Jonas led the way to his kitchen, where all was immaculately white walls, cupboards, and dishes. It was in total contrast with Sierra's professional and metallic style one.
"Alright, let's begin," he took an apron, approached, and passed Sierra's head in it.
"What?"
"You didn't think I'd cook alone, did you?"
Jonas acted and spoke like before, but things weren't as they were. Neither was Sierra, whose stare no longer displayed this fleeing stance. Instead, her lashes lightly fluttered, and her eyes shone when Jonas gazed at her. Bashful, Jonas became the one who fled and looked elsewhere.
Seated on the island, Leone smiled and watched his parents prepare. The picture felt like a birthday present for Leone, who longed to see the two in the same room as him again. Yes, it was the best day since at least a decade in baby years. For time seemed to move that slow for him.
"Oh, dad, did you know. Mom cut my hair, and Black Beard vanished. And I took a plane, and I was in the sky, and oh boy, dad, can I call you dad. Eh, Dona's cool but dad sounds epic. All the other kids have papa people. Wait a sec," Leone got lost in his explanation and touched his forehead with both hands as he attempted to organize his thoughts, "eh, some have two mamas, other two papas oh and there's the mapas like the two and one. Anyway, you're my papa, right?"
Of course, for the adults present, all that came out was a procession of syllables, abba dababeㅡbapruuuuㅡ Donaㅡpapaㅡdepapaㅡdemama.
"Wow, is he always like this?"
Sierra nodded. Jonas didn't know Leone's baby conversation, "yes; you'll get tired of him. He has so much to say. The boy is a radio."
They cooked, ate, and Leone took a nap.
The two adults were buffed by shyness as they sat on Jonas's sofa while Leone slept between them.
"I," they said in unison.
"You first."
"No, you, Jonas."
"I'm glad you two are here."
"I'm happy to be here," Sierra said.
A few seconds of silence passed where Jonas was sure Sierra could hear his heart burst. He had loved her for so long, yet sitting next to her, the sensation felt like a first encounter. And it was, in a strange way, as the Sierra he sat next to saw him in a different light.
"Why Jonas? Why did you leave?"
The man didn't expect the question so soon, but he understood it was essential.
Jonas looked straight into her eyes as she faced him, "because I love you, Sierra, and you didn't."
The answer could not be more explicit, and Sierra was glad to be seated. Even if she knew his feeling, hearing Jonas's blunt and sincere expression had its effect.
"You didn't even ask."
Jonas frowned at the response, and Sierra pursued, "you didn't ask if I felt the same."
An uncanny grin appeared on Jonas's face, "you didn't want to hear it, let alone accept it. Why are you here, Sierra?"
It was his turn, he didn't ask her then when he knew she was afraid, but he needed to know now where the woman's feelings stood even if they seeped through every pore of her body. Jonas wanted to hear Sierra name her emotions.
"I told you already."
Sierra's mind raced. Her declaration was still a sloppy draft in her mind. The woman wished for time.
If she had to confess her love, Sierra desired the most swoon-worthy moment ever made by Man. She needed a specific mood, jingle whatever, or some sort of ambiance. Something that the generations to come would look back on and say behold the words of Sierra Ajani Lennox, they saved a nation, they cured a cold, they made a grown man faint.
Her palms began to prick with a sensation of menacing sweat.
"Tell me the truth for once."
After Sierra's final rejection and his return to Sweden, he neither called Jacob nor May. Jonas left the phone he used for international roaming turned off. If anything, Jacob could contact his lawyer. In his mind, Sierra was on a honeymoon in some exotic location.
Now she was there with no ring. He had no interest in Vincent's whereabouts. The man just wished for the woman to give him a reason.
Sierra got up from the sofa and went to the window. How was she to begin?
"I did something insane. My boss told me to take a vacation, and I said yes. I don't know where those people are going to park me when I get back."
The woman remembered how she went to church for the first time in years and sat in Jacob's confessional booth.
"Sierra."
"Yes, Jacob. You got me; I finally have a heap of stuff to confess."
"Sierra, you don't need to do this."
"Jacob, tell me something you knew, didn't you, about my feelings?"
Jacob sighed.
"You don't need to answer, Jacob. I'm at fault. I whisked everyone into this crazy wedding when I'm in love with someone else."
"Sierra, these things happen, not to everyone, of course, but they happen."
"I'm the worst, Jacob. I hurt so many people because I couldn't accept it. Jonas, Vincent, his family, and Leone, I hurt them all. And now, all I'm thinking of is Jonas. It's insane; I feel like I can't breathe. I'm such a fool, and I don't know what to do."
Confessing was the first step. Sierra went through all the motions with her fears and doubts. They weren't gone, but the feelings she had for the man were stronger. She paced so much in her living room that the wooden floor lightened in a straight line where she walked. Her sleep was better, though. The wrinkles around her eyes vanished.
And finally, it felt as though she stood on Kebnekaise mountain [the highest mountain in Sweden] as she accepted her heart's state reality.
"Sierra."
"I wanted to see Jonas. I missed you," Sierra turned away from the window and bumped into the man who had got up since and approached her.
Jonas gazed into her eyes, and Sierra got ready to deliver, "Iㅡ."
He hugged her, "it's alright, Sierra. We have all the time we need."
Jonas knew what Sierra had to accept and give up to be with him. The woman made tremendous efforts from his standpoint.
The strength of Jonas's arms, scent, and heartbeat; everything felt like a homecoming for the woman who embraced the man. Sierra could not say how long they stood in each other's arms, and they would have lingered if it were not for Sierra's phone that buzzed in her jean's pocket and made the man let go.
"It's Jacob."
Jonas nodded for her to take the call.
"Hello."
"Sierra, where are you so I can crack a knuckle on your scalp? Why on earth did you donate all that money to the parish?"
"Jacob, I told you I don't need that much for a wedding. Actually, I don't need any of it. It's your and dad's hard labor. Please accept, Jacob. I'm sure you'll be able to help many people with it."
"Sierra, it's not because Vincent called off your wedding that it's the last straw."
"Jacob, if I do have to get married, trust me, I won't need anything over 3K for the whole thing. I don't even know how I let myself fall into the big wedding scheme."
Sierra forgot how insistent Vincent's parents were about the event. They wished for the gigantic and bling-bling while Sierra would have been content with a private ceremony.
Jonas's ears tweaked at the information that confirmed Sierra's current status."
In the meantime, Leone woke up and blinked like headlights for attention, making Jonas hurry to his side.
Jacob shook his head in disapproval, "I shouldn't be saying this but are you out of your mind. Where are you?"
"I'm not at home, Jacob."
"I know, I just came from there. Where are you?"
Sierra turned to smile at Leone, who was already off the couch and bothering Rufus, "In Sweden."
"You are what?" In doubt of what he heard, Jacob switched his phone from right to left, "Sierra, can you repeat, please? You are where?"
"I'm with Jonas," Sierra hurried to say.
"Pass him the phone."
Sierra went to the couch and turned on her camera, "he wants to speak to you."
For the first time, Jonas broke a sweat. He quickly slicked his hair back and sat up before taking the phone that Sierra stretched out to him, "hi, Jacob."
Jonas tried to keep calm, but the man couldn't help but wonder why it stressed him. Perhaps it was because he knew he was not representing Leone's father or a penitent but potentially his sister's lover.
"Hi Jonas, did you know she would show up?"
Sierra tried to capture Jonas's attention while nodding to make him say yes, but the man ignored her, "no, I didn't. I was so surprised."
"I don't know what I'm going to do with that woman, so help me, God."
"Jacob, it's okay. I'm happy to have them here."
"See, Jacob, he's happy to have us. Please don't make a fuss. I mean, can't a woman visit the man she loves."
Jonas, Leone, and Rufus, the dog, all turned to look at Sierra.
"I said it out loud, didn't I."
Jonas pursed his lips, closed his eyes, and nodded.
Sierra feigned a grin, "I'm just going to get some air outside. I'll be right back."
She headed to the front door and stepped out, only to realize she was barefooted. Sierra sunk to the floor behind the closed door and facepalmed on her knees.
How to make a fool of oneself?
It was nowhere near the beautiful screenplay Sierra nurtured and hoped to perform.
Inside, Jonas attempted to maintain a serious expression on a face that betrayed him. The more the seconds passed, the more the man reassembled a steamed crab.
Jacob nodded in the camera, "see people when I tell you our Lord is mighty. You didn't see that one coming, did you? Listen, I'll leave you two. I think you have a whole load of things to talk about."
"Thank you, Jacob, take care."
"You too, take care and watch over her for me, please, Jonas."
"You can bet on it."
They hung up. Jonas grabbed Sierra's sneakers and opened the door; Leone followed. The boy already appeared to adapt to the new environment.
Jonas found Sierra rolled up with her head on her knees. He came and crouched down in front of her.
"Your brother told me to take care of you. I don't want you to catch a cold," the man took her foot and began to slip a sneaker on it.
Sierra lifted her gaze to meet Jonas's ocean blue eyes, "I love you."