"Do you remember?" She tucked a graying lock of hair behind her love's ear, the gray only making the black of her hair more stylish and elegant.
"Tell me. Pretend I don't remember. Pretend it is the first time we've played this game," her love replied.
She chuckled and nodded, wrapping her arm around her love's shoulders, tilting her head to rest it on the head tucked into her shoulder. She let her fingers trail up and down the shoulder covered by a brightly knit afghan, the knitting fraying and old, just like them. But still it held together, just like them.
"The bathroom of course. We were both crying, for different reasons, but still the same."
"Alone," murmured her love, as she gathered her slightly arthritic limbs under her, as she nestled more deeply into her arms. She didn't like to remember those long, painful days, when she'd burned with the pain of losing her sister, the only person who she thought had ever understood her.
"Yes, alone then, but not anymore." She reached down and adjusted the afghan wrapping it a little more tightly around her love, for she felt the cold more now than she had when they were young.
"I told you that you didn't need all that makeup, that you didn't need to hide. And you, in all of your unabashed logic, pointed out that we all hide, some of us behind a smile."
Her love chuckled, tilting her head just enough to whisper a kiss against her chin. "Well one of us had to be direct, you weren't willing to say what you really felt."
"I was still figuring it out," Karolina protested as she chuckled too, her smile fading slightly as she remembered the days they'd spent on the run, the days when they had no one but each other: The Runaways. Running away never seemed to solve anything. It was only when they stopped running away and ran towards each other, together, that they finally were able to find peace and rest.
"Were you? Were you, though?" Nico teased as she reached out from under the afghan, her fingers finding Karolina's hand, slightly bigger than her own. She let her fingers wonder over the palm, not as smooth as when they had been children. Life had not been easy, and they'd had to start over from scratch, fight and build the little world that was their's and their children's.
But she could still remember how this very hand she held glowed, how it felt against her cheek, warm and sweet. It was the only time she had ever felt color, the sweetness of pink, and the hope of the light green, the warmth of blue. She had been surprised that blue was so warm.
"So warm…" she muttered.
"What?"
"Blue."
Karolina nodded. Nico had always been fascinated by the colors, never once showing any real fear, but Karolina had always felt uneasy when she glowed, sparkled even. It always felt a little unreal, like she was a stranger inside her own body. She shook her head, turning her attention back to Nico.
"No, no I always knew I wanted you. I just didn't know how, or what it meant. I was beginning to figure it out though that day in the bathroom. And then later, at the club. I saw you."
"Tell me." Nico snuggled further into Karolina's warm body.
"I was dancing, letting the music flow through my body, he arms in the air, lost to everyone and everything," she mused quietly, staring across the living room, no longer seeing it, remembering the way the lights had flashed and the music had pounded all around her.
"I was floating. Free. Finally free," and then I came crashing down, slamming back into my own body.
"Why?"
"You." She kissed the top of Nico's head, inhaling the faint citrus of her shampoo.
"You were kissing that...girl," she all but hissed the word, her lips pressed into a thin line at the memory.
Nico laughed and poked Karolina, "Still? After all these years, you still carry a grudge about a girl who's name I can't remember?"
Karolina rolled her eyes, and stared at Nico sheepishly. "I know, I know after decades, you would think I wouldn't be jealous of some random girl."
"Jealous, huh?"
Karolina hesitated, chewing her lip, thinking about it. "Hmmm...no, not jealousy...I just remember how alone I felt in that moment. I realized then exactly how I wanted you. I wanted to be her, to be this girl you kissed with abandon in a club with music making your very bones vibrate."
"You make my bones vibrate," Nico chuckled as she pressed her lips to Karolina's cheek.
Karolina laughed and turned her head, her lips catching Nico's. She had kissed this same mouth thousands of time in the fifty years they'd been together, and it felt familiar and safe, warm, and she let herself fall into her, twisting her body, wrapping both arms around Nico. She would never tire of it, the feel of Nico's mouth, her body pressed against her own.
Nico pulled away, hand soft against Karolina's chest, "Finish, and then the rest later," she winked laughing at the way Karolina blushed.
"After fifty years, I can still make you blush."
"You can make me do a lot of things still after fifty years."
Nico snuggled back into Karolina's arms, her hands playing with Karolina's free hand, fingers intertwined. "Now continue."
"Yes, Ma'am," chuckled Karolina.
"I knew then exactly how I wanted you. Your arms around me, our lips touching, thighs touching, dancing slowly to music that only we could hear. Alone, but not alone. Together. And then when we kissed on top of the hill…"
"I caught you changing your shirt. That was a good day," chuckled Nico, remembering how she'd walked up to the van, Karolina her back to her taking off her shirt.
"I still remember the singlet you wore."
"What?" Karolina pulled away slightly, angling her body so she could look into Nico's face. "Really? You never told me that."
Nico nodded and hummed, "Yup. It was this singlet thingy. Thin straps around the neck to form a why, wide lace down the spine to meet at the bottom of the bra part. The lace was so delicate and pretty. Not as pretty as you though."
"Wow. I can't believe you remembered that."
"Oh please. Tell me, my dear, what was I wearing when we had our first kiss? Hmmmm?"
"Black eyeshadow and lipstick, it tasted waxy. Silver spiked headband. Almost like a tiara. The white collared shirt…"
"See," interrupted Nico. "No hesitation. You remember everything, so why wouldn't I."
"True. You just had never mentioned it."
"Well, that is probably because whenever I think about that singlet, I remember the second time I saw it."
"Oh?"
Nico grinned and winked, "yes, but this time you were facing me and the singlet was on the floor."
Karolina tipped her head back and laughed, her belly heaving with the effort. "You were speechless. You looked like a fish, opening and closing your mouth over and over again, until you finally squeaked!"
"I didn't squeak!" Yelped Nico as her fingers found Karolina's ribs, laughing as she dug in lightly enough to make Karolina squirm and try to get away from her reach.
"Ok, ok...truce! You didn't squeak," murmured Karolina, grinning at the way Nico pouted at her.
"Well it wasn't my fault. You would have been speechless too if you'd seen your own boobs."
"Love, I have seen my own boobs thousands of time, never made me speechless," smirked Karolina.
Nico rolled her eyes, "Oh really, and who was speechless over the little thong I was wearing?"
Karolina's eyes fluttered closed for a moment, her breath hitching in her throat as she remembered undoing the skirt at Nico's waist, watching it fall and pool at the other girl's ankles, Nico stepping out of it gracefully, bending down and picking it up, giving Karolina a perfect view of her perfect bottom.
And she had been speechless, her mouth going dry, her mind focusing on only one thing. It was a good thing they hadn't been in any imminent danger that day, or she would have been useless in helping defend her friends.
"Uh huh. See," crowed Nico, pulling Karolina from her reverie.
"Ok, we've both been speechless. A lot. Like when we got married. You were so beautiful," whispered Karolina.
"Goddess, we were so young!" They had barely been nineteen, still on the run, still surviving day by day with their friends. And perhaps it had been wild, maybe some would have argued stupid even, how could they be sure at such a young age, but they had known.
"All we had was each other."
"We had our friends," replied Karolina.
"Yes, but not the way we needed. Not the way we wanted each other."
Neither said anything for long moments, remembering those first few years of struggle, how they had all eventually ended up in Canada and their home in Ontario.
"And then the kids came."
"Theo, Lila, and Jasper. Which reminds me, the kids and their families should be here any moment," Karolina kissed the top of Nico's head again, "We should get up and finish making the pasta salad."
"Who is bringing desert again?" asked Nico as she carefully unwrapped herself from the afghan, shivering momentarily as she stood to her feet.
"Lila is bringing three pies and a cake, and Theo is bringing his homemade cider, waldorf salad, and rolls. And who knows what else. He always brings something unusual."
Nico chuckled and nodded remembering the numerous times their oldest son had subjected them to his culinary concoctions, some of which had made it onto his menu at his restaurant, others, which had been regulated to the rubbish bin.
Karolina stood and took off her cardigan, wrapping it around Nico's shoulders, smiling because as usual, Nico had left her's in their bedroom.
Nico turned and wrapped her arms around Karolina's waist, stepping into her embrace. "Did you ever think we would be here? In Ontario, fifty years later, three children, and seven grand-children? That we would be together and happy?"
Karolina cupped Nico's cheeks, pressing her forehead against Nico's. "I always knew we would be happy. I didn't know about Ontario or our family, but I always knew you and I would be happy. I'm just thankful we've had fifty years."
Nico reached up, pressing her mouth to Karolina's, kissing her for a long moment, her eyes closed, before pulling away. "Here's to fifty more years, fifty more times of playing "Do You Remember When?"
Thoughts? Should I write more Deanoru?