"Did you get my letter yet?" Henrik asked as he leaned back on his bed, staring at the picture of Roxanna and Fredrik in his hand.
"Yes, thank you! I haven't had a chance to read what you wrote, but that's only because I haven't been able to tear my eyes away from the pictures you sent. I hadn't realized that you took quite so many, and I have to get a frame for the picture of the three of us. I still can't believe that Maja agreed to take it, since I could tell she wasn't the most comfortable with my being there."
"I think that it will just take time for us all to come together. Though I don't know when the next time I'll get to see Fredrik will be, since I don't have any time to myself for anything here in Kent, let alone travelling to Sweden. And Maja won't come here, she's made that clear."
He listened to her sigh deeply, and in that moment, he wished that they were together, so that she could curl up against his chest, like he knew she wanted to. "I wish that I had an easy answer for you, Henrik. Maybe, instead of returning to England for F1 training, you should go home to Sweden, train there, so you can be with him."
"And what would happen the year after that, when you're ready to do your training? You don't know Swedish well enough to join me. And that was the plan, right?"
He pursed his lips together as he waited for her answer. "Of course, that is the plan! I just know that sometimes we have to make adjustments, since there are things out of our control. I just want you to know that I'm flexible enough to go wherever you need to be. And if you teach me Swedish, I'm certain to learn it fluently in a few months."
He chuckled a little as he shook his head. "I have trouble speaking Swedish at times myself, Roxy, so it might be difficult for me to teach you. I always knew that there would be complications that arose with having a child outside a partnership. Now, we just need to navigate those complications with grace and wisdom."
"You are truly my better half, Henrik. I am literally counting down the days until we're in Boston again. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I'm leaving a week early to get our apartment set up. Dad's given me a little extra money to play with, but he's also getting really anxious to meet you. I know, it's last minute, but do you think you could come over to Brighton Sunday and have lunch with us? I swear, this is not just an excuse to see you, I know how desperately busy you are, and we only have five weeks before we're back in Boston, so I shouldn't be clamouring so to see you, but perhaps it would be better to assuage Dad?"
Henrik chuckled as he listened to the last of Roxanna's words end in a small gasp, since she had tried to get all those words out in one breath. "I do have Sunday free, yes, and I would love to spend time with your family." He listened to her happy squeal in the background, and could just imagine the grin on her lips. "I'll take the first train out, and the last train back, and we'll spend as much time together as we can."
"That sounds wonderful, Henrik. Oh, I cannot wait until we're in Boston and together every night, sharing an apartment, sharing a life." She let out a long sigh. "If I ever get too clingy, please let me know. I just tend to put down roots, fast and deep, and I know that scares people off."
"Only people who don't understand intensity and focus and drive. You have that in spades, and so it makes a certain sense that that would spill over into your personal relationships. I can handle you at your most intense because I've seen you use that intensity on your work and the great results you get from it." He looked down into her smiling face in the photograph and let out a small breath of a sigh. "Trust me, I'll probably need you to be that intense and to pull me out of my more black moods. I cannot promise that I won't ever be so depressed that I won't want to walk into a lake once more. But I feel that with you by my side, I might be pulled back from that decision."
He knew that he was bungling his words, certain that Roxanna would think him an idiot. "Oh, my darling, I cannot wait to meet you at the train station on Sunday so that I can kiss you soundly and show you just how much you mean to me. It's so bloody difficult to speak to you over the phone and not see your face or hold your hand when you reveal something so tender to me. I know, you're probably happier for the distance because that means your emotions won't be on display for me, but there really is something to the tactile."
A part of him relaxed in that moment, and he nodded a little as he ran his thumb back and forth over her face. "In truth, I would love for you to be here as well, since that would mean I could kiss you properly." Roxanna chuckled a little. "All right, so, we'll meet up Sunday, have lunch with your father, and maybe take a long walk."
"Perfect. I only ask for one thing."
"And that is?" he asked, wondering what she could possibly want from him.
"Bring an extra jumper of yours, preferably with your aftershave on it. I want to bring it with me to Boston, so that I can wear you even when you're not with me. I know, that's so stupidly sentimental, but there we are."
She did sound a little apprehensive in the asking, so he tried to answer her as quickly as he could. "Do you have a preference?"
Roxanna's breath caught a little, and there was a short pause before she spoke once more. "That hunter green one that you wore on our first official date. I was always partial to it after that outing."
"I will most certainly bring it, darling. Now, I hate to let you go, but I really must get on with my work here. I hate letting you go."
"But we have been talking for a long time. And this just lets me get to writing a response to your letter. I'd mail it, but I think I'll just give it to you Sunday. Until then, Henrik."
"Until then." He listened to her kiss into the phone, a tender smile on his lips as they hung up. He knew that it would be difficult to concentrate on anything other then their meeting on Sunday, but he also knew that he had to keep his focus, since he had a small inkling that if things went well, they would be spending the rest of their lives together. And though he had never been one to dream, the tiniest dream of their happy future began to bloom in the secret part of his soul, nurtured by the tender feelings he had for his Roxanna.