bonjour, everyone. I am Nathalie and welcome to our home", said the older woman, getting up from the couch the and kissing them each on the cheek.

"Aye, welcome. Zhenya ought to be back soon. I am Ellen Malkina", she said, speaking with a melodic Highland Scottish accent. Ellen was tall and slender with dark honey-blond hair pulled back into a chignon at the base of her neck, wearing a simple elegant forest green velvet evening gown that left her neck and shoulders bare. A long pendant with a waxy grayish-brown Cairngorm stone on a gold chain hung around her slender neck and a matching ring on her right hand, a signet ring with the Romanov double-headed eagle placed like a wedding band on her ring finger. Jelena noticed that she had six fingers on each hand as the other women just laughed.

"Aye, I have six fingers, I have six toes too", she giggled.

"Hello ladies, Mr. Jagr. Would you like a drink?", asked Sid politely.

"I'll have a Scotch and soda, what about you ladies?", asked Jaromir.

"I will have a Pinot Grigio", said Vera.

"I'll have a Scotch and soda", said Jelena.

"I will have a Macallan", said Ellen.

"Sorry ladies, I get lost in here", said Evgeni Malkin apologetically as he smiled at his wife. Like the other men he wore a black suit and tie but it was light blue and slightly askew, as though he had loosened it carelessly.

"Aye, 'tis all right Zhenya. This is Jaromir Jagr, his girlfriend Vera and his daughter Jelena", said Ellen.

"Da, very nice to meet you, Mr. Jagr. I see you on TV when you play for Penguins when I was young", said Evgeni shyly.

Jaromir laughed good-naturedly. "Spasibo, Evgeni and please call me Jaromir", he said graciously.

Sid brought the drinks on a tray and handed them over. "I hope this isn't rude, but I had no idea you had a kid, Mr. Jagr", he said.

Jelena took a sip and nodded. "It's a long story and Dad could tell you more", she replied.

"She's right, that's a long story. That's why we might have to do a press conference, I don't want the tabloids to get this wrong about my daughter", said Jaromir.

"I understand, Jaromir. At least this is not New York or LA or Montreal, then it would be crazy", said Mario.

"Sid, that is not nice. And how come you not bring a date?", asked Evgeni.

"I'm not dating anyone, Geno", he replied.

Sid stirred his drink and took a sip, silently observing the scene. Mario and Jaromir talked softly amongst themselves while Evgeni, Ellen, Nathalie and Jelena talked, Vera checking Facebook on her phone. He immediately dismissed Vera as the sort of sexy, glamorous gold digger he often encountered, turning his attention to Jelena. She looked very attractive in her simple black pantsuit and silver marcasite jewelry with her dark hair, saying something in Russian to Evgeni as the big Russian laughed heartily.

She's definitely more my style, why Jagr is with that bimbo, I don't know. But his daughter looks exactly like him, I wonder if anyone noticed, he mused.

"I'll show you around the house, miss", he said politely.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Crosby", she replied as Mario nodded in approval.

Sid made them each a drink and led her out of the parlor. "I used to live here during my rookie year, other wise I'd have to rent a condo. I live down the street, Mario helped me buy the property and I built the house", he said with a little chuckle.

"That makes sense, I actually grew up around here", she said.

"Really, but did you live with your dad?", he asked.

"Like my dad said, it's a long story. The short story is that Dad got my mother pregnant and the old man made him give up custody to his brother who lived here. I've only known my dad since this summer, the old man doesn't like me much. And I'm stuck living with Vera, no one likes her much but they can't say anything", she replied with a dry little laugh.

"I reckon so, she looks like a real gold digger. And that's your grandpa?", he asked.

"Yeah, the old man is a duke and dad is his heir. The old man is loaded and doesn't like that I'm American and a female, I'm Dad's heir if he doesn't get Vera knocked up. That kid would be a monster", she said with a shudder as Sid made a face.

"Yeah, I can imagine. I had no idea you guys had dukes", he teased.

"I'm American, remember? Yeah, they started with the titles again after they got rid of the Communists. The old man is a duke, they got the title from the Hapsburgs", she explained.

"Awesome, my folks are just country people from Nova Scotia", he chuckled.