EPILOGUE
Annamarie
The United States.
I’m in the United States.
For the average girl from France, visiting the United States is definitely something planned but most girls in France didn’t come there by way of Belarus. Of course, I was only an infant back then but my parents to this day won’t stop talking about what it means to live in an authoritarian country and what it means for the world that the United States exists, a place of freedom.
I almost feel like the plane is going to turn around and take off again. Papa smiles at me and pats my hand. “We’re here, zaychonuk,” he says. He’s calling me a little bunny.
Mama smiles and I lean forward and kiss her cheek. Then, I say, “I know papulia.”
Papulia. It means Daddy.
Daddy. My father.
There’s another Daddy, the one that Candace uses. She and I are best friends. It started while she was in France studying. She lived in our house and now that Daddy is taking a position in America and we will live here, we will get to spend time again. In fact, we’re staying with her for a few weeks because she and her Daddy just bought a house.
There’s no good word in Russian for her kind of Daddy. Papik is pretty close, though. Sugar daddy. A boyfriend a girl might refer to as Daddy. Papik is good enough, as far as I’m concerned.
And I want a Papik so badly I could scream. For almost a year she’s talked to me about her Daddy, Thaddeus, and when she talks about the relationship, there’s just about nothing on Earth I want more than to have the same thing she does.
These thoughts stick with me as we disembark and then go through customs. When we finally enter the airport proper, there she is. “Anna!” she shouts and runs to me. She hugs me and we laugh and hold each other but my mom pries her away so she can hug her and then my father does the same thing.
I see two men looking at us. They’re both very, very attractive. I walk up to them and smile at one of them. “You’re Thaddeus,” I say. “I know you are. She’s described you perfectly.” I throw my arms around him, lift myself up on tiptoes and kiss each of his cheeks. “I’m Annamarie.”
“Pleased to meet you,” he says with a smile.
I throw my arms around the other one. He’s even more attractive than Thaddeus. Two brothers so perfect! “So you must be Phillip,” I say and kiss each of his cheeks as well.
“Actually,” Thaddeus says. “This is Denny Lannister. He’s moving to the area as well. He’s in the guest bedroom while we’ve set aside the guest house for your family.”
Denny Lannister.
I turn bright red. Anna has talked about him before. He’s been friends with Thaddeus since elementary school.
“It’s okay,” he says. “No need to be embarrassed.”
“Thank you,” I say because I don’t know what else to say. I’m certainly not going to tell him I’m turning bright red because I know that he’s a Daddy.
And I want one.
***