-From Russia and (Y/N), With Love!- Pt. 2 1/2

"Mama," the small girl whined over the telephone, "Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"You're a big girl, Vika, you can sleep in the big girl bed," her mother suggested, having prepared for this when Ivan locked the door to their bedroom. They didn't want their daughter getting into anything if she managed to sneak away from the eyes of the grown-ups, so their bedroom door was locked, along with half of the other doors in their expansive house.

"Mama! I don't want that bed! I want to sleep in Papa's bed!"

Viktoriya had slept in the king-sized, four-poster bed almost every day since she was born, lying right between her mother and father. They thought it would stop if they got her a bed for herself, a cute little canopy to drape pale shades of pink and purple around her while she rested, but it couldn't have been that easy, now could it? Not even when Konstantin was born, would she relinquish her spot between her parents; instead, she scooted farther into her father's side, using his warmth as a blanket and making room for her baby brother.

"Sunflower," (Y/N) started softly, sighing before trying to reason with her child, "You're getting too big to sleep in the bed with me and Papa..."

"No! I don't want to sleep in that bed! I don't like you no more, Mama!" The small girl cried, scrunching her face up in childish anger. She pounded a little fist on the suede arm of the comfy chair she sat in, puffing out her cheeks, and grunted and huffed, but her tantrum was nothing compared to her father's.

"Viktoriya!" Toris and Eduard were startled at the loud voice booming through the phone, Ravis slowly shrinking away as if Ivan had been in the room at that very moment. "You do not talk to your Mama like that!"

"But--!"

"Nyet! 'But' nothing!" He let out a string of angry Russian words, but neither Toris, Ravis, nor Eduard could clearly decipher his sentence over the strange crackling and grinding noise that seemed to make the phone cord shudder. "Spat' v ... krovati, ili ... Ili ... Net kontreylernykh ... v ... nedeli!" Vika gasped in despair, bowing her head and making her little bottom lip shudder, trying to avoid tears. "Izvinit'sya pered mater'yu."

"Prosti, Mama... I was just kidding, I still like you..." Vika pouted, speaking softly now, fiddling with the hem of her silky nightgown and swinging her feet back and forth. She was getting too sleepy to hold harsh feelings against anyone, let alone her beloved Mama and Papa.

"It's alright, sunflower, I still like you, too." They could hear the laugh in (Y/N)'s voice, tired but happy. They were all glad she was happy, not only because she deserved to be happy, but because Ivan was happy that she was happy. And because Ivan was happy, he didn't make life hell for everyone else, so they were happy.

Everyone was happy, happy, happy.

Except Vika, who had to sleep in her big girl bed.

"You know, maybe if you ask nicely, Ravis will tell you a bedtime story," the woman encouraged, giving the girl some kind of incentive. She shrugged, rubbing her tired, violet eyes.

"I want Papa to tell me a bedtime story," she whimpered, curling in on herself. They'd only left a day ago, but she was already missing them terribly. "And Ravis's stories are lame."

"H-hey!" He said defensively. She stuck her little pink tongue out in response, giggling.

"Maybe one of your tetya's can tell you a story, then. I'm sure they have a lot of cool ones from their countries."

"Oh!" Vika perked up, holding the phone's receiver to her shoulder like she'd seen Toris do, "Tetya Kitty!"

"Yes, Viktoriya?"

"Can I sleep in your bed with you?!"

"Vika," (Y/N) warned, sternly yet softly getting her point across. Her daughter slumped and sighed in defeat.

"Nevermind, can you tell me a bedtime story? Ravis's stories are lame!" The Latvian boy frowned in mock shame, making the small girl laugh freely once more.

"Of course, little sunflower! I can tell you about The Enormous Turnip!" Katyusha called from one of the bathrooms where she was changing Konstantin after his bath.

"Tetya Katyusha said she will tell me about the turnip, Mama," the small girl informed, happier now that she was getting a bedtime story. (Y/N) laughed, and they could all feel the blissful effects from over the phone.

"That's good, sweetheart, now I think it's time for bed, da?"

"Da, Mama. I love you! Tell Papa I love him, too!" Vika squealed, hopping off the comfy chair and starting towards Toris.

"We love you, Viktoriya. Give your brother a kiss from us!"

"I will! Spokoynoy nochi! Here's Toris," she said, handing over the phone before her mother could give a 'spokoynoy nochi' in return. She quickly padded away in her little socks and nightgown, rushing to comply with the wish of a kiss goodnight for her baby brother. Toris began to speak to (Y/N).

"Hello, Miss (Y/N)."

"Hello, Toris," she said, cheerfully. "How is everything going?"

"It's going to go a lot better now that Vika's willing to sleep in her own bed. She almost tore Ravis's leg off when he told her he couldn't get into your room," he chuckled nervously at the previous threats from the little girl. (Y/N) laughed as well.

"I'd hate to imagine what she'd do to him should she ever get really upset!"

"I know what you mean," he chuckled, remembering the many times Vika would flail her little fists on his thighs, stomp on his toes, or in rarer cases, sink her tiny teeth into his skin. They'd gotten her to stop biting, but the dotted crescent shapes on the boy's shins and forearms would stay fresh in everyone's minds. "Well, dinner was served and both of the little ones ate most of their meals. I think Konstantin could start to finish full bottles of formula soon, with his appetite doing so well. Miss Braginskaya is finishing up his bath, now, and Vika's already had hers. Eduard and I are done with today's chores. All that's left is Vika's story, and then it's lights out for the night."

"Thank you, Toris. It's good to know my babies are in safe hands. To be honest, I was kind of nervous to be gone from them for such a long time, but I had no reason to be! I trust you three with this. I'm so glad I can finally relax, knowing everything is being taken care of," she praised, sighing on the other line.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Braginsky," Toris beamed, proud of himself and his comrades. "Everything will be fine. How is your trip going so far?"

"Oh, I wish you could see it. This place is gorgeous! Everything about it, the buildings, the food, the people, the weather... It seems unreal."

"I take it you're having fun, then?" He chuckled, a noise that she reciprocated.

"Yes, I am having tons of fun."

'It'd be tons of more fun if you got off the phone and came to bed...' Ivan growled deeply, meaning to make his pouting audible to only (Y/N), but Toris heard him loud and clear.

"I-I w-wouldn't want to keep you then! Have a good time!" Crap! That sounds weird! "Uh-h, a good night!"

"Oh, goodnight, Toris! Tell the others, too!"

"Sure, bye!" He quickly hung up. He sighed.

"So... It's solved, then?" Eduard asked, nodding his head towards where the girl ran off. Toris nodded, as well.

"It is. I'm not sure how they convinced her, but she's sleeping in her own bed."

"I don't want to sound like I'm a-accusing anyone of anything, but it sounded more like Ivan... threatened her, rather than convinced her..." stuttered Ravis, hugging himself against the chill he felt at the thought.

"That's because it was a threat... I didn't catch all of it, but I'm for sure that I heard some kind of 'or else' in there." The two younger servants gulped, Toris sighing again. "And there was something about piggies, too..." They looked oddly at each other.

"Toris, maybe you need to brush up on your Russian. Why would he say anything about pigs?"

As the Lithuanian opened his mouth to speak, shrugging, he was interrupted by a considerably more feminine voice.

"He didn't say piggies."

The three turned around to find Natalia, cradling the freshly bathed Konstantin, and staring dully between the each of them. Throughout the day, they'd become less surprised when she would pop up out of nowhere, but the fear and intimidation would never go away.

"Y-You heard?"

She nodded, "I was on the other line."

Of course, they thought. She was eavesdropping. That was almost to be expected.

"So, uh... What did he say, if he didn't say pigs?" Eduard asked her.

"He told her that if she didn't sleep in her own bed, then no piggyback rides for a week."

The three mulled that over, their mouths forming small 'oh's as the situation made sense.

Vika couldn't go that long without her piggyback rides.