Reunion

ADELINE'S POV

Mikhail swerved into the driveway. It looked different from what I remembered. More chic in a sense. He killed the ignition and alighted, putting his hand out for me to take.

The sunlight flickered in his eyes. It was almost as if

"A Adeline" A small voice came from across us.

Standing with a watering can in her hand and a pair of oversized gloves covering them was Natasha. Natasha Royce.

Not my sister though. Natasha achieved the Royce name by tying the knot with my father while we were both twenty.

"Nash"

The watering can slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground.

"Mikhail... is it... is it really her? But she, the blogs... Robert, hospital, I saw her body"

"Well, you are seeing my body again so"

One moment she was standing there looking confused and scared. The next she wrapped her hands around me in an over dramatized bear hug. Sobbing like the earth was vanishing beneath our feet.

Natasha held on to me like she was afraid I would vanish again. Her breath trembled against my ear as she whispered, "I prayed to God for a miracle and I am so happy he has heard me. You have come back to us."

I did not know what to say.

A small mmn slipped out of me instead.

We had not parted on good terms. Not even close. Our relationship had split right down the middle when I found out she had not only been dating my father but also making wedding plans behind my back.

My childhood best friend. The girl my mother practically raised like a second daughter.

Nobody told me anything. Natasha kept everything hidden and when the truth finally came to light it felt like a tilt I had never seen coming. I had distanced myself and we had not spoken since.

So right now her arms around me felt like standing in the center of a storm of emotions I could not even name.

I glanced over at Mikhail. He stood by the car with his arms crossed and the faintest amused tilt on his lips.

He looked like he was watching two feral cats awkwardly reconcile.

I looked back at Natasha. "Um... is Father around"

Natasha sniffed and nodded. "Oh yes. Robert is inside."

Before I could even move myself she grabbed my wrist gently and pulled me along.

"Come. You need to see him. He has been in his room all morning. Brooding. Refusing to speak to anyone. Not even me. You showing up will bring him back to himself."

"Okay" I said.

My voice was small even to my own ears.

We stepped inside the house and every staff member paused mid movement. A woman with a broom froze. A man carrying folded sheets stopped mid step. Someone dropped a feather duster.

All of them stared at me with wide eyes.

They looked at me like I was a ghost walking through the front door.

Because honestly who comes home after being declared dead?

×××××

Natasha had gone upstairs to call my father downstairs while I sat waiting on the sofa. A staff member slipped in quickly with the warm milk I had asked for and a plate of muffins. The moment the aroma hit me something came forth strongly. I devoured everything like I had been starved for years.

Honestly I probably had been.

My chewing was loud enough to echo and make me look like I belonged in the cavemen era.

Mikhail watched me with this calm and amusement in his eyes.

"Sorry I did not mean to chew that loudly. It is just..."

"Eat. Be as loud or unruly as you want Adeline"

Was it me or was his slightly Russian edged voice huskier than before?

"T Thanks for not minding"

He nodded and went back to simply watching me.

He dismissed the staff right after and told them to head upstairs because their stares were making me uncomfortable. Unlike his.

They gave apologetic nods before disappearing.

I took a long drink from the cup. Warm milk never tasted that good before. I offered it to him but he shook his head and said he was not hungry.

My eyes drifted to him between bites.

He looked different. Younger somehow.

Softer at the edges even though he was still cold in that familiar way but less rigid than the man I remembered. Something must have fleshed him over the years and part of me wanted to ask what. But the question stuck inside my throat.

When I shoved the last muffin into my mouth I heard footsteps coming down the stairs with no hesitation.

I turned toward the staircase. Natasha appeared first and behind her rushing down with more desperation than dignity was my father.

He looked like he had not slept in days. His eyes were red and his physique was somehow slopey.

I had not expected to see him again so soon and so automatically my nerves struck.

"Father"

Everything paused for me.

Time. Breath. Space. Etcetera.

Seeing him in the flesh after three years hit me harder than revival ever could. My throat tightened and my eyes burned. I bowed my head.

"Father," I whispered again.

He stared at me like I was a ghost he wanted to believe in but could not trust.

"I do not know what deal you made with the devil to revive you"

I shook my head. "I did not make any deal"

He opened his mouth. Closed it again. I opened it once more.

Mikhail stepped forward. "Should we give you two a moment"

"No" My father’s voice was emotional and hoarse. "Stay. I need witnesses. I need to be sure this is not a wraith wearing my daughter’s skin"

The word daughter hit me harder than anything else.

I had not heard him call me that in so long

I wanted to hug him. My body leaned toward him on instinct. But I did not have the right. Not after everything I had done. So I kept my hands at my sides and stared at the floor between us.

I cleared my throat and wiped furiously at my eyes.

"You were right about Conrad. All along you were right about him"

My gaze moved from Mikhail to Natasha then finally back to my father.

"I did not fall from the terrace. Conrad pushed me”