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"Yes, Tatia?"

"Are you sure about this? Are you sure? You don’t have to do this forto her "As a husband, I will have certaininalienable rights that no one can assail"

"I’m serious"

He kissed her hand "I’ve never been "

Tatiana knew: had Alexander told Dasha the truth froo his oay He never then could have been part of Tatiana’s life in the drab apartrand betrayals and hurts

Tatiana would have lost him, and Dasha, too She could not have continued to live with her sister, knowing that Dasha -- with her breasts, her hair, her lips, and the fullness of her heart -- was not enough for the e would have wreaked in Tatiana’s fae of sisterly affection

No, Tatiana could not have clai: she didn’t lay claioing to a warehouse of love and saying, I think he is mine, I’ll take him He’ll do Tatiana did not drive in her stake for the possession of his heart

It was Alexander who ca but absorbed in her own ser than life was possible Alexander was the one who crossed the street and said, I’ at hi patiently, confident and whole and perfect The sun filtered in through the church’s stained glass s She breathed in the faint sone incense Dusia had introduced her to the church in Lazarevo, and every evening after dinner Tatiana illingly, ready to pray as Dusia had taught her, ready to part with her crushing sadness and her crushing doubt

When Tatiana had been a child in Luga, her beloved Deda, seeing her depressed one summer and unable to find her way, said to her, "Ask yourself these three questions, Tatiana Metanova, and you will knoho you are Ask: what do you believe in? What do you hope for? But most important -- ask: what do you love?"

She looked up at Alexander "What did you call it, Shura?" she said quietly "Our first night, you said you and I had so, you called us"

"The life force," he replied

I knoho I a to the altar I am Tatiana And I believe in, and hope for, and love Alexander for life

"Are you ready, children?" Father Mikhail walked through the church "Did I keep you waiting?"

He took his place in front of them at the altar The jeweler and Sofia stood nearby Tatiana thought they ht have already finished that bottle of vodka

Father Mikhail smiled "Your birthday today," he said to Tatiana "Nice birthday present for you, no?"

She pressed into Alexander

"Sometimes I feel that my powers are li these trying tian "But God is still present in lad you came to me, children Your union is meant by God for your ive one another in prosperity and adversity and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children I want to send you righteously on your way through life Are you ready to commit yourselves to each other?"

"We are," they said

"The bond and the covenant of e was established by God in creation Christ himself adorned thisin Cana of Galilee A e is a symbol of the mystery of the union between Christ and His Church Do you understand that those whoether, no man can put asunder?"

"We do," they said

"Do you have the rings?"

"We do"

Father Mikhail continued "Most gracious God," he said, holding the cross above their heads, "look with favor upon this ave His life Make their life together a sign of Christ’s love to this sinful and broken world Defend this man and this woman from every enemy Lead them into peace Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle upon their shoulders, and a crown upon their foreheads Bless the and in their waking, in their joys and their sorrows, in their life and in their death"

Tears trickled down Tatiana’s face She hoped Alexander wouldn’t notice Father Mikhail certainly had

Turning to Tatiana and taking her hands, Alexander s at her unrestrained happiness

Outside, on the steps of the church, he lifted her off the ground and swung her around as they kissed ecstatically The jeweler and Sofia clapped apathetically, already down the steps and on the street "Don’t hug her so tight You’ll squeeze that child right out of her," said Sofia to Alexander as she turned around and lifted her clunky camera "Oh, wait Hold on Let me take a picture of the needs"

She clicked once

Twice

"Come to me next week Maybe I’ll have some paper by then to develop thee should have rinned "He with his ‘of sound e?"

Tatiana shook her head "You were so right This was perfect How did you know this all along?"

"Because you and I were brought together by God," Alexander replied "This was our way of thanking Hiet married than to make love the first ti her around in the air "Besides, getting etting you toyou to marry me"

"I’m sorry I was so nervous"

"I know," he said He still hadn’t put her down "I thought the chances were twenty-eighty you were actually going to go through with it"

"Twenty against?"

"Twenty for"

"Got to have a littlehis lips