The music swelled inside the small theater before stopping completely. Silence. And then, one single instrument rose above them all. The beautiful sound made the hairs on my arms stand straight up. Melodies and harmonies, swooping scales.
Finally, little by little, the rest of the orchestra joined Robin in the last few measures of the final piece they were playing. I clutched the pamphlet that was given to me at the beginning of the program.
The audience erupted in applause when I decided to excuse myself. This wasn't the first time I'd been to one of the Maine Symphony Orchestra's concerts and I knew crowds could get pretty overwhelming if you waited around.
The noise of my heels against the floor echoed through the empty halls. I made my way towards the stage door, preparing myself for the large crowd that was about to erupt.
Soon enough, the stage doors burst open with chaos. Men in women in all black filed out of the single door while people from the balcony and floor exits mixed with the crowd of musicians. I waited patiently until I spotted him.
Struggling to get past everyone, I made my way to where Robin stood with three other cellists and a violinist, all with their instruments. I walked up behind Robin and tapped his shoulder. He turned slowly and smiled.
"It was wonderful." I whisper, answering Robin's unasked question. He had been stressing about his solo for months now and he nailed it on opening night.
Without warning, he pulled me close by my elbow and kissed me gently. I smiled and cupped his cheek, letting my red dress slide up just a bit on my legs as I raised my arm.
We both turned to the group of people standing with us and smiled. "This is my girlfriend, Regina. Regina, this is Graham, Henry, Mal, and Lily." Everyone waved and I followed their lead.
Clinging to Robin's side, I said, "You all did a wonderful job. It was really beautiful." Robin kissed my temple and squeezed my side lovingly.
"Are you a musician yourself?" Lily asked me as she adjusted the cello on her back. I shook my head and smiled.
"Um... Not professionally no. I'm a Psychologist." I explain, nodding enthusiastically. "But I did grow up with a very music filled background." I shrug and listen to their small talk before they all slowly trickled away.
Robin pulled me to his chest and smiled down at me. "So you really liked it?" He asked, gingerly kissig me.
I smiled and nodded. "It was great." I whisper, shivering slightly. Robin shifted and wrapped his jacket around my shoulders before kissing my forehead.
"There you go milady." His warm breath blew my hair back as he lead me out to my car. "Have you called Mary?" He asks, loading the cello into my trunk. I had driven Robin to the dress rehearsal before dropping Mary off and coming back to the theater.
"No I was going to call her when we got back home. She's staying with Ava so I'm not rushed to go get her." I explain, sliding into the drivers seat. "Hey." We both turned to look at each other at the same time. Our foreheads touched as we kissed yet another time.
We had been dating since that cold day in November when Mary asked to have lunch with us. It was now early August of the summer into Mary's second grade year. Robin still worked as a part time music teacher at her school and I overworked my share at the office. We rarely had time alone together now that I had become a regular at this 'mom' thing.
Mary still spent time with Ava but it was times that I couldn't be with Mary myself. Ava was still head deep in therapy but she was slowly improving. As for me, my trust in people was growing. Robin had showed me what I had been missing and I loved it. He made me truly happy and Mary liked him as well. The only down side is that we were always in parent mode. Which normally wasn't a bad thing.
I loved Mary with all my heart and Robin was becoming pretty good with handling her. But sometimes we needed to be a couple and not a freak show family. So, even though I missed my baby like crazy tonight, it was good to be an adult and just a girlfriend tonight.
"Hey." Robin whispered back, smiling softly. His smile made my whole body go numb.
"Maybe you'd like to stay a while once we get home?" I offer. "I know you didn't eat much for dinner and I made lasagna and apple pie for Mary. There's some left if you wanted to eat before heading to your place."
Robin smiles, cupping my cheek and rubbing my skin gently with his thumb. "I'd like that." His voice was scruffy. "Thank you."
And with that, we drove home. We sang with the radio, sat in silence, and talked to fill the time.
At 9:30 we finally arrived back at the B&B. Robin silently grabbed my keys and his cello before unlocking his car and packing his instrument back into his trunk.
I was on the phone with Mary and had been for the past 15 minutes. "It was a very good concert baby." I whisper into the phone. I had already sang three times and told her two different stories. "Are you gonna sleep with mama or are you gonna sleep in your room?" I ask her.
Mary shifts and takes a deep breath. "I'm going to sleep with mama." She says happily. "Will I still get to sleep with you in the new house?" Mary asks after a while.
In April, I had decided on looking into buying a house. I had to provide more for Mary and had spent a good amount of summer looking for a house. Finally, with Robin's help, I found the perfect one. And it'd be ready for us to move in late October.
"Well, yes I think that can be arranged. But you'll have to sleep in your bed too." I explain, opening the door to the B&B. I watch Robin walk in and flip the lights on, making his rounds.
"Mommy?" Mary asks softly. My heart warms as I open my mouth to respond.
We had an incident in June when Mary accidentally called me 'mommy'. She started to cry and apologize but I told her I'd be happy to be her mommy. So, we agreed that Ava would be mama and I would be mommy. And it made me the happiest woman on earth. To think that a child would call me their mother was more than I ever dreamed.
"Yes my love?" I follow Robin into the kitchen and open the fridge.
"Is Robin there?" She asked weakly. I froze and turned to look at the man standing in front of the kitchen cabinets. His shirt stretched tight against his back as he reached for a plate.
"Yeah baby."
"Can I talk to him, mommy?" She asked happily. My mouth went dry as I tried to speak. Mary had never asked to speak with him over the phone.
"Um.. Robin?" My voice was small and almost nonexistent. But Robin turned around and smiled. "Mary wants to say good night."
His smile only grew as he took the phone from me and kissed my nose. "Heeeeellllllooooo?" He sang, leaning against the counter. I slowly started to fix Robin's plate as I listened to their conversation. "Am I speaking with Princess Mary?"
I could hear giggling and then mumbling. Before Robin replied. "Did you have a good night with Ava?"
More silence.
"That's good. Mommy and I did too. But it was boring adult stuff."
A pause.
"Yeah? We miss you too sweetie. And I'll be sure to give mommy that kiss and hug for you."
The microwave beeping.
"Well, I think I'm going to eat and then let your mommy go to sleep. She seems tired."
I snuck a glance in Robin's direction only to have him wink at me. Was this really happening? Day by day, the acceptance in our little family grew.
"I agree. But mommy likes it at the B&B."
I sigh. Every now and then robin would bring up is staying with him until the house was ready. But I always declined. Along with it being too overwhelming for me, it just didn't seem appropriate for Mary. I knew he only meant it as a nice gesture but I just could t accept.
"Sweetie?" I whisper, catching Robin's attention. "I'm just going to go upstairs and change into something more comfortable. Okay?"
Robin nodded and winked before turning back to his conversation with Mary. And I left to climb the stairs and pull myself into something less constricting.
A/N: HI GUYS!!!! So this is the sequel! I'm so happy to be writing a sequel. This book and these characters have really grown on me! I hoped you liked this chapter as much as I do! And if you're new to this, there is a book that comes before this called Home Bound. If you didn't read it, you'll be missing out on some background information but if you don't really mind sort of being out of the loop the. It doesn't matter as much. Anyways, please comment your opinions and I look forwards to uploading he next chapter! Thanks so much!