The following morning, Dimitri lay propped up on one elbow in bed watching Rose's face, which was peaceful in sleep. He remembered the first time he had held her in his arms, twenty years previously, after she had collapsed. At the time, he had had no idea that he would ever hold her as he had that night. As he softly touched her hair, he felt fiercely protective of her, longing to shield her from all harm.

Rose yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes. She looked confused for just a minute, then saw Dimitri's smiling face and remembered.

"Good morning, beautiful." Dimitri lightly kissed her nose. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Mm hm." Rose smiled and nodded. "Did you?"

"Better than I have in a long, long time." That was true. The warm glow Dimitri had felt as he had held Rose in his arms had lulled him right to sleep.

"So, what are we now?"

"What do you mean?" Dimitri was puzzled.

"Well, since we...you know...we can never go back to being just friends now, can we?"

"Why can't we?"

"Well...you know..." Rose looked acutely embarrassed.

"How do you feel about what we did last night, Roza?"

"I feel...well, I feel really happy...and I feel closer to you right now than I've ever felt to another person."

"That's why it's called making love, sweetie."

"Do you feel that way too?"

"I sure do."

She looked immensely relieved. "So, what are we now? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Dimitri chuckled gently. "I would be deeply honored to be your boyfriend, Roza."

She grinned widely, and he gave her a big hug. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast," he said softly.

Dimitri cooked chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then he asked Rose if she would like to go for a walk in the park.

"I haven't done that in so long I can't remember..." her voice trailed off.

"Well, I think it's a lovely day for it," he said.

"I forgot how beautiful it all was," Rose said wistfully as they strolled together, hand in hand.

"You're beautiful," Dimitri told her.

"Do you really think so?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"My face looks...different now." Rose's fingers ran slowly over her features. "There are lines that weren't there before, and there are wrinkles at the corners of my eyes now. I look so...old." A sob caught in her throat.

"Look at me, Rose." Dimitri's voice was gentle but firm. "Do I look exactly the same as I did twenty years ago?"

Rose brought her hands to Dimitri's face and gently ran her fingers over his features as she had her own.

"I'm only six years older than you, Rose," Dimitri said gently. "Your senior year of high school was only my second year of teaching and coaching."

"Oh." Rose sounded surprised, as if she had never considered that before.

"Do you think I'm any less attractive than I was twenty years ago?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh...no, of course not," she stammered.

"Well, neither are you." He grinned and took her hand once more.

They walked around the park talking until they were both hungry, and Dimitri bought them hot dogs at a hot dog stand nearby.

"At least the food hasn't changed...that much," Rose commented, which made Dimitri laugh.

"I'd better get you home before your mother thinks I ran away with you," Dimitri said lightly after they had finished eating.

"Will we have other weekends like this?" Rose asked hopefully.

"I certainly hope so," Dimitri said with a grin.

"I don't want to say good-bye," Rose said later as they were sitting in Dimitri's car in front of her house.

"Neither do I, sweetie." Dimitri suddenly felt overcome with emotion as he hugged her. "It's all right. I'll see you again real soon."

He walked her to the door, where he hugged and kissed her tenderly. She turned to go into the house, and Dimitri drove away with a song in his heart.

" How have you been?" Lissa asked Rose.

"All right, I guess. I think I'm finally getting used to things being so different now." The woman hesitated. "Dimitri's been helping me," she added shyly.

"How are things between you and Dimitri, Rose?"

"They've been really great! Dimitri's such a nice guy. You know, when I was in high school myself and he was a teacher, he always seemed so much older, but now he doesn't anymore. What I mean is..." Rose struggled to find the right words. "It feels like we're more on the same level now. Do you know what I mean?"

"That's because you're an adult now too, Rose."

"I know. But I don't always feel like one. Sometimes I feel like I'm still seventeen, and then I have to remind myself that I'm twenty years older now."

"It'll get easier as time passes, sweetie."

"I sure hope so," Rose said softly.

"I'm sure it will, Rose. I'm so glad that you and Dimitri have become such good friends. He really is a wonderful person. I've been knowing him for years."

"Yeah, I know," Rose giggled.

"Maybe the two of us could have lunch together sometime. You know, catch up on things."

"That would be great! I'd love to have lunch with you sometime."

"How about next Saturday afternoon?"

"All right. I'll be looking forward to it."

"So will I. You take care, sweetie."

Lissa felt a lot better about Rose after she got off the phone. The woman seemed to be handling both her adjustment to the twenty first century and her new relationship with Dimitri just fine as far as Lissa could tell.