Makarovia? Where The Hell Is That? Freshman Year - 14. Chapter 14

Olek was relaxing and it showed. It was good to see. Peter won the game though. I knew he was a pirate at heart. He got too much glee when Olek and I did go broke.

When after dinner and another movie, we retired for the evening. As we got ready for bed, Peter was smiling, but he was happy about something other than winning the game or anticipation of what usually happened at night between us. His smile was in his eyes as he looked at me.

“What?” I asked him as I pulled the bed down.

Peter shrugged, still smiling. “My brother is really trusting you.”

My eyes widened and I grinned. “You make that sound like that’s surprising.”

“No.” He chuckled. “You’re…so willing to help! He really sees that.” He crawled over the bed to me. “He can see you care.”

I smiled closing the gap between us. “You know I do.”

Peter nodded almost laughing. “Not just about me, not just about him, but Makarovia!”

“I’ll be part of Makarovia. It will be my home.” I pulled him down over me. “This is a new revelation for you?”

“Not for me, but Olek sees that,” Peter said resting his head on his propped elbow. “This job, you’ll do it, won’t you?”

“Don’t you think I can do it?” I asked, wondering why he asked me that.

“I know you can do it. My question is whether this is what you want.” Peter said and nodded. “I know you. I think I do. You were studying to do it in another area. We’re talking about mining. Uranium mining.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to?” I asked.

Peter shrugged a nod. “I’m not saying you wouldn’t. You told me why you went to Northeastern University. Just…be sure you want to do this.”

I sort of understood. “Mining uranium was not a consideration, but it’s the same thing. I want to be there for the progression, but I want to make sure they’re safe doing that. It’s the same goal, protecting the Earth and the people that live here are safe. I will still.” I smiled. “I’m pleased with how things shaped up for me personally. A year ago, I had buried my mother and the sale of the house was being finalized and I was looking forward to an uncertain future by going to Northeastern.” I pulled Peter to me by wrapping my arms around him, as if he weren’t right against me now. “There I meet this amazing human being I fell in love with. You know what happened next.” I chuckled as we kissed. “I’ve said it before…I’ve not been bored since the day we met.” I shook my head. “I’ll do this…job Olek wants me to do. I want to do it.” I shrugged. “I was overwhelmed by the gravity of it, but I can’t let Makarovia down, Olek or you. I’ll do the best job.”

“Because you’re taking it personally, not some brainy guy doing the job because it’s your job assigned to do that. You’re protecting your home.” Peter smiled even more. “I have no doubt you will.” He kissed me gently. “I’m feeling…” he smiled at me as his face took on desire, “a little chilly.”

“It’s a good thing I know how to warm you up.”

Olek was…a different man! Relaxing, even more, I got to see more of Olek, the fun…easy going person. He laughed and joked, then tension was more than I realized on Olek before. Now, he was feeling a lot better. There was a definite difference.

All was great, until…

To the sound of seabirds and the gentle sound of the surf, I woke up and stretched. The weather had been great, and the sun was warm as I rolled over to see Peter and Olek. I sat up when I saw…Peter was asleep, but turning red! He had been lying on his stomach and his back was very pink, as was the buttocks. I grabbed our things and looked at my watch. We’d been asleep for a few hours and…well…

“Peter!” I shook him awake. “We’ve been asleep two hours!”

Olek heard what was going on and sat up looking over at his brother, his eyebrows rose and let out a whistle at what he saw and said sympathetically. “Ouch.”

I quickly covered Peter with my towel a scrambled to get him up while keeping him covered.

Olek quickly got up and put his shorts on. “You and I got the Ivanov good looks, Peter, but you have your mother’s fair skin.” Olek chuckled but frowned as he gathered his towel and shirt.

I grunted as I hurried Peter toward the house. “We’ve got some Aloe Vera in the villa, if I hurry and put some on you, it will help with the healing and lessen the sting…” I said. “I hope.”

Wrapping myself in a spare towel I quickly got Peter inside. Our female cook and housekeeper was cleaning while we were sunbathing she looked up when an almost naked Peter came in, which I quickly secured the towel around his waist. She wasn’t shocked, in fact, she raised eyebrows at what she saw briefly. It was appreciation. I smiled when my opinion was confirmed. I quickly got him stretch out on the bed and went and got the Aloe Vera ointment and just squirt some on his back and ass.

“I put sunscreen on,” Peter said as I rubbed it in his skin.

I nodded as Olek came in. “You did…four hours ago. In the meantime, you still were lying out and even swam.”

“It’s supposed to be waterproof,” Peter said.

“Nothing’s that waterproof,” I said leaning in kissing him on the back of his neck as I worked. “And as fair skinned as you are, I should have reminded you.”

Olek smiled as he sat on the bed beside us. “Well, at least he has more color! Now you’re red!” He chuckled, touching his brother’s back and with a sunburn, he lifted his finger and the imprint of white appeared and was quickly replaced by the red. “You’re in good hands, so I’ll go shower, pick a couple of movies.” He stood and looked back. “This has been really fun.” He smiled and came to Peter, kissing him on the temple, then did the same with me. “Thank you. You’re my brothers, but also my best friends. I love you both.”

I smiled as we watched him walk out to do…what he said he was going to do.

“Mission accomplished,” I said as I continued to rub the Aloe Vera in his skin.

“Yea,” Peter muttered with only a little enthusiasm.

I smiled knowing he would feel the pain soon. “I’m so sorry.”

Peter simply shrugged.

It could have been worse. Peter was burned, the shower just made it heat up for him and now he was feeling the heat and a little pain. I was applying the Aloe Vera almost every hour to take the sting I knew he felt away. It was a miracle plant. Peter ended up enjoying the movie, laid on his stomach on the couch, his head in my lap as I toyed with his hair.

I made sure he was under a big umbrella the next day and kept an eye out to be sure he was under it.

Movies, games or just reading…there were books there too. It was a pleasant time.

The days progressed and we almost forgot about time passing. However, it soon our last night there; we had a nice dinner…and all the meals we had here were very good.

Olek raised his glass of wine. “Guys, this has been great.” He smiled. “I hadn’t realized how stressed I was until it was gone. I say again, thank you.”

We raised our glasses to his for the toast.

“All for the bettering of Makarovia.” Peter nodded. “We’ll do this again soon.” He said to Olek daring him to say otherwise. “No more of these…years without a break. Agreed?”

Olek nodded. “Agreed.” We clicked out glasses together. “To Makarovia.”

“To Makarovia.” Peter and I said drinking.

I grinned at Olek. “You’re a good man, Olek. They are lucky to have you as king. I don’t think this monarchy should end at all.” I said looking at him. “As long as a good Ivanov is on the throne, it should go on.”

Olek smiled with a slight nod and shrug. “Well, there is a problem with that.” He chuckled. “I need a wife or you two need to donate something.”

Peter smiled. “Or you can.”

I looked up quickly. “Wait…” I said. “I’ll be an Ivanov by marriage. I’m in line by marriage. I shouldn’t be included in any future ruler.”

Olek smiled. “Why not?”

I looked at him like, why did he not see why I shouldn’t be. “Because keeping that line of succession won’t be with me.”

Olek shrugged. “But you would be an Ivanov. A child by you would be raised with you, Peter and all of us. Does that line have to exclude you?” He smiled. “The decision to have a child, of course, is yours, but just consider it. A turkey baster with the two of your…inputs mixed and given, who would know?”

“A simple DNA test!” I stated. “An Ivanov that was a Richards could be telling. You two have similar traits.”

“The black hair…which you have.” He waved at his brother. “He has fairer skin, but…there’s no guarantee with children we could produce. You’re kind and very smart…pass that to any child you have.” Olek said as he munched on a forkful of his dinner. “We still have time to think about it.”

It was again ten in the morning when we saw the boat arrive to take us back. We thanked the two that kept the house and started back home. Home. To Makarovia. It had gone from this unknown country to somewhere I was getting to know. I smiled realizing it was becoming home now, for me.

Once we were on the way back, Olek turned his phone on and grimaced. “All these messages! I’ll be spending the next day or two going through them.” He growled.

“Mom will help and so will we,” Peter told his brother. “You can’t do it all. Don’t try.”

Olek smiled and nodded. “You’re right.”

We landed at that little airport and got off the plane greeting by Queen Alla. She smiled as we approached her.

“Now that’s what I want to see.” She greeted us, hugging Peter, me and Olek. “Welcome back. You were missed, but this break was needed.” She waved at the castle and looked at Olek. “It’s still standing, just waiting for you to come back. You look rested.” She smiled and touched his face. “And tan!”

Olek nodded. “That’s what happens when you lay in the sun a week.” He threw his arms around Peter’s and my shoulders like chums, standing in the middle of us. “These guys were fun! We had a great time.” He shoved Peter a little. “Though someone got a little too much sun.”

“It’s fading.” Peter grinned. “I’m good.”

Things had to be done now. It was evening now and we had dinner as Queen Alla caught us up…Olek really…on what happened while we were gone. There were new photos submitted by Becky, Daryl and Kenny I had to go through. These were photos of Makarovia, townscapes and of the local people. All much more inviting for anyone that looked at the web page. Now I had to pick out the best from all the good ones.

“…and we need to plan the wedding.” Queen Alla said casually.

“Okay.” Peter nodded.

“Question,” I said. “As accepting as everyone here is…about me joining this family. It won’t be a church wedding. It can’t be. They can’t just accept us as getting married.”

Queen Alla nodded. “You’re right. Even as we as a country accept your marriage and others…the church can’t marry you.”

“The ceremony will happen at the palace,” Olek said. “There will be a priest here…to bless you two and your future. The ceremony and wedding will be done by a layperson.”

“That’s the way all marriages like ours happen in Makarvoia. The religion is there, but not part of the wedding itself. Rabbi, Priest or whatever…” Peter explained. “The priest doesn’t condemn the marriage…exactly, or the couple, but to marry the couple…the overall church says they can’t or the church would be giving their blessing on gay marriage.”

I shrugged a nod. “That makes sense.” I looked at some of the other pictures. “We should go to Skoal. I also need to go to the future mining area.”

Olek smiled and looked at Queen Alla. “He’s helping by ensuring the miners are adhering to all safety guidelines. He will also be writing those guidelines.”

“Training, Olek. I need more training, but yes…I’m guessing this isn’t going to be an open pit mine.” I said.

Olek shook his head. “It’s pretty deep, so most of it will be underground. They will be carving out the mine first. They will begin blasting soon if they haven’t already.”

“When do you think they will get to the uranium?”

“By the end of the summer,” Olek replied. “We will be getting the first payoff by the first of next year.”

I nodded. “I’d better get busy, then.”

The days that followed were busy. I went through all the photos to have on the web page. I also got to see more of Makarovia. It was pretty in spring. There was an abundance of flowers that were blooming and green grass with those surrounding mountains. I even had a moment where I expected Julie Andrews doing her spin singing, “The hills are alive, with the sound of music.” I didn’t do it, but I thought it. Peter went with me to see it all. Even he didn’t expect what we found in Skoal. Skoal had been the place to add the longer runway and build the extra houses because of the topography of the land and the large planes could lower safely to land. There was enough land somewhat level enough to add these needed things. What had been just like other towns and villages throughout Makarovia and Europe. It was older and had an old world charm, but now…there was the large airport…in the making…and more densely packed housing making it look more like a suburb. There were the various…trailers? The temporary houses and other things…including what was a BX or whatever was the military form of a store and a commissary for groceries.

Again, Peter was feeling…not happy with what he was seeing. After these few months together…a year coming up, I felt I knew him well enough to be able to read him. We stood on a bluff seeing Skoal and the surrounding housing at a distance.

“This is going to be a problem for you, isn’t it?” I said to him taking his hand. I was more to confirm what I was seeing.

Peter looked as I once again interrupted a train of thought for him, making him aware that his feelings as shown on his face. “What?” Then he realized what I’d seen. “It’s just…so…alien!” He waved at the temporary housing and buildings. “Look at them. Over there are the original structures that have been here for up to several hundred years to a few dozen decades.” He waved at the many stone buildings of the village. “Then you have these things…with air conditioners!?”

“Do we tell them to leave?” I asked, knowing if I asked that, he would see why it couldn’t be that way.

“No!” He shook his head. “This is to improve Makarovia.”

He was just like anyone. “It’s different.” I pointed out. “Something new is here. The comfortable familiarity has gone away. People don’t like change, but it will happen.” I turned him around to look at me. “These trailers…containers are not permanent. Construction will continue, bring newer homes for all these people and those trailers will be gone.”

Peter sighed, nodding. “I hope so. They better hurry with the construction. It starts snowing by September…sometimes the end of August. Those trailers might not protect anyone from the subzero temperatures coming.”

I chuckled. “I guess there isn’t much need for cooling the air here.” We were dressed in shirts, no sweaters and it was still cool with the wind, but not cold.

Peter grinned nodding. “You’ll see.”

We also went to the entrance to the new mine. There was an opening there now, but Olek said they would start blasting. I saw wrapped in a covering this large dump trucks. I mean they were huge! Much bigger than the average truck or even a dump truck you would sometimes see on the road. There were also these large…extractors? While they were short and squat, they were also huge. Looking at the little opening, they would have to blast a bigger opening to get these pieces of equipment in the mine. While we were standing there, the soft, deep “boom,” and I will say the ground percussion…it didn’t shake, but I felt the deep and sudden vibration through my feet. Men were walking in and out of the opening as they were working…I saw an average sized dump truck drive out of the opening to get rid of the excess rock from where they were blasting to widen the interior.

Not only were there more military personnel there, but additional miners to show local Makarovians how to mine this new resource. This new resource would be extracted and at present, taken to planes and flown out to begin processing until the processor here was finished. The increase in population wasn’t a few hundred, but a few thousand. That meant more supplies were being brought in and distributed by others brought in…the wives and husbands of those brought here to work on the mine were helping to do that. A hundred thousand?

I smiled at Peter. “Well, now is where our various degree seeking come in.”

Peter smiled and nodded. “I would say so. My degree will be to make this work. All these people and form a working society to make it work smoothly.”

“My degree at keeping all this green,” I said. “You know what I mean when I say that now, but we are going to have to be careful. All these people will produce waste. I mean sewage as well as the many items that are thrown out. That waste has to be disposed of. There’s a limited amount of land and a dump is not necessarily the answer or landfills. Recycling is a must.” I said. “They will have to follow those guidelines. Those in charge of their people will have to work with us to make sure their personnel follows those guidelines.”

Peter nodded. “Gone is the old Makarovia, forgotten and always neglected.”

“Now, a new Makarovia will begin to emerge.” I smiled squeezing his hand. “And we will start this beginning and make sure it’s a good one.”

Peter grinned leaning toward me. “I really love you.”

I smiled. “Yes, I get the feeling you do.” I kissed him as my fingers went in his hair. “I love you, Peter.”

He hugged me to him. “I know.”