Rolling over, she put the pillow over her head to smother the sounds from the yard below. Since it also smothered her, she gave it up. Resigned, she climbed out of bed and pulled on her robe. She just managed to find the doorknob and open the door, when Rachel opened the one across the hall.

The two disheveled women gave each other bleary-eyed stares. Rachel yawned first.

“When I have kids,” she began, “they’re not going to be allowed out of bed until ten on Saturday mornings. Noon on Sunday. And only if they’re bringing me breakfast in bed.”

Sydney ran her tongue over her teeth, propping herself on the doorjamb. “Good luck.”

“I wish I wasn’t such a sucker for them.” She yawned again. “Got a quarter?”

Because she was still half-asleep, Sydney automatically searched the pockets of her robe. “No, I’m sorry.”

“Hold on.” Rachel disappeared into her room, then came back out with a coin. “Call it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Heads or tails. Winner gets the shower first. Loser has to go down and get the coffee.”

“Oh.” Her first inclination was to be polite and offer to get the coffee, then she thought of a nice hot shower. “Tails.”

Rachel flipped, caught the coin and held it out. “Damn. Cream and sugar?”

“Black.”

“Ten minutes,” Rachel promised, then started down the hall. She stopped, glanced around to make sure they were alone. “Since it’s just you and me, are you really crazy about Mikhail?”

“Since it’s just you and me, yes.”

Rachel’s grin was quick and she rocked back on her heels. “I guess there’s no accounting for taste.”

Thirty minutes later, refreshed by the shower and coffee, Sydney wandered downstairs. Following the sounds of activity, she found most of the family had centered in the kitchen for the morning.

Natasha stood at the stove in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Yuri sat at the table, shoveling in pancakes and making faces at the giggling baby who was strapped into one of those clever swings that rocked and played music. Alex slouched with his head in his hands, barely murmuring when his mother shoved a mug of coffee under his nose.

“Ah, Sydney.”

Alex winced at his father’s booming greeting. “Papa, have some respect for the dying.”

He only gave Alex an affectionate punch on the arm. “You come sit beside me,” Yuri instructed Sydney. “And try Tash’s pancakes.”

“Good morning,” Natasha said even as her mother refilled Sydney’s coffee cup. “I apologize for my barbaric children and the mongrel who woke the entire house so early.”

“Children make noise,” Yuri said indulgently. Katie expressed agreement by squealing and slamming a rattle onto the tray of the swing.

“Everyone’s up then?” Sydney took her seat.