Scream Me a Dream

Monday January 17, 2011

“So, you and Soya left together on Saturday.” Linde pointed out as he handed Ville one of his guitars.

Ville nodded slowly, settling the guitar on his lap as he sat on the couch and strummed it lightly. “Yes, we did. Soya offered me a ride home.”

“She did?” Burton said with a mocking smirk, as he stepped away from his keyboard.

“Yes, she did.” Ville said, looking up at his friend. “She saw me outside and offered me a ride.”

“So you guys didn’t talk?” Mige asked.

Ville shrugged. “I never said we didn’t.”

“Dear Ozzy, gives us the patience to deal with him.” Linde muttered up to the ceiling, causing Ville to smirk.

He’d been running errands around their rehearsal space when Linde had called and asked if he’d wanted to hang while they waited for Manu and Seppo to show up for practice. Ville had agreed, making his way to the rehearsal space, knowing that the only reason he’d been invited was to be interrogated about his relationship with Soya. Though he’d walked in knowing, he still loved making his friends work for the information.

“Are you guys okay now?” Mige asked, sitting on the table that sat across from Ville.

Ville shrugged. Knowing his friends were concerned, he answered. “We talked, a lot.” Ville muttered. “We’re…I don’t know.” Ville sighed, looking down at his fingers. “We’re in this strange limbo where we want to be together, but Soya wants me to think about some stuff.”

“What stuff?” Burton asked.

Ville dropped his fingers, wondering if he should tell his friends. Then again, it was something that he was sure would end up coming out anyway, as Soya taking full responsibility of her sister wasn’t something she could hide, nor would she want to. “Soya’s mother gave her full parental rights of Aida.”

By the silence that filled the room, Ville swore they could have heard a pin drop. Linde was the first to break the silence. “Seriously?”

Ville nodded. “Yeah.”

“What does she want you to think about?” Burton asked.

“I guess she wants to make sure that I’m ready to take on a nine year old.”

Silence again, as his friends stared at him. Mige was the first to speak this time around. “And are you thinking about it?”

“Not really, since there’s nothing to think about.”

“Nothing to think about in a good way, or in a bad way?”

“What’s the difference?” Ville asked with a frown.

“If it’s the good way, then we’ll all be attending a wedding in May.” Burton said with a grin.

“And the bad way?” Ville asked with a smirk.

“Let’s just say that when sides are being picked, I choose Soya’s pretty face over yours.” Burton said with a grin.

“That right there is band loyalty.” Ville laughed. “I’m hurt that you all think I wouldn’t take Aida.”

“A nine year old is a big responsibility.” Linde pointed out.

“Yes, I know.” Ville laughed. “I really don’t know why you guys are so surprised that I’d be willing to take Aida on as well.”

“You do know that it’s not like you’d be babysitting her.” Mige said. “You’d have her full-time. You’d be like a parent to her.”

Ville nodded. “Yes, I know. Again what’s with the surprise? Aida’s a good kid, she practically lived with Soya and myself after their dad passed away. Plus,” he shrugged. “I figure she’s good practice for when Soya and I have kids.” He rolled his eyes when his friends just stared at him. “Is it so hard to believe that I love the kid?” Ville asked, slightly offended.

“Not at all.” Burton said. “Kind of hard not to love Aida. It’s just if you feel this way, why don’t you just tell Soya? Why take the time to think about something you obviously don’t need to think about?”

“Because Soya cut me off and told me to think, and I’ve come to learn that means she needs to think, which is why she’s in Spain with Rosalind.” Ville grinned. “I think I’m starting to figure her out.”

“When does she come back?” Linde asked.

“Wednesday morning.” Ville responded.

“So you’re waiting until Wednesday to talk to her?” Mige asked.

“No I’m giving her 24 hours, my flight leaves tomorrow morning.” Ville shook his head as he replaced his fingers on the guitar. “You guys really underestimate me and that hurts.”

“You give us reason to.” Burton laughed. “But we’re happy for you and Soya.”

“We are.” Linde agreed. “We’re glad it’s working out for you guys.”

Ville nodded, his smile wide. “Yeah, I’m pretty damn happy about it too.”

XxxxxxX

Tuesday January 18, 2011
9:30 am

“So you’re not dancing anymore.” Rosalind said as they looked through the rack of clothes, Rosalind keeping a close eye on her daughter who was going in and out of the clothes racks muttering to herself.

Soya shrugged. “I’m going to dance, Rose. I’m not going to stop dancing just because I’m out of the company, I’m just done dancing professionally.”

“Your boss sounds like a bitch.” Rosalind said matter-of-factly, causing Soya to laugh.

“Yes, she is, and she’s not my boss anymore.”

“Of course, you’re your own boss now.” Rosalind grinned. “So tell me, are you hiring Josef and then underpaying him?”

Soya laughed as she pulled out a dress, only to scrunch her nose and put it back, leaning against the clothing rack. “I should with the price the bastard is giving me on the house; Josef still has two years, after that he’s a free agent.”

“And you’re planning to scoop him up! Don’t deny it.” Rosalind said, only to look down and grin at her daughter. “Que paso pequeña?”(What happened, little one?)

“Nada.” Impi sing-songed as she skipped around her mother. Rosalind rolled her eyes as she looked back at her friend. (Nothing.)

“So what are you going to do now?” Rosalind asked. “I mean, since you don’t have Josef yet.”

Soya laughed. “Well, when I get back I’ll start in on the mounds of paperwork I have to fill out just to get the city to even consider letting me build on my lot, but for now I do what I love most, which is teaching young ones like this to dance.” Soya laughed, grasping Impi’s waist as the young girl danced around her, giggling when Soya grabbed her. “Do you want to learn to dance pikkuinen?”

“Kyllä!” Impi grinned. (Yes!)

“Ah! See, I’m wonderful at my job! I already have another student.”

Rosalind shook her head. “That commute is going to be such a bitch.”

Soya laughed, settling Impi on her waist, “I really want to shop for Impi, now. I don’t need any new clothes.”

“But shopping for yourself is the best form of therapy.” Rosalind said, following Soya out of the store as they walked around the mall looking for the children’s stores, Impi clinging to her godmother’s neck the entire time.

“Who says I need therapy?” Soya asked, looking over her shoulder at her friend.

“As if Jyrki hasn’t kept me in the loop about you and Ville.” Rosalind said with a roll of her eyes, as she took Soya’s grey purse from Soya’s shoulder when it started slipping off due to Soya carrying Impi. “I’m guessing that’s why you agreed to come here.”

Soya blinked. “I came because you’d already bought my tickets and made me feel horribly guilty about neglecting you and my goddaughter.”

“So it had nothing to do with Ville?”

“Of course not.”

“Liar.” Rosalind said, before pulling Soya away from the stores. “I say we get mani-pedi’s and talk.”

“Me too!” Impi said, squirming out of Soya’s arms.

Soya put Impi on the ground, taking hold of her hand to keep the girl from running off, while following Rosalind into the nail salon. Ten minutes later, Soya was sitting next to Rosalind with her feet in a foot spa and a woman filing down her nails to an even length.

“So talk to your best friend Rosalind.” Rosalind said, pushing Impi’s feet back into the water when the girl started splashing her feet and giggling.

“What do you want to know?” Soya asked, knowing deep down that a lot of the reason she’d come to Barcelona was to talk to her friend. Josef, while she loved him, was the friend that empathized with a person. He felt what needed to be felt and said what needed to be said to make a person feel better about a situation. And, though he did so candidly, she knew that to make her feel better, he mostly kept his opinions to himself and only gave them when asked.

Rosalind, on the other hand, never held back. When a person talked to her, she gave her opinion without censoring herself. If she felt differently about the situation, she told a person. She didn’t coddle or empathize, though she could if asked, she just talked. That was what Soya needed. She needed to talk and she needed Rosalind’s take.

“I left my relationship with Ville in this in-between place.” Soya said with a shrug. “I’m still thinking about it.”

“Why did you leave it like that?” Rosalind asked, smiling at the woman who came up to her holding three different shades of pink nail polishes. “El más ligero de rosa para ella.” Rosalind said, tapping one of the shades with her fingers, while motioning to Impi who was entranced by the cartoons one of the women had put on one of the many large TV’s they had around the room. (The lightest of pink for her.)

Impi frowned as she looked at the color, taking her hands away and sitting on them. “Quería negro.”(I wanted black.)

Rosalind rolled her eyes and turned to her daughter. “Just like daddy huh?”

“Just like him.” Impi grinned.

Rosalind shook her head, turning back to the woman who was trying to get Impi’s hands from underneath the little girl’s body. “Dale negro, está bien.” Rosalind turned back to Soya, “Sorry monada, you were saying?”(Give her black, that’s fine.)

“Impi’s taking after Jyrk’s, huh?” Soya asked with a grin, having witnessed the exchange and gotten the gist of it.

“Unfortunately. As much as I want to dress her up like a little girl, she keeps going back to her father’s sense of style.” Rosalind smirked.

It was true. For the most part, Rosalind let her daughter dress herself, and Impi tended to choose clothing much more her father’s style than her mother’s. Currently, Impi was in a pair of dark jeans, a polka dot belt, and a black Ramones shirt. The only colors that weren’t dark were the purple zip-up sweater Rosalind had forced her into, and the light pink slip-on TOMS that Soya had bought her.

Compared to Rosalind’s red jeans, white classic Barbie screen tee, taupe belted sweater, and silver flats, Impi was nowhere near her mother’s style. And as Soya happened to love indulging Impi with her clothing, she herself had chosen to wear her darker colors with her black skinny jeans, long sleeve navy blue shirt, and ivory knit sweater, along with her own pair of grey fleece-lined TOMS.

“Now, tell me what you’re thinking about.” Rosalind said, bringing Soya out of her inner musings.

“I’m…” Soya shrugged, looking at the shades of blue that the woman in front of her held out, and picking a teal before turning back to Rosalind. “You know about Aida.”

“I do.” Rosalind nodded, Soya having explained it to her at dinner the night before, as she pointed out a bright pink for herself.

“Well, I told Ville. I mean, of course I told him.”

Rosalind nodded. “All right.”

“And I told him I wanted him to think about what it meant.”

Rosalind snorted. “I’m pretty sure Ville knows what it means, Soya, so why have him think about it?”

Soya shrugged. “I don’t know.” She admitted. “I think I want him to be sure that he wants his solitude to end. He doesn’t like the flat as much as he loves his tower, so Aida would have to move in there. I don’t mind it, but then I think of Ville, and it’s three people in his space.”

“Don’t forget the dogs.” Rosalind teased.

Soya laughed. “I feel bad that he wouldn’t have the time to himself that I know he craves.”

“That’s where compromise comes in, though, Soya. You all need that alone time. Yeah, the tower will get crowded, but who’s to say Ville can’t go to the rehearsal space when he needs time alone? Or you can’t go to your studio? Or Aida can’t ask to go to a friend’s house? Things are going to change, Soya, you can’t really fight that, but at least you both know it and are going into this aware of what’s going on. Ville knows that not only is he gaining a wife, but by getting you, he gets this built-in little family. I’m sure he has some learning to do, but I think he likes the idea, and knowing you like I do, I know you enjoy the idea as well.”

Soya stayed silent as she nodded slowly.

“And look at it this way, you both get a kid without the whole going-into-labor thing. You saw me go into labor; you know it’s not fun.”

Soya laughed. “I still want to have his kids, Rose.”

“Okay, then look at Aida as practice. You can’t screw her up any more than you mother already has, and if you do, you know what not to do with yours.”

“I don’t know why I’m so worried about it.”

“Because you’re you, and you worry, and without realizing it you wait for the negative aspect of every situation instead of hoping for the positive.”

“I know I do.” Soya sighed, recognizing it as one of the many faults that she’d been trying to work on.

Rosalind laughed. “Blame your parents.”

“I do.” Soya snorted. “But I think I’m doing better about it.”

“You are!” Rosalind agreed. “But think of it as your default setting. You can eventually change it, but it takes pushing a shit load of buttons to fix it.”

“That’s only because you’re horrible with computers.” Soya teased.

“You know what I mean.” Rosalind laughed. “It’s just something you have to work at Soya, but while you work at it you still fall back on your default. No one blames you for it, because we all do it at some point in our life, some more than others.”

“You have your doubts.” Rosalind continued. “Who the hell doesn’t? It makes you human. It makes you….real. Do you worry that you won’t be the best mother figure to Aida?”

“Yes” Soy said softly.

“I had those exact worries all throughout my pregnancy, Soya, and I still do. You’re wonderful with kids and Impi. You’re wonderful with your students, no matter their age. I’ve seen you with your sister, and I’ve seen Ville with her; you’re both amazing.” Rosalind shrugged. “You’re meant to struggle and you’ll make your mistakes when it comes to raising her, but never doubt your ability to raise her. Stop waiting for the negative and start making the positive happen.”

“How, though?” Soya asked with a frown.

“Well, you’ve already removed the largest source of negativity, being your mother, I am so proud of you for doing that by the way, now you start working on the little things in your life.”

Soya rubbed her right wrist with a small smile. “I think I’ve already started to.”

“Well, there you go then,” Rosalind grinned. “You and Ville will be fine with Aida, and you’ll be fine when you both decide you want kids. Plus, you have us to help; you guys aren’t doing it alone.”

“Rose?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re a great friend. I don’t think I say that enough.”

Rosalind laughed. “What are you talking about, I’m an amazing friend.” Rosalind turned and winked at Soya. “You know I love you, Soya.”

“I do.” Soya laughed.

“How about, after we’re done here, we go and see a movie?”

“Sounds perfect.” Soya smiled, relaxing back into her seat, attempting to let the negativity slip away from her body.

XxxxxxX

“Hugo, I can meet tomorrow.” Rosalind said as she walked out of the elevator onto the top floor of the six story building she resided in, digging into her pockets for the key she’d stuffed in there. “Well I can’t meet today.” Rosalind said with a roll of her eyes, as her brother yapped into her ear about how he and Luis wanted to meet up and go over some new songs, and how she was holding back the process. “Because I told you that Soya was going to be in town and…” Rosalind stopped at her door and grinned when she saw the person sitting on the ground staring up at her. “I just can’t, all right Hugo? I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up her phone as the person grinned at her, stuffing the phone in her pocket.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Came to talk to Soya.” Ville said.

“You haven’t been waiting long, have you?” Rosalind asked, as Ville stood up and leaned against the wall.

“Got in around ten, so a few hours now.”

“You should have just called instead of waiting here like an idiot.”

“Yeah, this idiot did call. You both had your phones off.”

Rosalind blinked at him before pulling her phone out and seeing she did in fact have two missed calls from Ville. “So you did. Sorry, we went to go see Megamind and then Impi wanted to go see another movie so we went to see Tangled.”

“Sounds like Impi had an exciting day.” Ville grinned.

“She did,” Rosalind agreed, “We were coming back, but Impi wanted to go to the park, so Soya volunteered to take her while I came back. She should be back soon.”

“Great. Can I wait inside now?” Ville asked, picking up his bag.

Rosalind raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“So I can wait for Soya.”

“Why would you wait here?”

“Isn’t Soya staying here with you?”

“No…” Rosalind said slowly. “Soya stays at her apartment one floor down.”

Ville blinked. “She has an apartment here?”

“Yeah. She and Josef were given the apartments a while back; they stay there when they come and visit.”

“Given?”

“She’s good friends with the landlord.” Rosalind laughed, pulling her key out of her pocket and unlocking the door. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the key to Soya’s place, or else I’d give it to you and tell you to let yourself in.”

“I’m surprised, a home you don’t have a key for.”

“Ha. Ha.” Rosalind said dryly. “Have fun sitting on the floor.”

“So one floor down?” Ville asked.

“One floor down, 501.” Rosalind nodded “I’m surprised she didn’t tell you about it when you guys came down a couple of months ago.”

“So am I.” Ville said with a shrug. “Thanks Rose.”

“No problem,” Rosalind said opening her door as Ville started walking down the hall. “Ville?”

“Yeah?” Ville asked, turning.

“You’re here for good reasons, right?” Rosalind shrugged. “I only ask because I gave Soya a pep talk, and I would hate for it to have been in vain.”

“I’m here for good reasons.”

“All right then.” Rosalind said with a nod, before disappearing into her apartment. Ville shook his head in amusement as he pushed the button for the elevator, the doors opening in front of him. Going down a floor, he looked at the door numbers, finding Soya’s at the end of hall. Wanting to make sure she wasn’t inside, he knocked lightly, only to be met by silence on the other side.

Dropping his overnight bag on the floor and sitting down against the wall, unzipping his bag, he pulled out his book and settled in to wait for Soya. He couldn’t have been waiting more than fifteen minutes when he heard the elevator doors ding and then open.

Looking up, he gave a small smile when he saw Soya walk out with a nearly asleep Impi in her arms. Impi’s head was resting on Soya’s shoulder and Soya’s face was turned towards the girl as she walked, talking to her quietly.

“Miksi näin pikkupojan tarkoita, pikkuinen?” She asked, just loud enough for Ville to hear her. (Why was that little boy mean, little one?)

“Hän pudotti minun hiekkalinna.” Impi answered tiredly, causing Soya to chuckle softly. (He knocked down my sandcastle.)

“Hän teki?!” Soya said, her voice humoring the little girl. (He did?!)

“Hän teki!” Impi said lifting her head with a frown, only to yawn and lay her head back down.

“You’re tired; I think you need a nap.” Soya laughed, only to stop when she looked up from Impi and caught sight of him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He responded back with a smile. “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

Soya smiled lightly. “I’m glad you couldn’t.” She readjusted Impi in her arms, slipping her purse off her shoulder and handing it to him. “Let me run Impi upstairs to Rose; I’ll be down in a minute. It’s the little silver key next to the one for the tower.” She said rubbing Impi’s back, smiling at him again. “I’m really happy you’re here.” She said before turning back and getting into the elevators, leaving Ville alone in the hall.

He couldn’t help but smile, as he looked down into her purse and scrounged around until he found her keys. Locating the little silver one, he unlocked the door and walked into the apartment only to be surprised by not only the size, but the white emptiness of it.

He dropped his bag on the black love seat before taking a look around. The apartment was large, and looked to be up to date with its electronics, given the flat-screen TV that sat in the entertainment center and all the new-looking appliances in the medium-sized kitchen. But the apartment didn’t look lived-in at all. No pictures covered the surfaces, like her flat, or the townhouse in New York, or the surfaces of the tower she’d taken to putting frames on.

Double doors led to a large balcony that overlooked the street. A small café-style table with two chairs sat outside.

The apartment had two small bedrooms to his right, which shared a bathroom while the master bedroom was at his left, and had its own bathroom. He walked into the master bedroom and couldn’t help but smile at how lived-in it looked compared to the rest of the apartment.

The bed was un-made; pillows that Soya hated using were thrown on the floor, while the blankets and comforters were pushed to the end of the bed. Her suitcase sat open in the corner, empty, with the clothes she’d packed already scattered across the floor.

“I don’t stay here often.”

Ville turned in surprise, relaxing when he saw Soya standing behind him with her hands tucked in the back pockets of her jeans. “Josef’s is much more decorated than mine.”

“Josef has an apartment here, too? I assumed you guys just shared one when Rose said that you had an apartment.”

Soya shook her head slowly. “Rose gave them to us when she was pregnant and we came down. Josef wanted his own space, so his apartment is across the hall, but because I don’t visit all that often I tell Rose to rent mine out when I’m on tour. She rents it out on a six month lease and calls me every so often wanting to know if I’ll be needing the apartment, and if I do she has it cleaned before I get here.” Soya shrugged. “It’s easier for me just to get a hotel but Rose likes having friends nearby.”

“Wait, Rosalind rents it out?”

“Ville, Rosalind owns this building, I thought you knew that.”

“I didn’t, no.”

Soya nodded, motioning him to follow her as she went towards the kitchen. Ville settled on one of the barstools that sat in front of the kitchen nook while Soya scrounged through the fridge, producing two bottles of water and handing one to Ville.

“Rose loves being in the heart of the city.” Soya said, sitting on the barstool opposite him. “So she originally just rented her apartment upstairs, but I guess the owner of the building wasn’t keeping up with the maintenance of the place. Rose and the rest of the tenants were getting frustrated, so when the lease of building was up Rosalind outbid the owner and bought it. She rents it out to low-income families. It’s why a lot of neighbors and tenants cook for her; it’s their way of paying rent when they can’t quite make it.”

“I never knew that about her.” Ville said with a frown, as he learned something new about a friend he’d had for years.

“It’s not something she flaunts.” Soya said with a shrug. “She doesn’t do it to make herself feel better, or to brag about it; she does it because it needs to be done.”

“So she gave you this apartment?”

“I argued it.” Soya laughed, “Vehemently, but Rose insisted that she wanted both of us nearby when she went into labor. I send her a couple of hundred dollars a month to make up for the apartment just being here, what she does with that money I have no idea.”

“When we came up here, you never told me about this place.”

“I tried!” Soya laughed. “When you started planning the trip, I started to tell you that you didn’t have to get a hotel, but you cut me off and assumed I was going to say we could stay with Rosalind.” She shrugged with a smile. “You had so much fun planning our trip, I didn’t bother telling you. Then we never really came up this way when we stayed here, so it just never came up.”

Ville looked around. “It’s nice…big.”

“It was just a one bedroom, but Rose knocked down the wall and had the other two bedrooms built. ‘For the kids’ she said.” Soya laughed, with a roll of her eyes. “But I haven’t done much to it really, not much reason to; I barely make it out here.”

“Maybe now you’ll be able to more.” Ville said, turning back to her.

Soya bit her lip and nodded slowly. “Maybe.”

“I came here for a reason, you know.” Ville said with a smile.

“I figured.” Soya laughed softly. “We’ve somewhat circled around the issue, huh?”

“We have,” Ville nodded before speaking again “First, I think my shock over what happened with you and your mother overrode the pride I have in you over how well you handled her.” He reached over and took her hands. “The fact that you stood your ground and had your own conditions before taking Aida, Soya, I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m pretty proud of myself.” Soya murmured softly, looking down at their hands before looking up at him. “I’m always going to have that little part of me that craves my mother’s approval; I don’t think that will ever change, but talking to her after everything was said and done, it was…nice. It was the closure I needed with her and I’m glad to have that; I’m glad that we both did what was best for Aida.”

“I’m happy for that, too.” Ville nodded, before grinning at her. “You knew what my response was going to be when you told me about Aida, didn’t you?”

Soya shrugged. “You love her Ville. I knew that it wasn’t something you would be angry or disappointed about.”

“So you needed to think?”

Soya laughed. “It wasn’t that I needed to think about us, I just…” she shook her head. “It’s going to get crowded in the tower.”

“I look forward to it.” Ville grinned. “Soya, I’m always going to need that time alone, but that doesn’t mean I’m bothered by the amount of people that are going to live in the tower. We’ll make this work.” He rubbed his hands up and over hers, letting his fingers trace her wrists, only to frown when he caught sight of her tattoo.

He tilted his head, gripping her hand when she tried to move it away, only to grin wide when he saw the large curl of the ‘V’ and the cursive script. His heart pounded loudly in his ears as he looked up at her blushing face in surprise. “You got my name.”

“Ville.” Soya said quietly.

“You got my name tattooed on your wrist.” He said is voice full of amazement. “What happened to not wanting our names on each other? You were so adamant about it.”

She started to pull her arm away, only for Ville to hold onto it and tug it towards him, tracing his fingers over the wording.

“Are you upset?” Soya wondered.

“Why would I be upset?” Ville asked, looking up at her. “I’m confused as to why you got it, honored that my name is on your body, but confused that you got it during a time that we weren’t….”

“Okay?” Soya finished. “Rosalind and I talked about it today.”

“This?” Ville asked running his thumb over her tattoo.

“No,” Soya laughed. “You were the first person, other than Kat, that I wanted seeing this tattoo. The reason why I was so adamant about us not getting our names, was because I didn’t want years down the road for something to happen to our relationship, and us to look down and see the names and be…bitter or resentful.”

“I remember that conversation.” Ville nodded.

“Well, on my way to LA, I started thinking about us and even though I was angry and I was hurt, I didn’t feel bitterness about us at all; I didn’t feel regret about anything we had done. I was just…hurting.”

“I’m sorry.” Ville whispered.

“Don’t be,” Soya said with a shrug. “We’re past that.”

“We are.” Ville nodded, his thumb still moving over her wrist. “So, you were hurting.”

“I was.” Soya nodded, “And though I knew that if we were to…separate I would hurt for a very long time, as I’m sure you know, you are a very difficult man to get over.”

Ville chuckled. “I’m sure.”

“I knew that the hurt would eventually fade, but if I didn’t feel bitterness now, I knew I’d never feel that way.” Soya bit her lip and gave a shrug. “So I decided that I wanted to have a reminder of the wonderful that is our relationship, instead of seeing it as a negative.”

Soya bit her lip as she thought back to her conversation with Rosalind earlier that day. “We both have a very bad tendency to think and wait for the worst in any situation. We don’t mean to do it; we do it almost unconsciously. Rosalind calls it my default setting.”

“Good word for it.”

“I think that’s why our fight this time around got so…wildly misconstrued. Our fights tend to do that.”

Ville nodded in agreement. “We tend to make a minor issue worse by looking at the worst possible outcome.”

Soya nodded. “I can’t promise that I’ll just stop looking at life that way, it’s hard to just reset myself to think differently, but I want…” Soya sighed. “I want to try to stay out of the negative this time around. I don’t want to live my life, with you, contently waiting for that moment where we break up. I don’t want you thinking that way, either. I want us….I need for us to stop waiting for the negative to happen to us, to stop thinking that this is too good to be true, or that we don’t deserve to be happy.”

She turned her hand over so their fingers interlocked, Ville watching her intently as she spoke. “I want to be with you, Ville; I want you in my life, and I would love for you to be in Aida’s. I want us to be happy, Ville.”

Ville picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I want the same, Soya. I want the whole thing; I want you, I want to be a part of Aida’s life, and I want kids. I want happiness, and I want it with you.” Ville ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I’m not promising that it’s going to be easy being with me, Soya. I can’t promise that you’ll always come first.”

Soya laughed. “I already figured that one out.”

“But I can promise that I’m going to spend the rest of my days making you happy, making sure you feel loved, and never have another doubt about us or our life again.” He got up, letting go of her hand before moving around the counter so he stood in front of her. Cupping her cheeks, he leaned down and kissed her softly, feeling her arms wrap around his back. He leaned back and kissed the top of her head as she hugged him to her, burying her face in his chest.

“Are we okay now, Soya?” He whispered. “Or do I have to talk any more doubts out of you?”

Soya shook her head pulling back. “No more doubts.”

Ville smiled. “Then you’ll put your ring back on?”

Soya grinned back, biting her bottom lip as she nodded. “Of course I will.”

Ville pulled away, digging through his jeans pocket, before his hand came out closed motioning her to open her hand. Soya did as she was told, opening her hand and letting Ville drop the ring in her palm, only to blink when she saw the ring that fell from his fingers. She looked up at Ville in surprise, seeing his grin, before looking back at the ring.

“Ville, this isn’t my ring.”

“It isn’t?” Ville asked, taking the ring from her palm and examining it. “No, no, this is your ring.”

“Ville.” She breathed, looking at the ring he held between his thumb and forefinger. It was a thin platinum eternity band that had a diamond set inside of it with a larger square frame made up of smaller stones “When did you…”

“When you were dress shopping in Helsinki. I was actually going to give this to you on our wedding day.” Ville said, taking her left hand and slipping the ring onto her finger, grinning when it met no resistance. “See, this is how a ring is supposed to fit.”

“But…”

“This was the ring I originally wanted to get you; it’s the ring that Linde caught me looking at when I went into that jewelry store months ago; it’s the ring I could see you wearing.”

“I love it.” Soya whispered as she admired the ring that sat on her finger. “Not that I didn’t love my other one but why did you get me that one, if this is the one you originally wanted to get me?”

“Aida chose it.” Ville said with a laugh. “But…when I went to go pick your ring, I had Linde’s voice in my head just disapproving. I thought it would be best if I got you something a bit more understated and not as flashy.”

“Since we were hiding our engagement?” Soya asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, since we were hiding it.” Ville nodded, “I don’t want to hide it anymore. We have no reason to.”

Soya laughed. “You’re ready for the world to know you’re taken?”

Ville nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“Good.” she grinned, and kissed him once more before making her way out of the kitchen.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Ville asked with a laugh, leaning against the counter and watching as Soya started towards the door.

“Upstairs to show Rosalind my ring,” She walked back over to him and grinned. “You know it’s good we’re getting married.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it means I can use the wedding dress I found in New York.” Soya grinned.

Ville laughed, “Well I’m glad the dress will get good use. Go on over to Rose’s.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

Ville shook his head, “You go. I’ll be here.”

“You sure?”

Ville nodded. “Yeah,” he nodded, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Go, show off your ring, do wedding stuff.”

Soya smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaning up to kiss him. “I love you, you know that?”

Ville nodded. “And I love you.”

Soya grinned one last time before walking out of the apartment. Ville, grinning himself, went to sit on the couch. His relationship was fixed, and though he and Soya were far from perfect, he was more than ready for this chapter in his life. He was more than ready for an end to his self-inflicted solitude and ready for his home and life to be overrun by his future wife, a nine year old, and two dogs.

Yes, he was happy and he was ready for the world to know it.