Nikolai was torn between saying something smug or saying something sympathetic. He had been very much in love with his wife, Yelena, when they had stood before man and God and pledged to be one. It was only later, when she had decided she was his own personal Czarina, that he decided the life of a traveling soldier was a good one.<br/><br/>Baba, as she was now called as she approached old age like Nikolai, came bustling into the room as Alexei was suiting up. No amount of power or titles would ever make her see him as anything other than the chubby, dimpled baby she crooned to sleep in her arms and spanked when she caught him eating jam from the jar, with most of it smeared over his self-satisfied face.<br/><br/>"Alexei," she said, putting motherly love and scolding all into one word. "Now that you know you are getting married, I must give you a kiss goodbye. Oh, now don't worry, my boy, I am not leaving. It's just as the old saying goes, 'A son is a son 'til he takes him a wife. A daughter's a daughter all of her life.' You are grown up now, to be married and have babies! I have heard she is beautiful. Look at your cuffs! Who is your valet? A blind man? Shameful. Tsk tsk. Now, eat the little snack I brought up for you. You will need your energy. And mind you keep this uniform clean. You'll need to wear it for the wedding ceremony. Oh, I suppose you didn't realize the ceremony was tomorrow? Just like a man, never pays attention to anything going on at home. Haven't you noticed all the decorations and preparations? I have slaved my fingers to the bone for your wedding feast. The cake itself is a monument. Truly, a monument. Of course, you wouldn't have noticed the decorations. And we wouldn't have told you otherwise because you would run away, just like you did when you were a little boy and I came to give you your cod liver oil to make you grow big and strong. You would run away to the tree fort in the kitchen courtyard, but Baba always found you, didn't I? Oh, my little boy is getting married! Now then, eat up. Remember to smile when you meet her. Comb your hair and sit up straight on your horse. Now I have to go back to the kitchens before they boil the soup. Those little kitchen maids are so lazy! I must be on them all the time. You have smut on your nose. Here, let me wipe it off. Well, you look very handsome, little boy. Now off you go so you won't be late."<br/><br/>Baba whirled around and bustled from the room, leaving a ringing silence behind her.<br/><br/>"Well, there are worse things than marriage, my lord," Nikolai said, scratching his head. "I think."