"Back to the chair!" Angelica ordered Arezoo and then turned to Kyra. "If you want me to do your face, let me continue hers, or I'll never get to yours."
Kyra saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."
Arezoo went back to the dining room.
Kyra and Jasmine followed, and Soraya followed Kyra, and the greetings and hugs continued until everyone got their turn.
The room had reorganized around the new arrival, with Soraya standing closer to Kyra than to anyone else. Yasmin was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, and Parisa had abandoned the hemming and was sitting cross-legged on the dining room floor with Jasmine.
"Where is Rana?" Kyra asked.
"Next door at her house, supervising the dressing of the younger children," Soraya said. "The boys were in charge, but she wasn't sure she could trust them with such an important task."
Kyra chuckled. "She was right not to."
Arezoo watched her aunts in the mirror and felt the butterflies settle inside of her. The wedding was real. The dress was in her room, hanging on her closet door. The village green was decorated, and Ruvon was getting ready in his house, probably smoking a cigar with his friends, and in a few hours she was going to walk across the village green in front of their family and friends, stand next to him, and become his wife.
This was real, too. Her family was gathered around her to support her and encourage her on this most important day. She looked at her sisters, who were arguing about a playlist. She looked at her aunts, who were crowding round a dining table, and at her mother, who was standing close to Kyra and holding her hand as if she feared that her sister would disappear once again if she let go of her.
They were all there for her.
"So, are you girls seeing anyone?"
For a moment, Arezoo thought that Kyra was asking Donya and Laleh, but she was looking at Parisa and Soraya.
Parisa rolled her eyes, Yasmin made a face, and Soraya turned and gave Kyra 'the look.'
"Don't start," Soraya said.
Kyra huffed. "If I don't push you, you will never turn immortal. You are not getting any younger."
"It is Arezoo's wedding day," Soraya said. "It's not about us."
"It's okay," Arezoo said. "I don't mind. You can talk about that."
Her mother and aunts had been avoiding this conversation whenever the subject came up, and she had been waiting for someone to corner them on it. Kyra was probably the only one who could.
"Traitor," Parisa muttered.
Kyra wasn't in the mood for a fight, though, and chose to change the subject by refocusing on Drova, who had been minding her own business and reading on her phone.
"Are those combat boots under the bridesmaid dress?" Kyra asked.
Drova lifted the hem of the red dress to reveal her black, shiny boots that were laced to the top of her calf. She'd gotten a new pair for the occasion and was quite proud of her fashion sense.
Arezoo hadn't argued. She considered Drova wearing a dress a victory. To ask for more than that would have backfired.
Yasmin snorted, and Parisa sat up to look.
"You can't be serious," Soraya said.
Drova arched a brow. "Of course I am. I'm always serious."
"It's a wedding."
"They are new. They are shiny. I bought them for this. That was my compromise."
Arezoo couldn't turn her head because Angelica was applying mascara to her lashes.
