More than a year had passed since they had returned home. Egan removed the large headphones from his head and hung them on the stand on his desk. He had just started a compilation of four tracks and, for at least a quarter of an hour, he could stretch his legs. The radio editorial office was crowded, not because there were many people, but because it was small and offered a service that covered only the central region of the state.
"Hey, Vellinar, you have a visitor," a colleague cheerfully slapped him on the shoulder. "She's a beautiful blonde, with a pair of eyes that seem to ask you to fu-"
"Watch what you say!" Egan abruptly got up from the swivel chair. "That's my future wife."
"What?! You don't deserve her, you're too ordinary, while she's extraordinary!" continued his colleague, stealing a licorice candy from the table.
Egan smiled, perhaps he wasn't entirely wrong, but his colleague knew nothing about him and Camelia.
The blonde was waiting for Egan with a tray of pastries on her right arm. She was looking straight at the stairs leading to the first floor of the building, where OtherWorlds—the radio station where Egan had recently found work—was located. Camelia stroked her long blonde ponytail and leaned her back against the wall. The tight jeans already made her feel warm, even though it wasn't summer yet.
As he descended the stairs, the man slipped on the light jacket over his shirt and smiled when he saw her. "I only have a few minutes," he kissed her briefly and then they left the building.
Camelia sat on a bench in the small square in front of the building. She offered him the tray. "You didn't have breakfast this morning, so I thought you'd like a snack."
"You thought well, love," another kiss on the blonde hair and he took one of the pastries.
"You know, it's not easy to adapt to this fast-paced era," Camelia looked up at the blue sky and sighed. "Much has remained the same as I remembered, but, at the same time, society is different."
"Little by little, you're already doing great," Egan crunched the second pastry. "Nerea?"
"At home. Now that she's also in this world, she'll have a lot to do, but, despite the initial difficulties, she'll do very well," she smiled at the thought of how their little friend had changed in such a short time.
Egan swallowed the third pastry. He had long since left the house he shared with his two roommates, with whom he still kept in touch. The only reason that had driven him to move to a new independent house was because he wanted to be alone with Camelia. Even though Nerea, without connections or financial means, had temporarily stayed with them as a guest. "I hope she can soon find a place of her own. So, we could expand the family."
The blonde stared at him; with two fingers she picked a crumb from his shirt. She had a gold band on her left ring finger. Those shivers that made her heart vibrate when she was next to him were perpetually alive. "Oh, really?" she smiled.
"Yes. Next year we'll get married and then we'll need more space for our children."
"And how many would you like?" Camelia blew the fourth pastry from his fingers and slipped it between her lips.
"As many as will come," Egan leaned forward and bit half of the pastry between Camelia's lips.
The crumbs scattered everywhere, and the blonde started laughing. Egan hugged her tightly.
Two sparrows cautiously approached while they were distracted. The sparrows became seven and, besides the crumbs, they also took away a couple of those small pastries directly from the tray.