Reunited

"Why didn't you press charges against your husband way back when?" he asked.

"Honestly? I was afraid. I was afraid he'd really hurt me, and even more afraid he'd find out who you were and drag you into it. So I endured until I couldn't take anymore."

Dean sat there and stared at her admiring not only her physical beauty but the strong, intelligent woman she was, and that only made him love her more.

"I need to find a home around here. Do you know any realtors?"

"I might," she told him in playful kind of way.

"Would you maybe like to go looking with me?"

The smile on his face told her why he was asking.

"I'd like that very much. Give me one sec, okay?"

Danika got her phone and scrolled through some contacts, then dialed a number.

"Barb? Hi. It's Danika. Good. How are you?"

Dean listened to them talk as she let her realtor friend know why she was calling.

She whispered to Dean, "Is tomorrow okay?"

"Sure. Anytime."

"I hate to bother you on a Sunday, but that's really the best time for us to look."

The phone wasn't on speaker, but Dean still heard 'Barb' ask, "Us? Are you and this 'friend' of yours looking for just him or...for both of you?"

Danika looked at Dean and knew the answer. She smiled happily then said to her friend and realtor, "Both of us."

The search only took a few hours. Both of them fell in love with the same house the moment they saw it and loved it even more after walking around for a few minutes.

"Wonderful!" Barb said when Danika told her they'd take it then asked, "are you selling your current house by any chance."

"I don't know," she replied to Barb while looking at her boyfriend.

"Yes. Yes, she is," Dean said, never taking his eyes off of the beautiful, older woman he so dearly loved.

"Tell you what. I'll give you two lovebirds some time alone here, then we can discuss the details."

As she walked by Danika, Barb said, "Does he have a brother by any chance?"

Both women laughed, and as Danika turned to face the handsome, younger man she thought she'd never see again, Dean moved closer to her.

He took her in her arms, and as he held her, Danika felt like things had never been so right in all her life. But her life got even better just moments later.

Dean pulled back a bit then got down on one knee.

Danika's hands began shaking first and then her entire body.

"Danika? Honey? I...I don't have a ring with me."

He smiled then said, "But I really can afford one."

She laughed nervously as he held her trembling hands and continued speaking.

"I know we just got back together, but I've never wanted any other woman, and now that you're back in my life, I don't want to lose you again. Ever."

Tears were already falling as her younger lover said the words she'd longed to hear for the last 15 years.

"Danika Marie Thomas? Will you marry me?"

Tears poured from her eyes as emotion overwhelmed her. Unable to speak, all she could do was nod--furiously.

"Yes?" the ecstatic airline captain said as he stood up.

"Yes!" his fiancé managed to say as they fell back into one another's arms.

*******

That evening, the 47-year old woman who'd never had a child, became pregnant for the first time in her life. Three weeks later she shared the news with her fiancé who was so happy she thought he might explode.

By the time their son was born, his mom and dad were husband and wife for several months. Noah Dean Norton was a happy, healthy baby that was a dream to look after, and raising him was the second most wonderful thing his mother had ever done.

His father continued flying until he reached the age of mandatory retirement, and his son also became a pilot after graduating from college. That came via a five-year stint in the US Air Force before his father helped him hire on with his company.

In all that time there had only been a handful of comments about the 15-year age difference between his mother and father, and most had come from friends in high school. By then he knew the story of how his parents met and without mentioning the "unsavory parts" he would tell them about the fateful flight that reunited them and that also brought him into the world.