“Welcome to Ambrosia’s,” the hostess greets me. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Dr. Brennan,” I answer.
She grabs a menu. “Your party is waiting for you. Follow me.”
Mom is indeed waiting for me. She wears a tailored suit. Too overdressed for a casual brunch with her daughter. Her hair is pulled back into a low bun. Still the same chestnut brown that it’s been since I can remember. From where I stand, she doesn’t look almost eighty.
I take a deep breath, walk the last steps toward her, and greet her, “Hello, Mother.”
She straightens her back, turns to look at me, and lifts her chin. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
“As expected.”
“You threw away your career for…where are you working? I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you quit so you could work at some bookstore. Frank mentioned you were behaving erratically before he had to end the relationship.”
I can’t contain the laughter. “He’s precious. There’s nothing erratic about breaking up with him because he was fucking my roommate.”
“Watch your language, Nathalie. If you ended the relationship for something so childish—”
“Stop, Mother. We’re completely different people. I respect that you don’t care if Dad sleeps around with other women. It’s your prerogative how you two work out your marriage. I choose monogamy, and you should respect that too.”
Her eyes open wide. “I don’t know what got into you, but I hope you have a good explanation. Where are you working?”
“I’m doing an internship with a pediatrician. Plus working at a general medicine practice.”
She frowns. “Why would you do that?”
“I like working with kids.”
“Are you planning on doing something with it afterward? You can still go to cardiology. There aren’t many doctors who specialize in pediatric cardiology. There’s neurology too.”
I’m not surprised that she’s already planning my future with this new information. I could research, publish papers. There’s still hope to get some Nobel prize or an award that will make her proud.
“I’m not sure what I’ll be doing after I finish this internship.”
“That’s unacceptable, Nathalie.”
The first thing I have to establish with her before continuing this conversation is that she can’t keep making decisions for me. Though I doubt she’ll listen, I try.
“You won’t agree with my plans, but I want you to understand that this isn’t about you, but me. I’m the one who gets to decide my future. From now on, I get to live my life.”
“You’re a Brennan,” she argues.
“Grampa Brennan was an extraordinary doctor. His patients remember him with love. That’s the kind of doctor I want to be. One who worries about the health and well-being of those who need me.”
She pulls a tissue from her sleeve and pats around her eyes. “Where did I go wrong?”
“Excuse me?”
“Look at you. You’re a disaster. I tried to marry you to a good man, and you couldn’t hold on to him. Your career is going nowhere. Who are you working for? I bet it’s a mediocre practice.”
“It was good enough to pay for Dad’s med school.”
“What does that mean?”
“I work in Luna Harbor.” I drop the bomb.
“Is that a joke? You can’t possibly think that you’ll be able to make a living in that town. This is all your father’s fault for taking you to visit your grandfather while you were growing up. I should’ve never agreed to it.”
“It’s okay if I don’t make much money,” I say. “I’ll live off ramen and canned beans if it means that I get to do what I love and what I believe in.”
She stands up. “I can’t speak to you. Call me when you come back to your senses.”
I watch her leave. A moment later, Fisher sits on the same bench and pushes me playfully with his hip. “Hey, Dr. Hottie. Do you come here often?”
“Not often enough. Are you part of the menu?”
“Look at you, flirting back. I’m so proud of you.” He kisses me, then looks at the empty spot where Mother sat only a minute or so ago. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure him.
“Well, just so you know, you’ll always have my full support. The practice will thrive, and you’ll eat ramen when I’m not home because we both know that you can’t cook shit.”
I put my arms around his neck. “I love you.”
He smiles. “I love you more, Dr. Hottie.” He pulls me to him and kisses me hard.
“Nathalie Elizabeth Brennan, what are you doing?”
I flinch and turn to look at Mom. Innocently I say, “Have you met my boyfriend? He’s a rock star.”
“You’re a disgrace. This…how can you possibly think that you can be with a man like him?”
“I’m lucky to have the love of a man like Fish. I don’t expect that you’ll understand. All I know is that I can trust him with my heart. I know that he won’t cheat on me with the nanny, his nurses, or my roommate. He’ll support me no matter what I do, and he’ll still love me, even if I screw up.”
She grabs her purse from the booth, where I guess she forgot it. “I’ll never forgive you for this, Nathalie.” With her chin up, she walks away.
“Oops, well, I guess she found out that we’re together.” I shrug.
Fisher brushes my hair away from my face. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “Let’s go home to Keaghan. I need some baby love.”
He presses his ear and says, “Come around. We’re ready to go.”
“Who are you talking to?”
He shakes his head. “One day, I’ll tell you.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Nathalie
After New York, Fisher and I officially move in together. I change my schedule to work with Aspen Fridays and Mondays. On Fridays, the three of us go to Seattle in the morning and stay over the weekend in his house. We fly back to Luna Harbor on Tuesday morning, before my first appointment arrives in the office.
Life in Seattle isn’t much different from our life in Luna Harbor. We’re always surrounded by his friends. I’ve learned to not only like their personalities but to love them too. Slowly, I’m becoming part of their family. Keaghan adores all his uncles and aunts. Though I miss my friends and we video conference often, I now have Myka, Brianna, Nydia, Siobhan, and Grace in my life.
Moving out of New York changed my life in ways I never thought possible. I stop using three different organizers to keep my life on track. I only use one for the medical practice because I have to know when I’m going to see my patients.
We have a whiteboard in the kitchen with our activities. We track Keaghan’s milestones with journals, scrapbooks, and lots of pictures that we don’t post online. Fish isn’t ready to let his fans know he’s a dad.
Our little demon is growing fast. By the time he’s four months old, he begins to sleep through the night. Fisher spends most of his time with him. He plans on being a stay-at-home dad until he’s at least a year old. The band agrees to continue their hiatus for another eight months.