Iryna and Emma arrived in Moscow to be greeted by an excited welcoming party consisting of Natalya, who for once, and mostly because she wanted to avoid upsetting the Ukrainian again, didn't look pissed off to see Iryna holding hands with someone she hadn't had an opportunity to interrogate at length, Ivan, who was just excited to see Iryna again, and Nastasya, who had fallen asleep in her mother's arms.
After Ivan had hugged Iryna so tightly she thought she was going to snap and kissed her cheek, enthusiastic about her return, and Natalya had welcomed the two women with a smile, a greeting and, in Iryna's case, as much of a hug as she could manage without squashing her slumbering daughter, the family bundled themselves into Ivan's car and drove back to his house.
During the journey, Natalya took the opportunity to talk to her elder sister, now that Iryna was safely back with her family and they had more or less made up. She started by, to the surprise of her sister, who was used to having to apologise first in order to appease the Belarusian's stubbornness, reaching out and recognising their issues.
"I'm sorry I made you leave, Irunya. I'll try to be less..." She glanced over at Emma, who was still holding Iryna's hand as they sat side by side, "Protective. When I apparently don't need to be," She realised with a pang of joy that her sister was happy enough for her involvement not to be needed anymore. Or at least as much, she admitted, still determined to make sure Iryna was okay and stayed okay.
The Ukrainian woman's face lit up, overjoyed that Natalya was seeming to accept her relationship and that they were making up, "Thank you, Sestra!" She smiled, "I appreciate that you were looking out for me, though," She added, making her own concession to repairing their relationship since she had had time to think over their argument in a less heated light by now.
Emma stepped in to reassure her girlfriend's family, wanting to keep everyone on good terms for Iryna's sake as well as her own, "And I promise, you won't have to protect her from me," She told Belarus, grinning as she cuddled as close to the Ukrainian woman as their seatbelts would allow.
In sync, both Ukraine's siblings responded with a firm, "Good!" Not only happy to see their sister so loved and still determined to ensure she stayed safe, but also a little relieved that they would no longer be, or feel as though they were, obligated to spend more time working on their eldest sibling's relationship than their own. The deeply attached Belarusian, in particular, felt as though she had to help her sister, but also that she needed more 'quality time' with her Beloved Big Brother.
The family finally arrived back at the house and, after dragging all of Ukraine's things plus Belgium's inside to the guestroom frequented by Iryna, settled down for a little while. Natalya put Nastasya in her bed since the toddler seemed to be determined to sleep the day away, then joined the others downstairs.
When she got there, she found that for once in a while, everything seemed peaceful. Iryna was sat at the dining table, with Emma sitting opposite her, enjoying a snack and some coffee with her girlfriend. Ivan was sitting on the couch, pretending to read an old copy of Pravda that she had left lying around earlier. She knew he was only pretending, due to the fact that the paper was upside down and therefore, she suspected he was trying to spy on the lovers.
The Belarusian rolled her eyes and hurried over, plucking the paper from his hands and throwing it onto the table before flopping down on his lap. She snuggled up to him, but nevertheless waggled a finger in his face, playfully scolding him, "Brother, you don't have to do that anymore! Big Sister is all sorted out and happy, da?" For a moment, she paused to glare at the two women too, demanding an answer.
They looked over at one another, smiled and nodded in agreement, so Natalya continued, "So we can stop worrying about her as much and go back to normal. Normal being where we talk about each other and our love instead!" She added, turning back to the Russian man with the usual frightening enthusiasm. "Speaking of us, I have an idea, Vanya, Darling..."
Iryna didn't need to turn away from her date to know that Ivan was looking nervous now. Well, she'd be nervous if Belarus told her she had an idea, too. Her Little Sister meant well, but she had that effect on everyone.
She heard her brother question, "Uhh...And what's that, Nata?" In a hesitant manner.
The answer was an enthusiastic, "We should have another baby!" From the Belarusian woman, who sounded cheerful, a rare and slightly scary occurrence.
Ivan floundered for a moment then rallied, "Umm...Why don't we talk about this another time, Bela? Privately, da?" He suggested, trying to calm his over-zealous wife down without committing to anything right now.
Iryna stifled a little giggle, glad she could finally sit back and listen to her siblings having awkward little moments without having to think about her own life's more awkward moments and certainly without involving her family in those personal dilemmas.
She heard someone else laughing softly and looked up to see her girlfriend grinning behind the other couple's backs as she listened in on their little debate. They shared a private little smirk with one another and the Ukrainian woman realised that everything had worked out. Her family was back to what, for them, classed as normal and she had a lovely girlfriend who was still her best friend, who she could laugh with.
She looked around the room, enjoying the lovely moment. Soon, she would go back to her own home in Kiev, returning to just visiting her family when her boss allowed. But this time it would be less lonely because this time Emma had agreed to stay whenever her own work didn't keep her away. But right now, they were all together, they were all happy, and, looking forward to a future where Belgium would be there to be by her side, it looked like they would all live happily ever after.
Or near enough, anyway. Ivan would still have to deal with their Little Sister's over-zealous affection, after all, she would still have to spend a little time without her family or her girlfriend by her side. But it was good enough.