Nostos

Tolvin smiled as he turned off the alarm. He would let them sleep a bit longer. He needed to take care of a few things. As he slipped from the room, he saw Rochelle in the morning light and stopped to look at her for a moment. So much had changed so quickly. He never saw it coming but he had no regrets on how things were turning out. He knew he still had one large hurdle to overcome. He pulled out his laptop and brought up the website in Spain. He sighed as the signal was still not there. What could be taking so long? He shook his head and closed the site, opening a secure weblink to the local international servers.

He opened the Grekaios server and posted a message to the arranged forum:
Κ Πετράκης. Είμαστε σε καθορισμένο χώρο, όταν είστε έτοιμοι να ανταποκριθούν. Περιμένουμε λέξη σας. Η κόρη σας είναι σε καλή υγεία και έχουμε ένα νεαρό επισκέπτη είστε εξοικειωμένοι με, καθώς και..
Mr Petrakis. We are at the appointed place when you are ready to meet. We await your word. Your daughter is in good health and we have a young guest you are acquainted with as well.

She stretched and yawned, climbing slowly off of the couch so she wouldn't wake Rajat and then stretched more. She looked sleepily over at what he was doing and blinked lazily. She let her eyes focus on what he was looking and speaking to. Rubbing her eyes, she moved to the counter and opened the bottle of water to take a sip. "Sorry I slept so long. What time is it anyway? I think my clock is even confused." She took another sip and checked her watch with one eye opened.

He smiled as she walked over.

"It's about 8am local time. I'll call down for something to eat in a few. I was just taking care of a few things."

She smiled and nodded, drinking the rest of the bottle and tossing it. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and looked over at him, moving towards his chair. "Like what?" She slipped her hands on his shoulders and peeked over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

He grinned at her as she came close. Even now he loved the sight of her.

"Just dropped a pebble in the pond to let daddy know we are here. Things like that..."

She heard his words and let them sink in. "Daddy...you mean..." She began to smile bigger and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek. "You mean soon, I get to see him soon??" She was so eager and excited.

Tolvin laughed softly.

"Keep your voice down, I want to let the boy sleep a bit more. Yes...as soon as he has the time. Then we will go to a place of his choosing."

She nearly bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement. Moving to kneel in front of him. "I can't tell you how happy I am, Tolvin. Really happy. And to be here with you...well, that makes it better."

He grinned when she knelt in front of him, looking up to him. He let himself get lost a moment in her eyes and then spoke softly.

"Why don't you call down for something. Maybe some olive bread and cheese...perhaps something sweet for the boy....halva perhaps. That and some fresh juice should do nicely."

He leaned down, kissing her gently before pulling back.

She smiled bigger and nodded, rising to stand and moved to the phone. Calling down to place an order, she ordered what he suggested and then hung up. Rajat stirred but continued to sleep soundly. She opened the small fridge and grabbed the small tupperware she had stowed in there and moved to pull herself up on the counter. Swinging her legs, she opened it and popped a grape into her mouth. "Want some?" She offered him and held out the grapes.

He smiled at her offer but shook his head.

"I can wait for the food to arrive. Besides, you look like you are really enjoying them."

He glanced over toward the bedroom as the sounds of Rajat stirring could be heard.

"Might want to save a few for him though...just in case."

He laughed softly and turned off the laptop.

She popped another into her mouth and gave him a playful look. "Fine, more for me...and Rajat." She grinned and chewed on the grape. Watching him shut his laptop down and save it up, she continued swinging her legs and threw a grape in the air, opening her mouth to catch it as it bounced on her nose and dropped to the floor. She giggled and covered her mouth to be quiet when she heard Rajat say in a sleepy voice as he rubbed his eyes. "You missed Miss Rochelle." She giggled more.

Tolvin could not help but laugh at Rajat's comment.

"Don't worry about it, Rajat. Breakfast is on it's way. I thought later we might see the Hagios Demetrios and some of the other sites. This is my first trip to this part of Greece."

He winked at Rochelle.

She smiled and popped one last grape into her mouth as she listened to Tolvin. "There is so much to see, I would love to take you both to see the sights and the city. Rajat loves the little pizza shop down the street from where Papa stays. Best pasta you'll ever eat." She nodded and Rajat smiled big, "The meatballs are as big as...as big as....mountains!" He used his arms to show the size and Rochelle giggled.

Tolvin laughed as Rajat threw his arms out, almost knocking the bowl from Rochelle's hand. He nodded and stood, walking toward the bedroom.

"Give me a few to change and I'll be ready to go."

She nodded, watching Tolvin move to get changed. She hopped down and went to Rajat. Kneeling before him, she gave him a playful arm jab and he giggled. "How'd ya sleep?" He began telling her about her dreams and she offered her hand as he took it and moved to the couch.

As Tolvin finished changed into his suit, he smiled, listening to Rochelle talking with Rajat. This was nice, almost like a family. He smiled a bit to himself at that thought. He walked out, pulling the door shut behind him and looked down to Rajat.

"Well aren't you going to get ready?"

Rajat turned to look up at Tolvin and nodded, "Yes, Mr. Tolvin." He rushed off to dress and she looked down at her attire. Moving over to the suitcase, she grabbed her jeans and slid her pajama shorts off, pulling her jeans on. She turned to see Tolvin in his suit and felt a bit under dressed. Blushing a bit, she looked down at her tank top. "Should I...um...change?"

He smiled, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it. This is just what I have on hand."

He nodded toward the door as the chime rang.

"Food's here..."

She smiled and zipped the suitcase up as he got the door. Taking a seat on the couch, Rajat came out and asked for help with one of his laces that came out of the hole. She helped him lace it back up and he tied his shoes. When he saw the food, he rushed over and began picking things off the tray. She smiled softly and wondered if Tolvin ever wanted kids. What was she thinking? They'd only been a couple for a few months. She flushed a bit at the thoughts and cleared her throat, standing and moving to the bedroom to pick up Rajat's things and pack up.

As they waited for Rochelle to come out, he served up a bit more cheese and olive bread to Rajat. Between bites, Rajat looked up to him and mumbled around a mouthful of bread.

"Are you and Miss Rochelle gonna get married?"

Tolvin choked for a moment on a bite of cheese and stared at Rajat in silence.

"Well....um....we haven't really talked about that yet..."

He glanced toward the other room.

"Don't you like her that way?"

He looked back to Rajat.

Well...yes...but I think it is too soon to think about things like that."

He quickly turned as Rochelle returned to the room, shoving a piece of cheese in Rajat's mouth.

She had everything together and moved to the other room, dusting her hands together and looking over at Tolvin who had a slight blush going on and Rajat whose mouth was stuffed with cheese as he struggled to chew. She covered her mouth not to laugh and looked between them. "What happened here?" She wiped Rajat's mouth as he pointed to Tolvin and she looked at him. "Are you okay?" She continued to smile at how different he looked, as if he were hiding something.

He looked from Rochelle to Rajat and back again...

"Yes...yes...I'm fine. Rajat's just bit of more than he could chew apparently."

He blushed a bit more and glanced at Rajat, not sure what the boy would say.

She didn't full believe him. Grinning with a nod, she looked at Rajat and smirked. "Rajat, is that true?" He finally swallowed and looked up at Tolvin then to Rochelle. He took a drink of water and folded his little arms across his chest. "Are you gonna be Mr. Tolvin's wife?"

She was taking a sip of water when he spoke and she spat it all over Tolvin whom she was standing in front of. Covering her mouth, she looked at him with wide eyes and her whole face turned as red as a stop sign.

He laughed as he picked up a napkin and wiped the water from his face.

"I told you he bit off more than he expected, but you didn't believe me."

He laughed softly as he watched her reaction.