Max's an incorrigible bull, Sofia decided.

She'd tried calling him since he'd left the fluffy pup at her bedside. But the buffoon didn't pick up her calls, he'd instead texted back telling her to go to sleep and that they would talk at the morrow. She'd gone back to sleep, alright, but when morning came she was back at the phone, dialing his number relentlessly.

She just needed to know if he had gotten that much at ease staying alone and had found the pleasant taste of his lost bachelor life that he now didn't want her to come back. She just needed to find out if she had run a saw-blade on her own bloody foot!

After the seventh—SEVENTH call, he picked up and greeted her 'morning' with such irritating tranquility that was greatly missing from her side.

"You're a lying Pinocchio, Max!" she hissed at the phone. "You were supposed to call me and tell me what is going on inside that thick skull of yours."

"We just settled on about the talking part, Sofi, not about me spilling all my plans out to you. Remember?"

Her jaw ticked.

Oh, yes, the exact words literally were just that. And she was outwitted. No doubt he was such a successful lawyer.

"Do you not want me to come back?" she jumped straight to the point, holding back the urge to cry.

Bloody hell! She didn't know why these days she had been feeling so emotional. She was never so exaggeratedly sensitive before.

Were these the early stages of insanity? Had love ruined her like this?

"I never wanted this separation period of ours to last forever, but maybe you want just the opposite now." And her nose flared with angry emotions, feeling all over the place.

"Sofi!" he drawled, his voice coaxing as if he could see how her eyes had turned glossy. "I didn't mean it like that. You know, I can't live without you."

"You wrote that you think I should not return—"

He cut in, "Don't forget the 'yet' bit I also wrote at the end of that sentence."

"I don't understand," Rubbing her temple, she dropped back onto the bed.

"Just have some faith in me," he indulged. "You'll know everything in the evening. Now, did you like my gift? The puppy face?"

Times like this she wanted to throttle him with her bare hands and embrace him into her arms tightly and just cry, all at the same time.

Her stomach twisted suddenly as the smell of coffee that someone might be making in the kitchen drifted to her nose. Her chest constricted with the familiar feeling and she sprang out of the bed and ran towards the bathroom. Merely a minute later she was spewing her gut out into the toilet bowl.

At this rate, she feared she would really have to go see a doctor because food poisoning or any other stomach bug surely wouldn't have lasted this long.

--

"She needs a name," Skyler said.

Sofia nodded in agreement.

Sam perked up at the mention of name-giving. "Can I name her? Can I... can I?"

Sofia shook her head negative. "No, Sammy, I'm sorry but you cannot do that. Only parents have the right to name their kids."

Sammy deflated visibly and Skyler had a brow quirked, giving Sofia a look.

"What?" Sofia squared her shoulders defensively. "Max and I've adopted the pup, she's a new member of our little family. So, logically, we're almost her parents."

The pup's eyes crinkled in sleep as it laid on its back in the cutest manner on a soft, thin cushion with all four legs bent above carelessly. Sofia wondered if the pup was dreaming. Can animals dream? If they do, then what do they see? She felt curious and felt enthusiastic enough to almost hunt down a Vet and inquire him all about it.

Since the moment the Hayden household awakened and discovered a cute, little, fluffy pup as white as snow trotting around the house, they'd all fallen in love with it instantly. Especially Skyler and Sammy were doting on it.

Sammy had been whining every other minute that he wanted a pet as well. What he got in reply from his mother was, "It would be fascinating seeing how a monkey—who can't even take care of himself—would take care of a dog or cat." Sammy was devastated but didn't lose hope.

After all, his birthday was merely two months later, he had his fingers and toes crossed for that.

People had aw-ed and ah-ed when Sofia revealed that Max had gifted her the cute pup.

However, she told them that she had received it in the early morning hours and hid the fact that the gift was in reality delivered in the middle of the night and in which burglarious way. The store-room window and its defected lock must be kept a secret, Sofia concluded, for the sake of the sons-in-law of this family. That window was a portal to midnight rendezvouses for the daring, romantic hearts and she felt the ritual should be kept alive for the next Hayden generations as well.

Later in the kitchen, Sofia was transferring the pasta she was cooking from the pan into a bowl. Some of the pasta fell on the floor as the pan slipped a bit from her hand. Putting the pan down on the counter, she was about to crouch down with a rag cloth to clean the mess up only to see her fluff-ball happily cleaning it away instead. And it looked like the pup was enjoying the pasta more than the milk it was given earlier.

"There, there... you little fella. You like pasta, don't you?" Sofia smiled, remembering someone else who liked pasta a hell lot as well.

Memories of Max and her in the beginning days of their marriage, the ones which were especially centered around pasta, streamed back into her mind. It felt like all that had happened years ago. They had both walked a long way—sometimes with a direction and sometimes utterly directionless. And it all felt like a dream now — their fights, the misunderstandings and hurt, all the stress and uncertainty, that awful day of their wedding. They'd won against so many scary hurdles to be where they were now, and as Sofia looked back, she realized they had gotten only stronger each time a new obstacle came their way. They didn't break, they feared they would, but they didn't.

They fought, they bled, and had come out victorious.

Sighing, while still reminiscing the memories of the past in the back of her mind, Sofia knelt down and looked at the pup who now had a swollen belly due to eating so much by now. It was adorably trying to keep upright and not collapse into a puddle on the floor.

Sofia's brows crinkled with a thought and a ghost of a smile spread on her lips. "Pasta?"

The dog barked in its immature doggy voice.

Sofia put a palm on her mouth, chucking in excitement. "Pasta!"

The pup replied yet again with a little bark and then scrambled closer to lightly bite her big toe.

Sofia chuckled in amusement, calling for Sammy and Skyler. Her fluffball's name was sorted. Also, she wasted no time in sending a text to the pup's daddy and letting him know of the progress.

Max's reply came in a minute. ~You've named it after a food?~

~The pup loves Pasta just like you do.~

~Then I'm glad I don't like roasted turkey more.~

Sofia snorted, ending their text conversation. And she admitted there was some logic behind what he said.

--

Leaving Pasta in Skyler's care for the rest of the day, Sofia left for work about half an hour later. Hours passed by as all the work of her catering business and restaurant kept her a busy bee. Joe proved to be a challenge to be leashed down, the guy was always buzzing with weird business ideas and was proving to be the biggest flirt that Sofia had ever encountered, not that the female customers or employees were complaining in any way.

But it was a definite fact above all minus points that Joe was an efficient cook first and foremost, the talent stood out putting the flaws behind and that made all the trouble worthwhile.

Lunchtime had passed when Sofia received a text from her husband and it was not the first one since she left Haydens for Mary's, by the way. It had almost turned a lot like the necessary function of breathing that they were to never pass a single hour without talking to one another by any means possible.

The short-term separation, apparently, had turned out to be quite the glue that was bonding them in ways she'd never expected it would.

As Sofia opened the text message, she found directions to the mysterious location Max wanted her to be present at for their rendezvous in the evening. She cocked a brow as she read, and realized, it would lead her to the outskirts of the city and near the mini-mansion-like cabin, he threw her a surprise birthday party months ago.

She dialed his number with a confused frown immediately.

"You could have easily told me to come to the cabin itself," she began speaking the moment he picked up. "Instead, you want me to be at the side of the highway just five minutes away from there. Have you finally decided to get rid of your wife by slaughtering her in the forest?"

Max clucked his tongue. "It hurts me knowing that you think so low of me, Sofi," he drawled with mock hurt. "I'm a fervent lover, a devoted husband, and your most loyal buddy but never a murderer. Slaughtering you is the last thing in my mind, darling, although I agree it had crossed my mind a few times in the past when you decided to so foolishly leap headfirst into the way of danger. You provoke the best and the worst out of me."

"The feeling's mutual then." Sofia huffed, moving to sit on her desk, her lips twitched with a hint of a smile which she fought off and stubbornly held onto the indignant tone of her voice. "But — be serious, tell me what are you really planning? Are we going camping?"

"No," he answered with an air of mystery in his voice. "I'm not fond of suffering from night-long mosquito bites, on the contrary, however, if it's you who's going to do all the biting then..."

Her nose flared and her face flushed a bit. He chuckled while she fell silent after he trailed off leaving the sentence hanging midair.

"I bet your face is my favorite shade of red at the moment. You know, I would have grabbed and kissed you if I were near you at this moment. Good thing I'll be able to do just that after an hour, and perhaps..., even more." he rasped. "Be there at four sharp, love, don't keep me waiting, huh?" And he cut the call.

Sofia disengaged the phone from her ear and stared at it with eyes slightly dilated.

Had he just seduced his way out of her query? That scoundrel!

Seriously, why would he talk of love and the acts that lead to making love, while on the other hand, he wanted her not to come back to him? What game was he playing?

Couldn't he realize that she was a bundle of nerves and sparks of fury over here!

And now, he wouldn't even tell her why he wanted to meet her at that deserted side of the highway. To top it all off, he hadn't even stopped by Mary's at all today, and she missed standing in front of the window to look as he smiled goodbye.

Unacceptable.

--

Dhum. Dham. Ddim.

Sofia had a rolling pin in hand and was furiously beating on her car's bonnet. Stood at the side, a worried-looking Simmy cringed with each strike she delivered upon her car.

"Start now, I say start now!" she commanded and hit again with determination. "God damn it, I'm going to get late and Max will get robbed standing at that god-forsaken highway!" she kept muttering under her breath.

Contrary to all the stress surrounding them, Joe was looking highly excited as he reveled in this new way of starting a car. He twisted the key again into the keyhole, frowned but then smiled when nothing changed. "Not working, Sofia. I guess we should switch places? Let me beat the car on the right track."

Sofia peeked up and glared at Joe. "It's my mother's car. Only I have got the right to bring it to whatever track I want. Try again."

Joe shrugged, muttering sullenly, "Possessive Mrs. Grey!"

The tip of his tongue poked out from the side of his gaped mouth as he twisted the key again, at the same time as Sofia lifted a foot and kicked the car with all her strength.

The engine gurgled and leaped to life.

Everyone huffed in relief.

Half an hour later, more or less, driving through the now mellowed-down traffic of the city, Sofia reached her destination. She passed the cabin on her way and memories flooded back into her mind. Her mind traveled back to those days when the bond between Max and her had just begun to get away from all the bitterness and they were just on the brink of taking some vital steps closer to one another—no matter how tiny, no matter how unexpected.

As instructed by Max, she came upon a point where the concrete highway was divided into two separate roads. She took the right one and discovered that it was an unkempt road, filled with deep ruts, and looked quite haunted. The road bed was a disaster and, miserably, her car jumped its way down it.

"He wants to kill my car!" she groaned, her voice unsteady because of the shaky ride.

A minute later she saw Max's sleek black car, now matted with dust and dry leaves from the road, parked in front. Next to his prized vehicle, he was leaning against the bark of a tree with one leg bent at the knee, foot resting behind, on the bark, posing as the living monument of utter calm and coolness. His head was cocked to the side, looking in the direction of her very loud arrival in the midst of a whirlwind of dust. Her car made a short jump while sounding like a tin can before she shut the engine finally and slammed open the door.

He straightened his bent leg and uncrossed his arms as she marched forward grabbing her bag.

"You could have at least chosen a nicer—deserted road for this oh-so secretive rendezvous! What if my tires got punctured? What if my car broke down to never start again? It is my mother's car and it looks like you're hell-bent on killing— "

Suddenly, she was grabbed by the waist, whirled around, and pushed against the tree he was leaning against just a couple of seconds ago. The breath in her lungs came out in a loud gasp, and the unvoiced next words from her mouth were then gulped down by his eager mouth. Her feet dangled above the ground as he held her up against the tree, his entire form was pushed against her as he feasted on her mouth with the hunger of a starved man. She returned the kiss with equal fervor, forgetting the place, forgetting her car, and then, slowly forgetting even her own damn existence.

He ripped his mouth from hers — it made the kind of wet, sensual noise while separating, that had her melting from the inside out. Her legs were a goner since the moment he had begun kissing her, and now she feared she would come undone just if he started kissing her again—suspended midair, against the rough bark of a Mahogany tree and under the wide, open sky by a deserted road that leads to God knew where.

"I did tell you, didn't I? That I was going to grab and kiss you," he said, his raspy voice doing crazy things to her internal organs.

"Glad to see you keep your word," her voice croaked and hands tightened around his muscular shoulders.

"I try my best," he said, mouth coming down for another scorching kiss.

Her back arched and her feet crawled up to curl around his hips, her movements purely instinctive. As her legs tightened around his hips and his crotch pressed against hers, she realized how impossibly hard he was. She smiled against his mouth as his tongue halted on its mission to ravage her reflective one. And then he came up with a gasp, groaning and narrowing his eyes. "Hell, I want to take you right this moment, here and now."

His arms tightened around her waist to testify to his words and she clung to him like he was her very last breath. "But—" she panted. "We can't."

He gulped loudly and nodded, dropping his head into the crook of her neck. "Right," he agreed, but still didn't release her.

"We... shouldn't," she stammered, closing her eyes with frustration and dropping her head back at the tree.

"I need to be punished for not meeting you at the cabin, after all." And his hips rubbed against her with a small, meaningful thrust.

She moaned, and her mouth fell open. This was pure torture.

"God damn it," he cursed as she rubbed back against him in retort. It seemed like their bodies had a language of their own. "We should stop dry humping out in the open." But his voice lacked the determination.

The need was borderline animalistic, and that they were right next to a somewhat forest, was just the cherry on top. Turned out, that this forest was efficiently bringing out the animals inside them.

"Do you have a fantasy or something?" she asked as he disengaged his weight from upon her a bit, her legs slid back down to its dangling position under her. As he stared at her with hazy eyes filled with question, she elaborated, "I mean, do you have the fantasy to do it like Tarzan or Mogley? You've called me at this forest, after all, and I'm halfway up a tree and you're behaving like a kinky gorilla, it makes sense, you see."

Utter gutter.

What the hell was wrong with her brain?

She bit the inside of her cheek. It was all his fault that she often lost the filter of her mind and mouth while near him.

His face stayed blank for a whole, long second, and then he was shaking first before howling out a burst of laughter. He let her body slide down the length of his, still laughing.

She scowled, her legs wobbled on the ground, finding it difficult to gather balance and stand steadily.

"You say the most fascinating things, wife." He bent forward and rested his forehead on hers, the remnants of laughter stayed at the creases around his eyes and the stretch of his lips.

Oh, those lips.

She couldn't help but lick her bottom lip and his eyes narrowed lustily providing all attention to that otherwise innocent action of hers.

"You'll be the death of me one day," he muttered, and his face crumpled as if tormented. He covered his eyes with a palm, groaning and stepping back from her. And then he grabbed her hand in a quick flash, slipped his fingers between hers, and was dragging her down the road.

She chuckled, breathing heavily as he marched down the uneven road, making her half walk - half run after him. "Oye, big-footed monster, slow down a little, will you?"

The road was getting upward from a certain unknown point, she realized. She didn't understand why though.

He didn't even look back, nor did he slow down, instead he began jogging at a slow pace. "We don't have time."

For what? A concert in the woods?

There were now more bushes on both sides of the road, making it look like the forest had closed in on them. It was a little spooky.

"For what?" she spoke against the air slapping on her face as she had no choice but to run with him, too. "The trees are going nowhere."

And then, suddenly, the road ended and a clearing came to view.