red moscow

Chapter 2607

As soon as the door closed, Karina threw herself into Sokov's arms, hugged his waist tightly, and said in a crying voice: "Misha, I finally waited for you to come. I thought you left without saying goodbye and didn't intend to pay attention to me anymore."

Sokov recalled that the last time he left Vladimir, he didn't have time to say goodbye to Karina in person because it happened suddenly. It was inevitable that she would have a bad association. He stroked Karina's hair and said softly, "Karina, I'm so sorry. Last time, it happened suddenly and I didn't have time to say goodbye to you in person before I left."

"After you returned to Moscow, I went to look for you." Karina said, "But General Yakov only told me that you were not in Moscow. He refused to tell me where you were, which made me worry about you all the time."

"I went to Berlin," Sokov said. "Because this mission needs to be kept secret, Yakov cannot tell you my whereabouts."

Hearing Sokov say that he went to Berlin, Karina looked up at Sokov and asked in surprise: "When did you go to Berlin?"

When Sokov told her the exact time he was going to Berlin, Karina broke free from Sokov's arms, took two steps back, and murmured, "My father also went to Berlin at that time, but unfortunately, the train he was on was attacked by gangsters in Poland, and he was hit by a stray bullet and died of his injuries."

Karina's words reminded Sokov of what Yakov had mentioned when he called him. The official from Moscow who was in the same train with him was Karina's father. When the train was attacked by gangsters that day, only a few people died and more than 30 people were injured. Unfortunately, Karina's father was on the death list.

"Yes, Karina, I was on that train." Sokov sighed softly and told Karina in detail what happened that day: "It's a pity that I didn't know your father was on the train, otherwise I would have let him stay with me, and maybe he could have saved his life."

"Misha, how did you get here?" Kalina raised her hand and wiped her tears across her face. She said, "It's New Year's Day now, and all the railway and road traffic has stopped."

"No wonder I saw almost no vehicles on the way here. It turns out that all traffic has been suspended."

"What? You drove here?" Kalina said in surprise, "Then sit down and take a rest. I'll boil some water and make some tea for you."

After Sokov sat down, he looked at the busy Kalina and asked, "Why didn't you go to your colleagues' homes to pay New Year's greetings during the New Year holidays these two days?"

Kalina paused for a moment, and after a moment, she tried to force a smile on her face and said, "I feel a little tired and don't want to walk around, so I'll just stay home and sleep."

"Have you been working too hard recently?" Hearing Karina say that she felt tired, Sokov asked with concern: "You should pay more attention to your health and don't get too tired."

"Okay, I see." Karina put the kettle full of water on the stove and asked Sokov, "Misha, will you go back to Berlin?"

"No, at least not for a few years. I won't go to Berlin again." Sokov replied: "In the next few years, I may stay in Moscow. As for what kind of work I will do, I still need to listen to the arrangements of my superiors."

Karina came and sat down opposite Sokov and said with a smile: "Misha, even if your superiors don't assign you a job, it doesn't matter. You can stay at home and write books. Maybe one day you will become a great writer like Gorky."

"I write books only for a temporary interest. I will never be a great writer like Gorky."

As the two were talking, Kalina's facial muscles suddenly twisted and she seemed to be in great pain.

Just as Sokov was about to ask, he saw Kalina suddenly stand up, cover her mouth and rush to the bathroom. Soon, there was a violent vomiting sound in the bathroom.

  Hearing the sound coming from the bathroom, Sokov was stunned. Could it be that Kalina was having morning sickness?

Although he had known Kalina for a short time, Sokov knew very well that Kalina did not have a boyfriend and rarely interacted with the opposite sex. If she was really pregnant, it meant that the child in her belly was his.

The sudden situation made Sokov confused and he didn't know how to face Kalina next.

A full quarter of an hour later, Karina finally came out of the bathroom, looking even more haggard. She returned to her seat and said apologetically to Sokov, "Misha, I'm so sorry. I may have caught a cold and feel a little nauseous."

"Karina, don't hide it from me. I know everything." Sokov held Karina's hand and asked with concern, "How long has it been?"

"Misha, I don't understand what you are saying." Kalina was obviously unwilling to admit it and tried to change the subject.

"Karina, don't forget that I'm also going to be a father soon. Don't I know how a woman reacts when she's pregnant?"

After hearing what Sokov said, Karina lowered her head and said with a blushing face, "More than a month."

“How many people knew about this?”

"So far, the only people who know about this are the doctor who treated me and General Yakov."

Sokov now understood why Yakov kept urging him to go to Vladimir to see Karina. It turned out that he had known about Karina's pregnancy for a long time, but for various reasons, he had never been able to tell him.

"If your boss knew about your pregnancy, would it affect your future work?"

"How could that be?" Kalina grinned and continued, "During the war, there were quite a few female comrades in our unit who became pregnant. The leaders turned a blind eye to such things and never asked about them."

"What about after the child is born?" Sokov asked with concern. At the same time, he was thinking that if it was inconvenient for Kalina to raise the child after giving birth, he would need to take the child back and give it to Asiya to raise together.

"It's okay. I can work and take care of the kids at the same time. All the female colleagues in my unit do this."

"Karina," Sokov felt it necessary to explain the matter to Karina so that she would not blame him in the future: "Have you thought about it? Do you really want to give birth to this child?"

Karina did not answer Sokov's question, but asked: "Why, don't you want this child?"

"Of course I want children, and the more the better. Anyway, with my ability, I can afford to raise them." Sokov said with concern: "I'm worried that it will be inconvenient for you to take care of the children alone."

"It's not inconvenient." Kalina smiled a little more: "Many female colleagues in our unit have husbands and boyfriends who died on the battlefield. They all raised their children by themselves."

Hearing Karina say this, Sokov thought of the women who came from Ukraine to Moscow to work. They basically worked while raising one or several children on their own, without complaining about this lifestyle. It seems that Karina is also such a woman.

"Okay, Kalina." Sokov nodded and said, "Since you have made your decision, I will not interfere with it. Whenever I have time in the future, I will come here to see you and the children." "Well, I hope you will not forget what you said today in the future."

"No, I always keep my word." Sokov said, "As long as I have time, I will come to Vladimir."

"The water is boiling. I'll make you some tea."

Sokov quickly grabbed Kalina and said, "Let me do it. You sit down and rest. Don't disturb the fetus."

"I'm not that delicate." Kalina said to Sokov who was busy in the kitchen, "The sugar cubes and honey are in the cabinet above your head."

The two drank tea and had dinner. Seeing that it was getting dark, Karina seemed anxious: "Misha, are you going back to Moscow now?"

After hearing this, Sokov shook his head and said, "I plan to stay here for two days. I wonder if you welcome me?"

"Welcome, of course." Kalina was very happy to know that Sokov would stay with her. She stood up and said, "There's nothing to eat at home. I'll go out and buy something to cook when I come back."

"Karina, don't go out." Sokov shook his head at her and said, "When I entered the city, I carefully observed that no store was open. Even if you go out, I'm afraid there will be no place to buy things."

"Then what should we do?" Kalina panicked: "After we finish eating the food at home today, there will be no food tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is January 1rd, and some stores should be open." Sokov said, "I'll drive outside during the day tomorrow to see if there are any stores open."

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see if the shops are open tomorrow." In addition to worrying about not having enough food at home, Kalina was also very worried about one thing: "Misha, if you don't go home, will your wife not care about you?"

"She and her parents have returned to Khimki Town and will not be able to return home until the 5th," Sokov said. "She didn't ask me where I went during these two days."

When he said this, Sokov was thinking that he still had to meet Zhukov before the 5th. Then when he left Vladimir the day after tomorrow, he would go directly to Zhukov's villa to see what advice he had for him.

……

Time soon came to the morning of the 4th.

When Sokov got up, although he tried not to make too much noise, he still woke up Karina. She sat up, leaned against the back of the bed and asked, "Misha, are you leaving?"

"Yes, Karina, I'm leaving." Sokov was worried that Karina would ask him to stay, and he might not be able to make up his mind to leave, so he took the initiative to say: "I promised Marshal Zhukov that I would go to him before the 5th."

As Sokov expected, Karina wanted to let him stay for another day, but when she heard him say that he was going to Marshal Zhukov's house, she had to change her mind: "Misha, then be careful on the road, and remember to come and see me when you have time."

Sokov nodded, walked forward, hugged Kalina's shoulders, kissed her forehead, then turned and left the bedroom.

Sokov drove onto the street. Although there were still not many pedestrians, he could see traffic police appearing at the intersection, directing the few vehicles on the street in an orderly manner.

"Comrade traffic policeman," Sokov drove to the traffic policeman in the middle of the intersection, rolled down the window and asked, "Do you know where I can get gas?"

The traffic policeman saw clearly that the person sitting in the car and asking him questions was a general, so he quickly raised his hand to salute and said respectfully: "Comrade General, I'm afraid the unit that refueled has not yet started work."

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but get anxious. His car had run two or three hundred kilometers and the fuel was almost gone. If there was no place to refuel, he wouldn't be able to drive the car back.

The traffic policeman saw Sokov's anxious look and asked quickly, "Comrade General, is there anything urgent?"

"Yes, comrade traffic policeman." Sokov nodded and said, "I have to return to Moscow immediately for urgent matters. If the car is out of gas, I won't be able to drive for long, and then I might miss something important."

If someone else said this to the traffic police, he would say that he didn't know how to manage money. It was none of my business whether your car had gas or how far it could go. But the person who said this at the moment was a senior general, so the nature of the matter was different. If his car ran out of gas and couldn't return to Moscow in time, it might really delay important matters, and he might even be implicated.

"Comrade General, please wait a moment. I'll go ask for you. Maybe I can find you a place to refuel."

"Comrade traffic police, thank you in advance."

"You're welcome. This is what I should do." After saying this, the traffic policeman quickly ran towards a telephone pole on the side of the road.

Sokov saw something similar to a square speaker tied to the middle of the electric pole. The traffic police walked up to the thing, pressed a certain position with his hand, and said something quickly. Soon, a sound came out of the square speaker. At this moment, Sokov realized that this should be a walkie-talkie used by the traffic police. The traffic police on duty used this thing to communicate with the traffic police department's dispatch room.

A few minutes later, the traffic policeman came running over and said to Sokov, who was sitting in the car, "Comrade General, I have reported your situation to the dispatch room. They said that if you drive along this road, you will see a traffic police duty point on the roadside after passing two intersections, where they can provide you with refueling services."

"Thank you, comrade traffic policeman." Sokov thanked the traffic policeman and was about to drive away, but suddenly he thought that it would be rude not to ask his name after he had done him such a favor, so he asked politely, "Comrade traffic policeman, what should I call you?"

"Mikhail, Mikhail Yuryanov." The traffic policeman said respectfully: "You can call me Misha!"

"What a coincidence! My nickname is also Misha." Sokov stretched out his hand out of the window: "Comrade traffic police, let the two Mishas shake hands."

The traffic policeman was flattered and quickly stretched out his hands, shook Sokov's hand and shook it vigorously: "Comrade General, what a coincidence!"

"Misha, goodbye!" Sokov waved to the traffic police as he drove away: "Thank you again, and I wish you good luck!"

"Have a nice trip, Comrade General." The traffic policeman also waved his hand and said, "I hope you will have the chance to visit Vladimir again!"

"Yes, Misha." Sokov nodded: "I will come here often in the future."