“Hey, do you like cars?” the little boy, Wilson, asks me.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Here.” Wilson hands me a toy car.
“What about princesses?” the girl, Wendy, asks.
“Princesses are cool.” I glance for one of their parents, but it’s just me and the kids. A wave of worry runs through me.
“You talk funny,” she adds.
“It’s my accent.”
“Why do you have an accent?” Wilson questions.
“Because I’m from Russia and I grew up speaking Russian, not English.”
This catches Wendy’s attention. “So, you’re like Dora.”
Who the hell is Dora? “I don’t know Dora.”
They both looked shocked. “Dora goes on adventures with Boots and she can speak Spanish. We know some numbers in Spanish. Can you tell us something in Russian?” Wendy’s voice is pleading.
“Yeah, teach us a word,” Wilson begs.
“Um, okay. What word?”
“Car,” Wilson says first.
I say, “avtomobil,” and he repeats it. We say it a few times and I’m impressed when he conquers it after the fifth time.
“My turn!” Wendy pats my knee as if to get my attention. “I want to say hello.”
I repeat the process with her. They’re pretty fast learners. For a moment, I wonder if I’ll teach Valeria Russian.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Andre says from behind the couch.
Wendy tells him, “zdravstvuyte,” and he looks confused. Then Wilson says, “avtomobil,' and holds up his toy car.
“What are you two talking about?”
The kids laugh. “I told you hello, daddy,” Wendy giggles, enjoying that her father couldn’t understand her.
“And I said car! He taught us Russian. He’s like Dora.”
Andre laughs heartily. “Yes, he is. Come give me a hug and a kiss.” They run to him and he tells them to behave while he’s gone.
I’m surprised when they hug me, too. We leave a second later. They weren’t so bad. But then, Andre’s a good dad.
After a moment of driving, I ask, “Who is Dora?”
Andre laughs again and tells me about the TV show. “Are you ready for your baby girl to be here?”
“Yeah. I’m just not sure I’m going to be a good parent,” I say, deciding to be honest.
“You’ll be fine. It’s sort of like how you and Hadley are.”
“What?” That doesn’t make any sense.