August 2022

"Hi, are you Dimitri? I'm Rose." It was only a formality, as she'd known who he was right away. Although there was now gray in his hair and wrinkles around his eyes, and his belly was somewhat larger, she hadn't forgotten the twinkle in his eyes.

"It's so good to see you again!" Ignoring her outstretched hand, he pulled her into a bear hug. "Come on, let me get you some coffee."

He bought their coffee, and they stepped out into the sunshine to enjoy it. Dimitri pulled Rose's chair our for her, then sat down himself. "I'm so thankful to have another chance with you," he continued. "I did you wrong all those years ago, and I'm so sorry!"

"That's OK." Rose blew on her coffee to cool it. "We were just kids then."

"True, but the memory of it still haunts me. So you've been married twice, right?"

Rose nodded. "I was married to Grant from 1986 to 1996. We had two sons, Noah and Tyler. Then I was married to Colin from 2007 to 2012. You said you've been married twice as well."

Dimitri nodded. "I knocked my first wife up. Jessica was born in March of 1986, and we got married in April. She left me for another man a few years later. I met my second wife in 1993. At that time, she said she didn't want kids. It wasn't until her biological clock started ticking that she changed her mind."

Rose sipped her coffee. "Your son's fourteen now, right?"

Dimitri nodded. "He plays saxophone in the school band."

"You must be proud of him." Rose chuckled. "It's been so long since I had teenagers I've forgotten what it was like. Noah's thirty-two, and Tyler's twenty-nine."

Dimitri smiled. "I just found out in March I have another daughter I had no idea existed. Remember Lynda Nelson?"

Rose nodded. "She was in my Literature class."

"Well, after her husband left her, she slept with all the guys who sat at our table at lunch. She had a daughter born in August 1985. The daughter did 23andme and found me that way. She was thrilled to finally find her father!"

Rose gulped. I remember that. She'd overheard some classmates talking about it. Lynda had slept with seven different guys and was pregnant.

At the time, Rose had had no idea one of the seven had been Dimitri.

August 1993

"I wish you wouldn't do this." Rose cuddled two-week-old Tyler while three-year-old Noah made zoom-zoom noises on his ride-on toy truck.

Grant sighed. "I told you I was having a vasectomy after our second child was born," he told his wife. "You know we can't afford any more than two kids."

"But that's so permanent! What if you change your mind later?"

"I won't," Grant assured her.

"I offered to go back on the Pill," Rose reminded him.

"Do what you want, but I'm still having the vasectomy," said Grant.

"But if I go back on the Pill, why would you need to do that?"

"I've made up my mind, and nothing you can say will change it," Grant said firmly.

Tyler awoke and began to whimper. Rose thought back to the cold day in March when she'd had her ultrasound. She'd wanted a daughter so badly. The room she'd prepared for the baby's nursery held several boxes of clothing she'd bought at various rummage sales - frilly little pink dresses, a purple onesie with Miss Piggy on the front, adorable little black patent leather shoes. How she longed to be able to use them!

Her heart sank as the ultrasound confirmed that, yes, she was expecting a second son. Grant had guessed the outcome when he'd arrived home to find her bawling her eyes out. He'd sympathized but remained firm in his decision to limit their family to two children.

Rose had continued the pregnancy, hoping against hope that the ultrasound had somehow been wrong. After Tyler's birth, she'd gotten Noah's outgrown infant clothing out of storage and replaced it with the rummage sale clothing she'd bought.

She hadn't had the heart to get rid of it.

August 2022

"I want you to know, I'm not the same man I was when we got together the first time," Dimitri told Rose. "I'm not just trying to see how many different women I can sleep with anymore. Now, I'm focused on quality instead of quantity."

The two of them were sitting in Rose's living room, eating popcorn and watching a movie.

"I've never slept with anyone I didn't genuinely care for," Rose replied. "I know we only went out once, but it did kind of hurt my feelings when you called me and told me you didn't want to go out with me anymore. Why did you do that, anyway?"

"Because you wouldn't have sex with me," said Dimitri.

Rose gaped. "You never even asked me!"

"No, but I could tell from the vibes you were giving off that I wouldn't get anything from you." Dimitri took a swig of beer. "I know that was wrong of me, and I apologize."

Rose frowned. "I wasn't even aware I was giving off any vibes." A sudden thought occurred to her. "How long were you and Gina together before you slept with her?"

"About a week. We were house sitting together, and she came on to me."

"It took her awhile to get pregnant, didn't it?"

"Yep. February to June."

"And Lynda was carrying your baby at the same time."

"I had no idea about that."

Yes, but you slept with her, so you knew it was a possibility.

Rose didn't say anything.

November 1994

"Would you like to hold her?" Rose's older sister Paula asked her.

"Of course!"

Paula had just given birth to her third daughter, Crystal. Her two older daughters, six-year-old Amber and three-year-old Jade, were playing Legos with Noah, while Tyler toddled around with his finger in his mouth.

"You're such a little sweetheart," Rose murmured as she gazed down into her newborn niece's milky dark blue eyes. Crystal yawned, showing off her toothless gums.

"Was Robin disappointed to get another daughter?" Rose asked her sister.

Paula frowned. "I guess maybe he was, just a little, but mostly we're both just very relieved and thankful she's healthy."

"I remember how bad Grant wanted a son when I was pregnant with Noah," Rose reminisced.

Paula chuckled. "And you wanted a daughter with Tyler. Has he started talking yet?"

"Not yet," said Rose.

"Both my two older girls could say a few words at that age," Paula observed.

"I've heard it takes longer with boys," said Rose. "Anyway, Grant said he didn't care one way or the other when I was pregnant the second time, but no matter what happened, there wouldn't be a third. Ever."

Paula gave her sister a hug. "I'm so sorry."