Глава третья (Chapter Three)

Seriously? The door bell has to ring right now? Kat sighed and pulled herself away from Alex. "It's probably Emma, let me go get rid of her really quick." Alex nodded and sat down on the couch. Kat flipped a lamp on as she walked out of the room. She slid the deadbolt on the door free and yanked it open. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw her mother, father, 3 brothers, and 4 sisters standing on the porch. "What are you doing here? It's nowhere near a major holiday is it? Did you tell me you were coming to visit?" Kat stayed inside the doorway, trying not to let her family into the house. They pushed through anyway and thankfully avoided the living room, heading to the kitchen instead. Her brother, Andrei, looked at her questioningly.
"Did you get a new car? And, no, we didn't tell you we were coming. We thought we'd surprise you." Kat huffed and pushed a hand through her dark curly hair. "Don't get me wrong it's great that you're here. I'm glad you guys are visiting, but all of you at one time? I don't have that much room. I love you, but you can't all stay here." Dmitri, Kat's father, sat down at her kitchen table. "You didn't answer your brothers question." The words were spoken softly, but they made an impact nonetheless. "No, I didn't get a new car. It belongs to a friend of mine." Kat's mother gasped. "Oh, sweetie. You have company? Is your friend still here? We should have called first, but now that we're here, let's make the most of it."
Kat nodded and looked around at her family. She held up a hand and walked out of the room. When she walked into the living room she noticed that Alex was up and wondering around looking at her pictures. "It was my family at the door. Would you like to meet them? I know we've only been on one date, but they're here and asking about you." Alex nodded and smiled. He held out his hand and walked with her back into the kitchen. "I'm warning you now. My family is pretty big. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters." Alex's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. Kat stopped short in the doorway of the kitchen and took a deep breath. He leaned down and planted a good luck kiss on her lips.
As they walked into the kitchen, whatever conversations that had been going on immediately stopped. Her brothers straightened up from their leaning position against the island and made their way around to stand in front. Each one looked Alex up from his feet all the way to the top of his head. Kat cleared her throat and gave her brothers a death glare. Her sisters on the other hand were checking him out in an entirely different way. Aleksandra, one of her older sisters, was leaning back in her seat to try to get a look at his butt. Kat shifted back a tiny step to block her sister's view. "And who is this, Katya?"
Alex cleared his throat and stuck out his hand. "Alex Semin." Kat's mother smiled and shook his hand first, followed by her siblings, and finally her father. Her father, hesitant at first, seemed to thaw a bit upon hearing the Russian influenced name. "I'm really sorry about this. It doesn't look like they're going anywhere. You can head out if you want." Alex looked at Kat and nodded. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, drawing the attention of her family. "I'll let myself out. We'll have lunch or something this week. Text me when you can." Kat smiled and watched him walk out, hearing the door open and close behind him a few seconds later. Her father stood and looked around the kitchen. Yet again his voice was soft. "When will you be getting married, Katya?"
"What? When will I be getting married? I have no idea what you're talking about." Kat looked at her father, eyes widened in shock. "You're 24 Katya, and you have a nice Russian man taking interest in you. It's time you put this silly notion of work behind you and settle down." Kat sat down at the kitchen table with a thud. She was speechless, and from the corner of her eye saw movement in the kitchen doorway. She turned to see Alex standing there, looking sheepish.
"Sorry, I left my phone in the living room. I didn't mean to interrupt." Kat smiled at him and let him know it was ok. "Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but Katya agreed to marry me. She said yes last night at dinner." His voice was heavily accented, but completely understandable. Kat stood up so fast her chair tipped over behind her. She leaned into Alex's body and nodded, keeping her eyes on him. "That's right. We were waiting for the right time to tell you, and well, there it is." Kat looked to each one of her family members, her brothers and sisters were smiling as was her mother, her father was looking Alex up and down. Seemingly, assessing whether or not he was good enough for his daughter. "I don't like you. Not one bit."