I wondered if we would get a tour of the whole building, but we didn’t. I wondered what the conditions we weren’t seeing were. Kyle took one of the totes of gifts from me, the heavier one, and held my hand. All the anger and frustration I felt with him melted away. I glanced over at him, my heart feeling swollen. We could and we would do this.

We entered a room of mirrors. Mirrors on every wall. It was disorienting at first, and I summoned a strange image, prompted there by Pavel and his comment on the history class…If I were a Russian fighter in the Great Patriotic War and I wanted to mentally break a Nazi, well, this room would be my choice. I didn’t like mirrors.

The carpet in the room was old. There was a worn-looking couch and a couple of chairs, and a shelf full of toys that looked newer.

Maria announced something in Russian, with a friendly nod, and Pavel told us a detail we already knew. “You will have two hours to sit and play with Sasha,” he said. “No more, so please understand when the time is up.”

I nodded. Kyle nodded and smiled. We kept smiling at Maria. She didn’t notice. She was immune to smiles of hopeful parents.

Then there was more Russian, muted but rapid-fire between them, and Pavel frowned. He said something back. Maria responded, waving her hand slightly, a universal signal for “no big deal.” “One moment,” he said to us. “I want to be sure I remember correct English word.” He checked on his phone while my heart prepared to drop.

“Vetryanaya ospa,” he said. “Chicken pox. Sasha has chicken pox. It is going through the orphanage.”

“Oh, no,” Kyle said.

“You have all had it, yes? As children? You are immune?” Pavel asked.

Kyle and I both nodded. So did Danielle.

“Ah, so not a problem,” Maria said, in broken English.

“Does he feel up to seeing us?” I asked. His needs came first. Would he feel like playing, or would he just want to go to bed? I didn’t care if I wasn’t seeing him at his best. I cared how he felt.

Pavel translated. Maria said more in Russian, and Pavel said, “She says he’ll be fine. Russian children, very tough. Resilient.” Pavel dazzled us (well, not Kyle) with an encouraging smile.

Maria left. I looked at the mirrors. “Are they watching us?”

“I don’t know,” Danielle said. She had been very quiet, watching, probably listing things I was doing that I shouldn’t. “Let’s not discuss it here.”

Maybe I was distraught over the chicken pox announcement, but I was a little short-tempered. “I only asked…”