To escape from the loved ones. With the loved ones.

“Mom, you have no idea how much I love you,” whispered Pa, pressing her small hands against my neck, the night before falling asleep.
“I do,” I whisper back, “because now I’ll show you just how much I love you.”

And I scoop her into my arms, intending to hold her as tightly as I love her.
Patricija giggles, her whole face lit up with a wide smile, and we restrain ourselves only because we aren’t alone in the hotel.
“Maybe on the other side of the wall, little ones like our My are asleep,” she whispers, calming down.

Friday.
After an intense work week, a “getaway for a spa” plan born in my mind was soon set in motion.
With grandparents always ready to lend a hand, arrangements were made for My and E—the “juniors”—and the house buzzed with packing.
Dad and Do were rolling up fishing rods and preparing for a manly lakeside retreat.
I, with Pa, dug out our best swimsuits from drawers, pulling together pastel-matched sets ready for the assault.

Just 2 days.
But so many wonderful emotions shared between us!

We modeled bathrobe fashions.
Ate breakfast in bed.
Splashed in the pool.
Lazily rolled around the relaxation rooms.
Dined long and slow in the evening.
Had warm donuts for late-night snacks.
Sweated it out in the gym.

And, having forgotten to bring workout clothes, my big eyes widened as I realized: “So we won’t go then??”
Immediately, I rummaged through the clothes I’d brought and found suitable workout attire.

We went for massages.
Pa had her very first massage ever and came back with even more “twinkling” eyes:
“It was dark, but I wasn’t scared at all!”—she was now a grown-up, having passed the exam for a potential spa visitor.

I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time, when Pa, unpacking her tiny underwear for the massage, lifted her big blue eyes and asked:
“So which way is the front? The side that’s a little wider, or the side that has nothing?”

Eventually, our laughter level got so high that we had to remind ourselves again that we weren’t alone in the hotel, and there might be little sleepers like My on the other side of the wall.

The two of us slept in one big bed,
Where next to the white sheets and soft pillows there was also that cozy feeling
That we love our closest ones every day.
Without pause.
Without fatigue.
Without interruptions.

But caught up in the whirlwind of daily routines, thrown headfirst into the rhythm of days and the carnival of tasks…
we know that WE LOVE.
JUST.
We just forget to enjoy that huge, sprawling, and beautifully blooming love.

For a full two days,
my phone lit up with photos from my husband, showing his happiness holding the catch of the day.
In front of me twinkled the two happy eyes of Pa.

The evening tea toast—
To the possibilities of escape.
With our loved ones.
And to the longing
To return once again to our shared home.

Mua,
V.