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The party was in full swing on the rooftop of the apartment building, the stars clear and bright in the sky above, golden light spilling across the crowd as they chattered, ate, and danced into the night. Michael Rostov drank down his shot of vodka, slammed his glass upside down onto the table, and stood up, smiling at his brother and father.
“Good talk, Papa, Nick,” he said, toasting the two with his coffee before gulping it down. “Now excuse me. I’ve been away from my date for too long.”
“I wouldn’t worry, Mike,” chuckled Nick, his eyes cutting across the rooftop to where a group of women were gathered in laughing discussion. “Mom and the ladies seem to have her in hand.”
A lithe figure in cobalt stood out amidst the throng of blondes and brunettes in various summery shades, not least because of her dark skin and wild riot of curls atop that striking shade of blue. As Rostov watched, she laughed at something one of the women beside her said, her head thrown back and long neck curved gracefully. Then her eye caught his and that impossibly bright grin spread across her face. He winked at her, and she winked back.
“That’s exactly what worries me,” he said easily, nodding his farewell to the table without looking away from her. “See you guys later.”
Without waiting for a reply, he headed in the direction of his mother, sister, and cousins. Who knew what they were telling Janelle about him? His mother had a propensity for hauling out pics of him as a boy and telling the most embarrassing stories about his childhood antics.
Snagging a couple of bottles of water from a glass-fronted bar fridge as he passed, Rostov arrived at the group of laughing women in time to hear his mother say, “He was always full of mischief, was our Michael. Always playing pranks, even when they got him into trouble.” Even after all these years, she hadn’t completely lost her Russian accent. She looked around the crowd, nodding. “Remember that time he singed off his eyebrows pranking Nicky?”
“He did?” Janelle’s voice was light and amused. “What was the prank?”
Before his mother could launch into a description that he knew would be as mortifying as the last fifty times she’d told the story, Rostov stepped forward and interrupted. “Mom! Please, no embarrassing stories. I don’t want to frighten Janelle away!”
“Small chance of that,” Kelly chuckled, and he slid his arm around her waist where she sat on the arm of his mother’s chair, smiling down at her before leaning forward to drop a kiss on top of the elder Rostov’s head.
“Okay, Michael, okay,” his mother sighed, making a moue of disappointment although her eyes twinkled up at him. At fifty years old, Anna Rostov still had baby soft skin, dark curls with only the faintest streaks of grey, and a wide mouth made for laughing. “She has plenty of stories to share about you, anyway.”
Rostov looked back at Janelle in mock horror. “Et tu, brute? What have you been telling them, Crewman Kelly?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, Crewman Rostov?” Her beaming grin was outright mischievous, and she shared a wink with his mother and sister.
“I would indeed, and on that note,” he gently tugged her to her feet and away from the crowd, “I’ll have to use my powers of persuasion to find out what damage has been done.”
“Good luck getting anything out of her, Michael! She’s a feisty one.” He and his mother shared a conspiratorial grin and wink of their own, and he steered Janelle around a wide seating banquet to a sheltered corner of the rooftop with a view out across the city.
“Glad to see you’re having a good time, Janelle.” He looked down at that smile he could never tire of seeing. She twinkled back up at him.
“I really am. Your family’s lovely and your momma’s wonderful. Everyone’s so relaxed and friendly. And…” - she looked around almost conspiratorially - “…is everyone in your family just naturally good-looking? Is it something in the water?”
Rostov let out a shout of laughter and grinned at her. “My family will be very pleased to know you think that of them. What can I say?” He shrugged. “We have good genes, I guess. Kind of like your family's. Morgan is absolutely stunning and the rest aren't far behind. But you're the most beautiful of them all.”
Janelle grinned back, and wound her arms around his waist. “You charmer, you. But yes, she is, and they are. You got the best of your family's genes, though.”
A glow of pleasure warmed his chest, and he tucked his hands into the back pockets of her jeans to pull her closer. “Oh?”
“You heard me.” Her eyes widened as his lashes dropped, hooding his eyes, and he lowered his head to hers. “One kiss, Michael Rostov. One! I’m not going to be snogging you out here with your family just the other side of that banquet, do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am. One kiss, and then - cuddles?”
A pleased little smile curved her lips. “Cuddles.”
The kiss was soft, unhurried, sweet. When he lifted his head, Janelle was looking a trifle dazed, her eyes a little unfocused; and he knew how she felt. He was a little dizzy, himself. Then her eyes cleared, and she pressed her lips together as though tasting him, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“That was nice. I sure do like kissing you, Michael.” One hand came up to let her fingers comb through his hair; he turned his head to kiss her wrist, and wrinkled his nose at her.
“I really, really like kissing you, Janelle Kelly, but you said only one kiss, so you’d better turn around and let me cuddle you before I break your rule.”
She laughed and turned in his arms, facing outward over the roof. He moved them to the sun-lounger standing in the corner and drew her down to sit between his legs, arms around her waist and chin on her bare shoulder.
Kissing the sun-warmed skin, feeling her soft curls tickle his cheek, he murmured, “I’m glad you came to my brother’s birthday, Janelle. I’m glad you like my family, and they like you.”
Her hands clasped his over her waist and she turned to press her lips to his temple. “I’m glad you invited me, Michael. It’s been a wonderful two days. I’ll treasure this weekend, especially once we’re back on the ship.”
“Yes. Like I think back to how I enjoyed meeting your family.” He smiled into her hair. “Good thing we both like each other’s families, right?”
“Good thing indeed.” Janelle smiled her own secret smile, snuggling back into the arms of her big, puppy-eyed engineer as they gazed out over the twinkling lights of the city spread out below them. Life was good, and once they were back on Enterprise, it was bound to be better.