Chapter 48: TOGETHER AGAIN

They hugged, they smiled, and they kissed. It was simply psychologically intoxicating to reunite after three years of longing with a mixture of nostalgia and fantasy combined to recreate the romance.
They were older, wiser and had too much history not to feel a spark of the intensity and emotion experienced.
"Neither one of us was expecting to meet each other in this faraway town but our paths crossed through," Audrey said against his lips, staying in his embrace that she missed so much.
"Yes, I do believe in serendipity. I'm convinced that there is a higher power or even just fate, there is something that puts us and possibly our soul mate in the same place, at the same time, when the time is right," Dmitri replied back as he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck.
"It's up to us to recognize that though. Even if time and space separates us, possibly for months or years, one day we'll find our way back to each other, I always believed so," Audrey softly said, unlike her hands" hold on Dmitri which was getting tighter.
"Will you ever let me go again ?" Audrey questioned.
"Never," Dmitri replied as he kept her pressed close to him. "You're my lost treasure. My lost treasure is found, never to be lost again," he vowed.
"It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," a great poet wrote. "But what about love that's been lost and then found again ?" Audrey asked.
"It has to be cherished till the last breath of life," Dmitri replied as his relationship with her remained the most beautiful and profound experience of his life.
"Do you see any change in me ?" Audrey suddenly asked while blushing as she pulled back from him.
"The years have burnished you. They have made all the things you were before that I loved even more beautiful. Your love, sensitivity and kindness. You have also become a deeper person as you weathered the agony of loss and separation," Dmitri appreciatively said. "Do you see any change in me ?" he, in turn, asked as if fishing out for some lovely compliments from his lady love.
"The only thing that"s different about you, is that you have got thinner. It looks like you did not take care of your health ! Otherwise, you're the same handsome, geeky guy I fell in love with nearly five years ago," Audrey said in zest as she couldn't keep her eyes off of him.
"Audrey, each day felt like an eternity without you. I had counted the days by minutes in these three years," Dmitri confessed his feelings with misty eyes.
"Why did you not marry, Audrey ?" asked Dmitri as he was deeply enamored by her beauty. "You're rich, beautiful and have a successful career. Did you not feel lonely ?"
"I discovered that I'm incredibly strong, fiercely loyal to your love, brilliant and none of that is dependent on another human except for you. So I didn"t feel a need for someone else to take your place in my heart and life," Audrey replied.
"Why did you not marry, Dmitri ?" asked Audrey as she knew he was quite a lady killer with those damn looks and intelligence.
"One's first true love is an incredibly intense experience, and one which is seldom replicated. So, I thrived by reliving all those beautiful feelings, memories and moments that we shared together as I engrossed myself in my career and in taking care of our daughter," Dmitri replied as it seemed that the flame of their love never really died for either of them.
"I don't know why life always separates the closest hearts by putting miles between them and then brings them back ?" Audrey remarked.
"Maybe cosmos wants to know the intensity of love. After all, the universe falls in love with a stubborn heart," Dmitri replied with a grin, making Audrey smile.
"Wish everything came easy and we didn't have to go through this harshness of life," Audrey wished.
"'Nothing comes easy if it's worth having.' I stand by this statement. Anything that has meant everything to me in my life has come to me with hard work, and in the end it was so worth having," Dmitri replied as he pulled her back in his arms, not getting enough of her.
"It must have been difficult for you to raise a baby as old as a few minutes all by yourself," Audrey questioned.
"For the first few months of having her as a single dad, I really felt like I was treading water. I was in auto mode. I wasn"t getting enough sleep, there weren"t enough hours in the day to do everything I needed to do, and I was constantly overwhelmed as I missed you all along," Dmitri replied.
"I know the struggles of single parenting. I've seen Rachel going through it so I can understand how difficult it would have been for you," Audrey said as she hugged Dmitri.
"Babies grow like weeds ! One day, I brought home our sweet little bundle of joy, and then all of a sudden, I looked up, and our baby wasn't a baby anymore," Dmitri exclaimed so as to divert the topic.
"Why ? What happened ?!" Audrey asked in amazement.
"My little baby girl has become a full-blown toddler. It happened faster than I even realized !" Dmitri told the excited mother.
"It"s so true that the days are long but the years are short. And before you know it, you're a dad to a toddler," Audrey remarked. "Now, I'll enjoy the pleasures of motherhood. I'm going to shower lots of love on our Melody," she excitedly added.
"Ahhh, motherhood !" Dmitri fondly exclaimed. "Sweet, sweet motherhood ! Behind the lack of sleep and momnesia, there is going to be so much beauty in everyday moments and memories for you for sure," he assured. "Now I have you with me, otherwise I was wondering 'how do I survive this growing from toddler phase to finding apt pre-schools phase'," he added.
"Yes! I'm there now for you and our daughter now. I feel for you. I'll support you through the ups and downs of upbringing our daughter," Audrey vowed. "Does Melody ask about her mom ?" she curiously asked.
"Yes, of course, she does ! Melody asked me on numerous occasions where her mommy is and why we don"t live together. She wanted us to be a family like everyone," Dmitri replied.
"And what did you say ?" Audrey asked.
"I knew that was the one thing I couldn"t give her. But sometimes she was so adamant on going to her mommy and no matter how hard I tried to make her understand or how much I tried to distract, she would cry. But now, she will be happy to have you- her mom," Dmitri replied delightfully.
"Talk to me about our baby. I want to know more about her," Audrey said.
"Most of the days, raising a free spirited toddler will test your patience to no end. She wants to climb on the counter, throw her food in the air, pee on the floor, and eat a little bit of dirt every once in a while. You know, all that good stuff ? So be vigilant around her," Dmitri shared his parental knowledge and experience with Audrey. "She has started sharing her own opinion. And she has a lot of it !
Whether it"s what she wants for breakfast, what to wear for the day, or what color of the cup she will drink out of," he revealed, making Audrey laugh. "Mind it ! New mommy on the block, toddlers have lots of opinions—and strong ones, at that," he warned.
"Haha ! Don't scare me !" Audrey replied.
"To be very frank, I feel like her personal butler. I"m constantly getting her the cup, her favorite book, picking up her toys, getting her shoes, and more," Dmitri explained.

"Show me her photos. I want to see her as a little baby, the days, the months, the years I've missed," Audrey said as they sat on the couch.
"My phone used to have like 1000 photos of our newborn napping peacefully, accomplishing all her "firsts" and special milestones, crawling down the hallway, etc," Dmitri said as Audrey scrolled through his mobile photo gallery.
"Not many recent pics !" Audrey whined.
"Yup ! Now, you're lucky if you snap one photo a week of our active toddler since I'm too busy chasing after her and making sure my phone isn't being flushed down a toilet," Dmitri said, telling her about Melody's naughty deeds.
"Is she that active ? A mere toddler ?" Audrey asked, astonished.
"The toddler tornado is so real at our home. I call it a category five hurricane that blows through with gusts up to 100 mph, with no predictable weather pattern. You'll soon feel it because our house feels it so often," Dmitri explained.
"And top of it, my friends never fail to walk in the door during the eye of the storm and ask, 'What have you been doing all day and why is the house so messy on the weekend ?!'" Dmitri joked and Audrey chuckled. "Our house is no longer properly feng shuied or decorated with tasteful items on our coffee table. Magazines get shredded, vases get broken, and picture frames get chucked across the room. The only decoration we have is of tiny little dirty hand prints," he showed.
Audrey enjoyed hearing about her daughter"s antics and the fondness in Dmitri"s voice never lowered once.
"Darling, now you get ready to meet our daughter," Dmitri said as he locked the door to pick Melody up from the daycare.
"Wow ! I'm so excited ! Let's get going," Audrey exclaimed in excitement.