Ivan how are your sisters adjusting to being aunts???
“He’s a real Braginsky, this one,” Natalia says. Anton babbles and squeezes her finger.
“You can tell by the rate he’s growing at.” Sofia adjusts the baby on her lap.
“It’s our one and only frustration.” Ivan puts the cups of tea down.
“Now, let’s see what you’ve got.” Sofia kneels downs by the coffee table with Anton. She takes a sketchbook out of her bag and a box of crayons. “Here you go.”
Anton feels the box, intrigued.
Sofia takes an orange one out and gives it to him. At once, he sticks it into his mouth.
“Don’t do that,” Ivan says while gently pushing his hand down.
“Are you sure you’re feeding him enough?” Natalia jokes.
“Plenty. But you know what bears are like.”
“Let’s try that again.” Sofia guides his hand onto the paper and helps him draw a line.
Anton looks at it, shocked. He tries the same thing, and squeals when he sees the color appear. This is so much more interesting than eating it! He picks a green crayon. That one does the thing too!
“I cannot stress enough how important art is, especially for young children,” Sofia says. “The other day I hosted a workshop for an elementary school class at my gallery. You could see the children blossom.”
“He seems to like it,” Ivan says, trying to stop Anton from coloring his own hand.
The front door opens.
“Welcome home,” Ivan calls.
“You go and get ready,” Natalia says. “We’ve got things covered around here.”
Ivan gets up and goes to greet Yao. “You can keep your coat on.”
“Why? I thought we’d decided not to go to the movies tonight?”
“I found two people who happen to be willing to look after Anton.”
“Ivan, you know I don’t want strangers looking after him.” He walks into the living room. “Oh, hello.”
“You see?” Ivan says. “He’s in good hands.”
“Off you go now,” Natalia says. “It’s auntie time.”
Anton babbles and picks up another crayon.
Yao kisses his head. “Be good to your aunts, okay?”
He blows a raspberry.
“We won’t be back late.”
“Don’t you dare rush,” Natalia warns. “Now, go.”
~~#~~
Yao and Ivan come back around ten. They find Ivan’s sisters cleaning up Anton’s play corner. “Welcome back,” Sofia says when she sees them. She has blue crayon on her cheek.
“Did he behave?” Yao asks.
“Wonderfully. He fell asleep right after dinner.”
“He’s built a tower.” Natalia points at the three blocks piled on top of each other. “It took him a few tries, but he did it.”
“He’s growing up so fast…” Yao looks at the drawings he’s made.
“Did you two have fun?” Sofia asks.
“It was wonderful,” Ivan says. “We had dinner, and then we went to the cinema, and then we had a drink afterward.”
“You can call us any time you want to go out together. Now, let’s try to find all the crayons…”