Panthera Spelaea Ch. 31-40

I had been dreading what would happen when we all woke up, and I was going to find out. "Last night was a lot of fun, but it's you that I love, Svetlana. I see us getting married, having children, and growing old together. How does Anna fit into that? Won't she want to find a husband and start a life together?"

Svetlana pulled the dress down and adjusted it. "You don't get it, do you? Anna loves you. I love Anna. There is enough of you to keep both of us happy, John. I think we proved that in spades last night."

"I don't want to hurt you," I told her.

"I know. Hurt comes with betrayal, but you can't betray me if we both choose to make her a part of our life together." She molded herself to me as we hugged. "I'm hoping you'll agree, but I know it might take time before you can accept that. Anna knows it too. She's willing to let us be the official married couple, but she wants to be part of the marriage bed."

It was a lot to take in. A wild night before getting married was one thing; this was a LOT more. I'd never even considered a polyamorous relationship before. "What will your parents say?"

"You can't tell them, not until we are married and the time is right," she said. "They wouldn't understand."

"And Anna's family?"

"I don't have family," Anna said as she came out of the bathroom wearing a knee-length skirt and a print blouse. "I was the one who asked for last night, and I was the one who talked Svetlana into the idea of sharing you. If you have regrets, blame me and not her."

"Come here," I said. I gave Anna a deep kiss, pressing her hard to my body. "I don't have regrets, Anna. I have questions. Right now, though, I need to get downstairs and say goodbye to my Mom."

"I'll go with you," Svetlana said. "Anna, you should wait a few minutes and then take our bag down to the restaurant and get a table. It would be best if we were downstairs before my father wakes up."

"And it would be better if Sergei didn't see my girlfriend's best friend walking like she'd been fucked into oblivion last night," I added.

"Better for you," Anna said with a giggle. "I'll cooperate. You two get going."

We walked out and took the elevator to the lobby, and Mom showed up a few minutes later. The airport shuttle was waiting. "I love you, Mom," I told her as we embraced. "Thank you for coming."

"I love you too, my baby. Marina has everything she needs to make sure you have money and support until this gets cleared up. Call me often, and make use of this time."

"I will."

Mom moved over and gave Svetlana a big hug. "Thank you for being so good to my boy. Take care of him, and let me know when he pulls his head out and gives you a ring."

Lana laughed and hugged her back. "I will."

She stepped back and handed the driver her bag. "Grandchildren. I want lots of grandchildren, you two, so I don't mind you sneaking into his room last night. Don't let this one go, John."

"I won't."

We waved as she drove off, then went into the buffet restaurant and waited for Anna. The girls talked and drank coffee while I worked on breakfast number one. My appetite was back in high gear, and I craved food to make up for the prison time.

All evidence was gone by the time Sergei joined us. We all had big breakfasts before heading out to the car and truck. Plans changed with this; Svetlana wanted to spend some time talking to her Dad, so she went with him in his car. I volunteered to drive the small box truck, with Anna riding shotgun.

The phone said the trip was 325 km and would take just under five hours. I followed the car out of the city, the traffic not bad as we were going against rush hour flow. It worked out well for all of us. I got time to talk to Anna and get to know her better. Her mother died of cancer when she was six, and her father was a drunk. She'd grown up in Vyshny Volochyok, a dying city about halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A teacher motivated her to study hard and learn other languages to escape the poverty surrounding her. "I followed her advice," she told me. "I had no life in school. I studied all the time, not caring about boys or sports. I focused on earning the best grades and getting a scholarship."

"That must have been lonely," I said.

"It was worth it. My father died of cirrhosis my freshman year in college, leaving me with nothing. Between scholarships and working two jobs, I was able to finish nursing school in Moscow. My training and language skills landed me a job at Central Clinical Hospital, where I met Svetlana."

"When I met you, Lana said you were a bit of a wild child."

She giggled at that. "All those years of denying myself fun came to an end. I had a job, an apartment, and a big city full of hot guys."

"And none of them interested you?"

"It's not that easy," she told me. "Plenty of partners worth a night, but few worth another. I was so jealous when Svetlana brought you home. You were handsome, young, kind, and courageous. Everything I was looking for, and she got you first."

"Until now," I said, and she smiled at that.

"Yes. Svetlana isn't just a roommate; she's my family, my sister. I love her too."

"I'm not exactly a prize catch, you know. The cops are after me, I can't get a job, and I turn into a murderous prehistoric lion occasionally."

"None of that is your fault," she told me. "You aren't responsible for what the lion does any more than I am. I don't know what happened in Siberia, but I saw him in action in the park. He's not a mindless killer; far from it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking about how he came out and what he did. First off, he doesn't come out at random times; he's smart enough to know he has to stay hidden."

"The first time he came out in the park," I said.

"Exactly. Your lion waited until you were in the dark, away from everyone in the middle of the night, then he hunted and came home. Nobody saw him. The second time he didn't come out until he saw us in danger. Your lion came to save Svetlana and me, John. He didn't attack randomly or try to get away. The lion wasn't distracted playing with his food or lost in blood lust. He was calculating and methodical, John. Your lion identified the threats and removed them, starting with the people with the guns. How could he know those people were the greatest threat if he was a millennia-old reborn cat? He also knew somehow that he couldn't let any escape to tell what they saw. Do you know what he did after the last man trying to run away was dead? He stopped, John. He sniffed the bodies to make sure they were dead, then he came over and made sure we were all right before he left. He knew he was protecting us, and it was like the lion knew he had to leave before more people showed up."

"It's a prehistoric animal, Anna. Isn't that a bit too much to ask of it?"

"Most big cats aren't sharing a brain with a human, John. What is to say it hasn't been learning about this world through your eyes the whole time? You can't remember what happened during your blackouts, but maybe you are working with it. You could train a lion all you want, and it wouldn't do what yours has done to survive."

I'd never thought of it like that. "You think it's that intelligent?"

"It's either learning very quickly in the background, or it can access your thoughts and memories. I think you need to find a way to communicate with it. A Vulcan Mind Meld or something."

I chuckled at that. "You're a Trekkie?"

"Only the original series," she said.

I thought about it as we left the big city behind. The land was relatively flat and forested. "I felt him last night," I started. I told her about the rumble and the warm feeling from my chest as I watched the two approach the bed. "My Lion approves of you. What do I do to make that connection?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it will come with time or meditation? We should put you in a situation where it's safe for him to come out and see if you can call him forward. Late at night in the woods with no one but us around."

It was a lot to consider. We stopped for petrol about an hour outside of Rybinsk, and Svetlana joined us for the rest of the drive. "Mom sent me some apartment information, and Dad said he would take us out after lunch."

"Do you plan to stay in Rybinsk for a while?"

"I think so. Anna and I have talked about this. Moscow is big and exciting, but it's never been home, and you're not welcome there. At least in Rybinsk, I have people who know me. There's lots of forest land close by as well."

Choosing an apartment when they didn't have jobs yet didn't strike me as right. "Do you have to move straight into an apartment? Could we store your things until we figure out what we want to do?"

"I think so," she said. "The furniture and kitchen stuff can go in the garage, and I can store the clothes and shoes in my room we don't need." She made a quick call to her Dad to verify this.

"Staying with your parents will be awkward, and I can afford to stay in a hotel until we know where you are working and what we want. There has to be a nice hotel, right?"

Svetlana laughed a little. "Not Moscow nice, but there are some good ones," she said. "We can talk about our options over lunch."

"Like whether Dad is going to let you move into a hotel with your boyfriend and another girl?" Anna was smiling as she said it. "I'm good with staying with him if you're stuck in your old room at home. I am getting paid to be his medical supervision, you know."

"So am I, bitch, and I am NOT leaving you two alone in a hotel!" She got on her phone and started looking up hotels. "The Gostevoy Dom is one of the better hotels, and it's within six blocks of five hospitals."

"See if you can reserve adjacent rooms for a week," I told her as I handed her my wallet. "That should be enough time to figure something out."

Instead of adjoining rooms, she reserved a two-bedroom suite with a kitchenette and a jacuzzi tub. "We're all set. We can unload at my parent's house and head to the hotel tonight."

"And you Mom might even believe the adjoining bedrooms thing," Anna joked.

I didn't care where we were as long as Svetlana and Anna were with me. "Do you think people will mind me living here?"

"I'm not sure," Svetlana replied. "It won't be as bad as Moscow, but it's probably best if we lay low for a while."

Ch. 32

Svetlana's parents lived in what I'd describe as a suburban ranch house on the north side of the Volga River in Rybinsk, not far from the hydroelectric dam where Sergei worked. He parked to the side, then waved me in as I backed the truck to the garage door. As soon as I put the vehicle in park, Nadezna was flinging open the passenger door to get to her daughter. Svetlana's mother was Anna's height, plump and high in energy with her graying hair under a scarf. She was hugging her tight and speaking rapidly in Russian.

I looked at Anna, who gave me an 'it's normal for them' look and followed me out the driver's door. Svetlana and her parents met us by the garage, and Nadezna smiled as she saw me. She greeted Anna with a hug and a kiss on both cheeks, then did the same for me. "You will call me Mama," she told me. "My little girl finally brings home a man to us!"

"Let the boy stand up straight," Sergei told her. "We will unload the truck. Take the girls to the kitchen and get lunch ready before we die of hunger."

Nadezna smacked his arm. "You could skip a meal now and then," she said. She looked back towards me, and her face lit up with happiness. "Welcome to our home, John. You two are such a handsome couple. You will have beautiful grandchildren for me. When are you getting married?"

"Momma!" Svetlana was turning red with embarrassment.

"Oh, stop. I see the way your eyes light up. It is love, and he's making you happy. That's all I wanted for you."

"Your daughter is a special woman, and I love her," I confessed.

"See? No reason not to marry. Come, come, we'll talk in the kitchen. I'm making all your favorites." Nadezna guided my girls into the house, chattering in rapid-fire Russian the whole way.

"I need to learn Russian before she has my whole life planned out for me," I said as I turned back to Sergei.

"Too late," he said with a grin. We opened up the garage and laid a tarp on the floor, then unloaded the truck. The girls didn't have much furniture, and we left the boxes of clothes near the garage door. We finished in fifteen minutes or so. "Come, we have to return the truck."

I followed him through the streets to a gas station, where I paid to fill the tanks. It was bad form to borrow something and bring an empty tank back. We ended up at an electrical supply house, where I parked it in the lot. Sergei went inside to return the key, and then we got in his car for the ride home.

It wasn't a comfortable ride, given the questions Sergei had for me. "You must realize I wasn't happy to find out my daughter was dating a suspect in two separate multiple murder sprees," he said as we left the lot.

"I wasn't comfortable being a suspect," I said. "I am innocent of the charges. Svetlana knows this, she knows me, and she remains at my side. I have to believe that the Russian Government will eventually come to the same conclusion."

"And in the meantime? You have no job, no passport. You are living off your parent's money."

I nodded. "None of this was by choice. The publicity from the murders got me kicked off the expedition. I can't return home, and the University of Moscow won't have anything to do with me. I am lucky that my parents can support me, but they are doing this until I can resolve my legal issues."

"What will you do then?"

That was a good question. "I do not know, Sergei. The stain of these charges will remain on me even if they never can bring criminal charges. I can't prove I didn't do something when I can't remember what happened. The last thing I remember in Siberia was touching the cave lion, then waking up a week later. In Moscow, I led the gang away from the girls and made my way home."

"You protected them."

"Did Svetlana tell you about the subway?"

"She said the men in that gang harassed her, and you beat them up."

"One of the men had his hand up her shirt, and they were talking shit about them all having a turn with her. I told them to stop, they pulled a knife, and I put all three in the hospital. Nobody does that to an innocent girl around me." He nodded at that, understanding better now why I used such violence. "The kids were in a gang, and they came for us again with a dozen people. We escaped, and they ran into a hungry lion. I didn't see what happened, but there is a certain satisfaction in knowing such predators died at the teeth of a real predator."

"A police officer died."

"Yes. That is a tragedy. It is bad news for me because it gives the State every reason to find and punish someone, even if they can't find the lion or its owner. Until they arrest and convict him, I remain in limbo." We didn't say anything for a minute. "Getting back to your original question? I don't know if I'll ever be able to work in paleobiology again. I will ask my father for advice when we talk next."

"You must understand my worry. Svetlana is our only child, and I want her to be happy and secure. I was hoping she would meet someone through her work who could provide well for her. She has all the intelligence and beauty to become the wife of a doctor, an industrialist, or a powerful politician. She could escape this dying town forever."

"And she met me, instead."

"Yes. You make my girl happy, and she loves you. You've also ruined her career and her name. Those girls were all over the news, advocating for your release and protesting your innocence. Svetlana and Anna are forever tied to these murders, just like you are. They will find another job, but not with the pay and the prestige of working at Central Clinical. I worry their lives will be harder because of all this."

He was a man wanting the best for his child, and I wasn't what he dreamed about for her. "We love each other, and we will get through this together," I told him. "I am not lazy, uneducated, or disloyal. I will do whatever it takes to give Svetlana the life of her dreams."

"I believe you," he told me. "Will you be bringing my Svetlana home to America?"

"She needs to meet my family as I meet hers," I told him. "We will see where this journey takes us. It hasn't been long since the Prosecutor threatened me with imprisonment and a firing squad. We haven't worked all the details out yet."

"Svetlana said you are all staying in a hotel downtown."

"Yes. It is close to multiple hospitals, and the girls are eager to find new jobs. Once I know the town a little better, we'll look for something more permanent."

"And what will you be doing?"

"Learning Russian and keeping them happy," I told him. "It's not a bad life."

"Svetlana said they work for you? You pay them?"

"In a way. I've had blackout events since Siberia, and they are unpredictable. I was worried I might hurt myself if I was alone. Back in Moscow, I had my lawyer draw up a private medical care contract that gives those two power to make medical decisions where I cannot, and they agreed to work it out so I was never alone. I moved into their apartment, partly for that, but mostly to be with Svetlana. It worked out with Anna working night shifts and compensated for interfering with their lives. That is why we are all staying at the hotel together, in a two-bedroom suite."

"With Anna in the other bedroom?"

"I love your daughter, Sergei. She loves me." I wasn't going to say anymore because he already knew I was knocking boots with his daughter every chance I could get.

"Does Svetlana know you are cheating on her with Anna?" Oh, shit. "She couldn't hide that satisfied, dazed look a woman gets after great sex. I've seen it many times with my Nadezna, and I saw the same look this morning on Svetlana's face too."

Ch. 33

Did you ever have a moment where you realized that your entire life depended on the next thing out of your mouth?

In such a moment, would you tell the truth and accept the consequences? Lie to get out of the situation? Or piss yourself in indecision?

The answer to Sergei's question was one of those moments. I chose truthiness, enough to acknowledge Anna without specifying what was going on. "What happens in our private lives is our business, Sergei. What you want to know is if I am betraying your daughter. I am not cheating on her, and I never would."

"You aren't sleeping with Anna?"

I let out a breath. "It is no one's business but ours. I will only say that Svetlana knows about everything and is all right with it."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes as he considered what was happening. When he talked again, it wasn't about Svetlana. I had a feeling he'd be having a father-daughter talk this afternoon without me. "Be careful with Anna," he finally said. "She's a nice girl, but she is vulnerable. Don't let her get between the two of you."

"I've not spent that much time with Anna yet, but I understand your concern. I hope that someday Anna finds the man of her dreams and settles into a happy life. Isn't that what all parents want for their daughters?" I didn't mention that man might be me.

He nodded, but his knuckles were a little white from gripping the steering wheel. I hadn't said what he feared, but I'd confirmed enough. "I don't know if you are courageous or foolish, John. You are walking through a fuel spill with a lit match."

I paused to think about my words. "We've barely had a chance to talk about this with everything going on in my life, Sergei. Last night was not enough time. We will work it out."

"I hope so. You three need to talk with my Nadezna as well before she brings it up. I am not stupid enough to start THAT conversation."