Settling Down

Chapter One: Catching Up

The music swelled inside the small theater before stopping completely. Silence. And then, one single instrument rose above them all. The beautiful sound made the hairs on my arms stand straight up. Melodies and harmonies, swooping scales.

Finally, little by little, the rest of the orchestra joined Robin in the last few measures of the final piece they were playing. I clutched the pamphlet that was given to me at the beginning of the program.

The audience erupted in applause when I decided to excuse myself. This wasn't the first time I'd been to one of the Maine Symphony Orchestra's concerts and I knew crowds could get pretty overwhelming if you waited around.

The noise of my heels against the floor echoed through the empty halls. I made my way towards the stage door, preparing myself for the large crowd that was about to erupt.

Soon enough, the stage doors burst open with chaos. Men in women in all black filed out of the single door while people from the balcony and floor exits mixed with the crowd of musicians. I waited patiently until I spotted him.

Struggling to get past everyone, I made my way to where Robin stood with three other cellists and a violinist, all with their instruments. I walked up behind Robin and tapped his shoulder. He turned slowly and smiled.

"It was wonderful." I whisper, answering Robin's unasked question. He had been stressing about his solo for months now and he nailed it on opening night.

Without warning, he pulled me close by my elbow and kissed me gently. I smiled and cupped his cheek, letting my red dress slide up just a bit on my legs as I raised my arm.

We both turned to the group of people standing with us and smiled. "This is my girlfriend, Regina. Regina, this is Graham, Henry, Mal, and Lily." Everyone waved and I followed their lead.

Clinging to Robin's side, I said, "You all did a wonderful job. It was really beautiful." Robin kissed my temple and squeezed my side lovingly.

"Are you a musician yourself?" Lily asked me as she adjusted the cello on her back. I shook my head and smiled.

"Um... Not professionally no. I'm a Psychologist." I explain, nodding enthusiastically. "But I did grow up with a very music filled background." I shrug and listen to their small talk before they all slowly trickled away.

Robin pulled me to his chest and smiled down at me. "So you really liked it?" He asked, gingerly kissig me.

I smiled and nodded. "It was great." I whisper, shivering slightly. Robin shifted and wrapped his jacket around my shoulders before kissing my forehead.

"There you go milady." His warm breath blew my hair back as he lead me out to my car. "Have you called Mary?" He asks, loading the cello into my trunk. I had driven Robin to the dress rehearsal before dropping Mary off and coming back to the theater.

"No I was going to call her when we got back home. She's staying with Ava so I'm not rushed to go get her." I explain, sliding into the drivers seat. "Hey." We both turned to look at each other at the same time. Our foreheads touched as we kissed yet another time.

We had been dating since that cold day in November when Mary asked to have lunch with us. It was now early August of the summer into Mary's second grade year. Robin still worked as a part time music teacher at her school and I overworked my share at the office. We rarely had time alone together now that I had become a regular at this 'mom' thing.

Mary still spent time with Ava but it was times that I couldn't be with Mary myself. Ava was still head deep in therapy but she was slowly improving. As for me, my trust in people was growing. Robin had showed me what I had been missing and I loved it. He made me truly happy and Mary liked him as well. The only down side is that we were always in parent mode. Which normally wasn't a bad thing.