Chapter 20: Saying goodbye… Just not yet.

It was the early morning when Natalya, her sister, and Anastasia had to gather their belongings and bring them to a taxi that waited outside the large home. Part of the punishment that the girls had received for sabotaging Alice during the camping trip was that they had to confess who was who. While the girls didn't like it, they agreed to their parents' conditions.

The agreement that Alfred and Natalya had decided on was the original plan for switching the girls during their long holiday breaks. That way they wouldn't miss out on their original activities or schoolwork. The girls weren't in favor of the decision at all, but of course, they couldn't really do much after all they had done within the past couple of days.

Alfred had been hugging Anastasia in a tight embrace while Natalya had done the same to Anneliese to exchange their goodbyes. Anastasia had managed to do well saying goodbye to her father, but Anneliese had been a whole different story. She found herself clinging to Natalya for more than a minute; occasional sniffles coming from her while Natalya soothingly rubbed her back and told her that she would see her very soon.

Once the hugs were exchanged with the parents, the two sisters now embraced each other. Alfred and Natalya watched their daughters do this while Alfred simply kept looking at Natalya; astonished that he even had agreed to this while Natalya's mind had been in a completely different place.

Was she making the right decision? The previous night when she and Alfred had been alone, she felt something. It as almost similar to the same way she felt the first day she had met him. Well, on the day she first met him, all she felt was confused with why he wanted to flirt and go on a date with someone like her. But over time, she felt the confusion turn into care. That was exactly how she felt. Even if Alfred made stupid decisions sometimes, she truly cared about him a lot… And it hurt her to see the other in such a sad state with having her gone.

Unfortunately, that was how it had to be.

Anneliese and Anastasia broke from their hug now before their mother had handed over an umbrella. Outside it had been downpouring rain, which isn't that common in the area of California that they were in. Perhaps this was fate's way of acknowledging that today was a sad day for all of them. Not only was the separation of two sisters taking place, but the separation of a man and woman who still cared about each other very deeply.

Natalya turned to face Alfred now who already had been looking at her this entire time. Katyusha had already said her goodbyes to Alfred, Matthew and Anneliese, so she had been waiting in the vehicle with Anastasia now just waiting for Natalya to join them.

With a hand reached out to her, Alfred had rubbed Natalya's arm soothingly as the woman looked down. It only made Natalya feel even more guilty, because it didn't have to end like this… But she believed it was her bravery that was making her do this, "Take care of yourself, Natty."

"Mhm, I will…" Slowly, the woman leaned over to place a kiss against Alfred's cheek, which definitely was a bit of a shock to him. All she had done in response to this was reach up and cup his cheek; gently caressing it in the palm of her hand. The expression Alfred had on his face made it seem like he wanted to say something, such as 'don't go' or 'please don't leave me again', but Natalya stopped him before he could, "...Take care of yourself too."

Those were the last words that Natalya had exchanged with Alfred before running over to the car where Anneliese stood outside the door. With one more hug to her daughter, she couldn't help but to whisper, "Take care of your dad for me," Which definitely managed to catch Anneliese's attention. She nodded at her mother's request though, before watching her climb into the vehicle and close the door.

And thus, they were off.

Anneliese had walked back towards the direction of her father to watch as the car drove off. There as silence, absolute silence between the two of them.

Though after about thirty seconds or so, it was then that the two exchanged a look at each other. Like father like daughter, the two almost instantaneously came up with an idea.

"I'll go grab the passports," Alfred began.

"And I'll go grab my bag," Anneliese finished off, before the two were already running inside and scrambling to get their belongings together.

The flight back to Russia was as expected, the usual. The transfers in Boston to London, then London to Moscow - nothing too different. The entire time Anastasia had rested on the plane, especially since she was exhausted after the past couple of days.

Though for Natalya, her mind was completely out of place. It was almost as if she were reflecting on herself about what had taken place back not only during that period of saying goodbye, but the previous night where she and Alfred had examined bottles of old vodka brands.

To her, she still couldn't figure out if she had made the right solution to leave Alfred again. The first time she knew it was the right choice, but now after once again… She was unsure. The expression that Alfred gave her and the tears that came from Anneliese when she hugged her, it pained the woman deeply. It pained her just as much when she agreed to split custody of the girls with Alfred, but the pain she experienced of leaving them again was nowhere near what she felt during those final moments.

When they had arrived to Moscow, the three ladies dealt with their luggage to be brought out to a taxi that would be waiting for them. Today was a snowy day in Russia, so of course things had been a bit more slower than usual. The process of gathering their belongings took an hour or so, and by the time they had reached to the taxi it had been about an hour and a half.

The process to get back to the large Russian home was just as long. Normally, the trip from the airport was about forty minutes or so but naturally it took more than an hour seeing that the snowfall had resulted in traffic to build up. Natalya didn't mind this though, especially with seeing that during the entire trip Anastasia was able to rest and recover from all of the events that had taken place.

When arriving, Katyusha had been the one to unlock the door before they all stepped in. Anastasia handed over her jacket over to her mother once inside to be put away before beginning to wander through the hallways. She didn't know her if her uncle had been home, but she figured that she may as well go greet him after not seeing him for a while.

Natalya put the coats away and presumed that Anastasia was off to go find her uncle, but she expected her daughter to know that he was probably in his study doing work and not randomly wandering the house, "I'll go greet big brother," She looked over at her Katyusha, who nodded in response. It was there that the woman wandered down into one of the hallways until she had reached a large door. From there, she gave it a gentle knock before peeking her head inside to see a newspaper being held up by a pair of hands, "We're back, brother." She began under her native tongue. But instead of being greeted by her brother's face, it was instead, another.

"Hey mom," Anneliese began as she lowered the newspaper. Natalya's jaw dropped upon seeing her second daughter all of the sudden. Wait - Where was Ivan? And how the hell did she get there?! "Did you know riding a private jet is much more faster than a stereotypical flight with transfers?"

Natalya had opened the door fully now and stood there in disbelief. She blinked for a moment in confusion, before rubbing her neck nervously - unsure of how to react, "Uh, yes…" She began, "I've heard of that before."

"Mama, who are you talking to?" Anastasia's voice came from outside the door as she spoke in her native language. She stepped inside the study now, only to see who exactly her mother had been speaking too. Anastasia felt her jaw drop before she burst out laughing. Not from the fact that she was shocked to see Anneliese, but how she managed to get to sit in Ivan's study chair - because no one was allowed to! "What are you doing here?"

Anneliese sat up in the chair now with a large smile on her face. It was amazing to Natalya to see how the last time she saw that face, she was crying… Yet, there was her daughter again, smiling happily as if the goodbye had never happened, "You see, it took us about thirty seconds after you two left that we… didn't want you leaving our lives ever again. We couldn't bear the thought of losing two important people from our lives."

"...We?" Natalya questioned with a blank stare.

It was then that she saw it. From a dark corner, Alfred had taken a step out now. In his hands he held a bottle of liquor… But not just any kind of liquor. It had been the liquor that had made Natalya tear up upon taking glance upon it. It was also the same liquor that the two drank at their wedding.

"We." Alfred confirmed for her as he placed the bottle down now onto the desk. Natalya's eyes widened upon seeing this, unsure of how to react. But without letting her have a chance to speak, Alfred already had walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders, "Listen," He began in a serious tone as he examined the woman's facial expression. Natalya's face had reddened around her cheeks while her hands were formed into fists, "I made the mistake of not coming after you once, Nat. I'm not gonna do that again and fuck it up," It was then that he leaned forward with a grin on his face, "No matter how brave you are."

Natalya was silent. Her hands had released themselves from fists before she took a glance at the two girls who were standing beside each other now with smiles on her face. To her… She just, couldn't believe it.

"And you expect for me to go weak in the knees with that damn smile on your face, jump into your arms and cry as you say we'll just figure this whole thing out-" Already, Alfred had cupped the other's cheeks with his two hands; the smile on his face becoming even larger and larger as he stared into the frustrated woman's eyes, "-form some sort of relationship with you, then face the difficulties of our daughters being raised here and there, and you and I just picking up where we left off..." She reached over to rub her eyes in frustration, "...Live happily ever after together, grow old and watch our daughters grow…? How the hell do you think-"

The small rant that Natalya gave didn't even process through Alfred's mind. Instead, to calm her from her building outburst, he had leaned forward and had done something he had been wanting to do since the second he saw her again.

Natalya's eyes widened when feeling the other press his lips against hers. The sudden gesture made almost every pent up emotion she experience - vanish. Anastasia at this point had fallen into Anneliese's arms from shock, while Anneliese laughed and fanned her sister to make sure she didn't faint from shock.

The kiss lasted for a second or so before Alfred had pulled away. There were no words given by Natalya, aside from a blank stare and softened expression at the action the other had just done. She was speechless.

"Just shut it, Natty." Alfred had spoken in a low whisper now; caressing the other's cheeks as he tried to calm her from the sudden shock that had taken place with being given the sudden kiss, "We'll figure it out. Stop worrying about it."

"But I have to-" She had been just about to start it up again, and thus, she was silenced by a kiss once more. This time Natalya had dropped the fists completely that she had in her hands and instinctively found herself in a tight embrace with Alfred. If there was one thing, she didn't expect that her journey home would lead her right back in the hands of Alfred.

As the two remained in a close embrace, Alfred had pressed his lips against Natalya's and couldn't help but to feel a smile form when realizing that she had officially given in and returned the gesture. Once every few seconds, the two would part for some air, before once again their lips met again.

The entire time the scene had played out, Anastasia had managed to maintain her composure… But once again was stumbling when seeing her father kiss her mother. She couldn't help but to clutch at her chest and feel a large smile form along her face, because if anything, that was the first time in years she's ever seen her mother that happy.

"We.. Actually did it…" Anneliese looked over at her sister with a large smile on her own face, before she shot her hands up and began sinking to the ground in celebratory shrieks.

That moment was indeed the start of a happily ever after.