Devil | A Solomons

FORTY EIGHT - REUNITED

It was a bright and sunny afternoon in London when Irina walked into the bridal shop. Since giving birth to Milena, she hadn't had the confidence to go wedding dress shopping, though Alfie had done his best to restore the positive mindset in her that had been lost.

A doorman kindly helped Irina lift the pram over the small step at the entrance, smiling down at the baby as he peered beneath the blanket quickly.

She had wanted Alfie to join her when she picked out her wedding dress, rather having him there than going alone, but he was insistent that he didn't want to see the dress until their wedding day, believing in the heavy superstition that came along with it.

Irina on the other hand was not so much of a believer. She had been dreading the ordeal from the moment she realised she'd have to do it. She'd seen many women try on wedding dresses with groups of friends and family members sat in awe, giving their opinion and even shedding tears over how beautiful the bride was.

Irina had always preferred doing things alone, though she couldn't help but feel like on that particular occasion, she needed somebody, anybody.

"Oh gosh, just look at her. She is beautiful, Miss Zakharov."

The sales assistant's face melted into a soft, admirable smile as she gazed down at Milena who was wide awake inside the pram. Wrapped up in a white cotton blanket, her dark hair had grown feverishly over the three months she'd been on Earth, falling across her forehead the same way Irina's did when she had been a baby.

"Thank you, Helena." Irina replied, smiling kindly as she glanced at the name badge pinned to her chest.

"Now, a glass of champagne while we wait, perhaps?"

"Oh I'm sorry," Irina furrowed her brows, reading down and adjusting the blanket that Milena had pushed off herself, "Waiting for what, exactly?"

Helena lined up four glasses on the counter, filling each of them with bubbling champagne after popping the cork as carefully as possible so to not startle the baby.

"Your entourage, of course."

Irina paused, shaking her head while her face held a confused expression masked with a polite smile, not wanting to seem rude.

"There must've been a mistake, I'm afraid it's just myself and my daughter today."

"Oh," Helena placed down the champagne bottle in a steel bucket of ice behind the counter, "I was t-"

Helena was silenced by the ringing of the bell above the door, signalling that another customer had walked into the shop. Only when Irina glanced over her shoulder to see who had arrived, she realised that it wasn't a customer at all.

Frozen and partly not believing what her eyes were seeing, Irina blinked a few times with her lips parted in shock, wondering if all three of her siblings were actually stood before her for the first time since leaving Russia, or if it was all a dream.

"Say something, Riri, it's not like you to be lost for words."

Irina pulled her youngest brother Kirion into her arms, burying her face into his neck and squeezing her eyes shut, holding him as close as possible to her just to prove to herself that he was real.

"What about me, do I get a hug?"

Looking up, Irina's eyes softened at the sight of her eldest brother Arman with his arms outstretched. She instinctively hugged him tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of safety and protection in the presence of her siblings.

She wasted no time in greeting her sister Katora afterwards, holding her face in her hands and kissing her cheeks tentatively, tears in both of their eyes at the sight of each other.