"I still can't believe you told him that it was stigmata… and he believed you," Sydney groused, examining the healing wounds in Lauren's hands. "Was he always so… like that?"
Lauren shrugged. "He can get a bit carried away when he's worried." She sighed dramatically. "Besides, people always thought I was rather saintly."
Sydney stared at her. "Uh huh." She pocketed the small disk Lauren had given her. "By the way, my aunt will be meeting with you in a few weeks." She busily sorted through the papers on the small table between them.
Lauren's eyes widened, and she backed away slightly. "Your… aunt."
"Yeah, Aunt Elena will be town and mom wanted her to debrief you." Sydney looked up and caught a glimpse of Lauren's face. "Calm down. Just don't talk badly about mom or Aunt Katya and you should come through it fine."
"Sure," Lauren replied weakly, staring at her hands. "You bet." She pulled a small piece of paper out of her purse and began making a quick list.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking of everything I need to do first- put my will in order, burn the papers under the floorboard in the bedroom, etc…"
Sydney rolled her eyes. "Wimp. Now, if it was Aunt Katya… I would see where you are coming from. Because Aunt Katya doesn't wait for a reason, like Aunt Elena does."
Lauren continued with her list, ignoring Sydney. "And then there is the orphan I'm sponsoring in Africa, and the documents hidden in the left upper bedpost, and…"
Sydney sighed and walked out the door. "Have fun!" she called behind her.
"You bet!" Lauren replied, and checked her watch. If she left in five minutes, she could just make it home in time for dinner. She considered her list, shredded it, and resolved to say as few potentially damaging things as possible on meeting with Elena Derevko.
Resolve, she thought sourly, hardly made the prospect easier to bear.
"Will you hand me that?"
Irina tossed the sweater in question to Elena, who folded it neatly and placed it in her suitcase.
"Rushka, you and Katya won't kill each other while I'm gone, right?"
"Right," Katya affirmed, lingering in the doorway for a moment.
"You aren't leaving for two more days, Elena," Irina pointed out, eyeing her sister's suitcase. "You're going to be pulling those sweaters out of that suitcase before tomorrow afternoon."
Elena threatened her silently with the nearest book.
"So, planning on visiting Jack while you're there?" Katya asked innocently. Irina's eyes narrowed.
"Possibly," Elena replied absently. "Being family and all."
"Make sure you give him a kiss from Rushka," Katya reminded her wickedly. "Give him two. Or three."
"I don't kiss in-laws, Katya," Elena said dryly. "Rushka, stop pulling that face."
"Katya needs to watch her mouth," Irina replied testily, drumming her fingers against the blanket on Elena's bed. "It's going to get her in trouble, in more ways than one."
"I'm going to kiss your husband again someday," Katya told her seriously. "I liked it the first time. And the second."
Irina considered throwing herself off the bed and tackling Katya to the ground. "You're bored, aren't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Katya asked, nodding.
Elena paused in her packing. "Maybe I should push my trip back."
"No, we need you to talk to Reed," Irina replied decidedly. "As long as our fair sister keeps guard on her tongue… there will be no bloodshed." She resumed tapping her fingers on the bedspread. "I haven't heard from Jack in weeks," she admitted quietly out of the blue, eyes trained on the wall in front of her.
"Men," Katya sniffed, dismissive, while cutting a quick glance at Elena. "Horrible pen-pals." She turned and walked out of the room. "I'll make some tea."
Irina stopped drumming her fingers. "Did Katya just say she was making tea?"
"Sounded like it."
She rolled off the bed gracefully. "This I have to see."
Elena followed her youngest sister into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe, quirking a brow at Katya. "You're making tea, dear," she commented plainly.
Irina perched on the table, watching the proceedings with interest. Katya looked back at her. "Rushka, you have seen people make tea before, right?"
Irina grinned. "Yes. Keep going, I'm committing this to memory."
"You're really strange, Rushka." Katya shook her head, turning around to hide her amused expression from Irina. She pulled a cup out of the cupboard, considered it, sighed, and pulled out two more. "This will never happen again."
"Exactly," Irina replied, framing the image with her fingers. "I wish I had a camera handy."
There was a knock at the door. Elena's gaze flicked to Irina's hand, where a knife had mysteriously materialized. "But you do have a knife handy."
"Business." Irina shrugged. Someone thumped on the door again. Elena walked quickly over and checked through the small spy hole.
She laughed abruptly and unlocked the door. "Come in, come in!" she cried, pulling the door open. "You must be frozen."
"It's not so bad," a muffled voice replied. A slim figure unwound layers of scarf and coat, dropping them discretely on the floor next to the stove. A familiar hand pulled a hat from the figure's head, letting a chestnut braid fall.
Sydney smiled a tad sheepishly at her mother and aunts. "I hope you don't mind an unexpected guest." She walked over to her mother and accepted her hug. "Dad's coming in a few days, mom."
Irina resisted the urge to clap her hands victoriously. "He better have a good reason for being so quiet," she replied instead, eyes sparkling.
Katya groaned quietly as she pulled another cup from the cupboard. "Have any earplugs, Lena?"
"I came prepared," Sydney replied, hesitating in front of her. They eyed each other for a moment. Finally, Katya pulled her into a quick hug, accompanied by a slight smile.
"I thought you said you never wanted to visit," Elena chided gently, kissing her niece's cheek. "Did your father tell you where to find us?"
Sydney shrugged. "Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my earlier decision. And he didn't tell me- someone once told me that there was no excuse for you not to do your own research." She smiled brightly. "I destroyed all the evidence, of course."
Elena smiled approvingly. "I'm impressed. We're hard ladies to track down."
"Tell me about it," Sydney muttered, grimacing.
Elena pushed her to take a seat at the table as the kettle began to sing. "You came just in time, dear."
"Did I?" Sydney settled herself comfortably, noting with a wry grin the gentle flow of crimson silk in the window. Katya placed a mug in front of her, and she wrapped her cold hands around the warm exterior.
Irina accepted her own cup with a smug grin. "Thank you, Katushka."
Katya laughed quietly. "You're very welcome, I'm sure."
Elena took her own seat, adding sugar to her tea. "Things are finally the way they should be," she commented. "All the currently living women from this family gathered around one table again… mama would be so proud."
Irina nodded, conceding as Katya sat at the last remaining chair. "Welcome home, Sydney."
Her daughter caught her gaze. "I'm glad to be here."
She sipped her tea, and smiled.