“Alright, Annabel,” I said quietly. “You trusted me with Ava, and I swear, I won’t let you down.”
I wandered into the kitchen and threw some leftover Thai takeout into the oven to heat it up. Right on time, Marlene started barking in the front, and I heard the door open and the familiar sound of Rory’s heavy footsteps. He rounded the corner into the dining room, tossed his briefcase onto the dining table, and called his greeting into the kitchen. “Asher take off already?”
“Just missed him,” I replied. “Want me to put tea on?”
Rory made the pleased grumbly noise that I knew meant yes, then headed into the bathroom. I fixed us each a nice cup of lemon balm tea with honey and met him in the dining room with a kiss.
“How’s the move going?” Rory asked. “Anything I need to get to tonight?”
I shook my head quickly. “You just rest after your long day,” I assured him. “I’m on top of the schedule.”
He scrunched his brow, looking across the house and probably going through the checklist in his head. “The cleaners will come on Sunday, but I could get a head start this evening. I know you’ve been feeling anxious about the state of the house, considering Annabel kept her home as neat and clean as a museum, bless her. If Ava is going to come by after they get to town to check out the place, I can definitely—”
“Make sure you’re well rested?” I cut him off. “If you’re going to go in for another round of K-pop conversation with Ava, you’ll need all the energy you can muster.”
Rory chuckled, then settled into his chair, holding his steaming tea in front of him. “She’ll realize I don’t even know any mainstream American bands past 2002 one of these days.”
“She almost caught you looking at Wikipedia on your phone for reference,” I reminded him, chuckling along as I took my seat.
“All I do is listen and ask follow-up questions. She’s like a walking, talking K-pop encyclopedia of her own.”
I reached across to take his hands. His gaze was strong and clear, and intelligence flashed through his eyes. “Listen, honey,” I said softly, “I don’t mean to discourage you from helping with the move, but really! We’re back in Seattle now. We’re returning to our regular life. Granted, there are some big shifts, but you don’t have to put everything on hold and carry on for the family anymore. Settle back in at work and focus on being here for Ava. I can take care of the rest.”
Rory rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand, then squeezed. “I appreciate that…”
He trailed off, but I knew the other thoughts that were occupying him. Annabel and I might have lived in different cities, but she was my family, and Rory had held me through the year of losing her. He had come with me to Tucson, using his sabbatical from teaching to support our family as Annabel moved through her last year of life. It took a while before her cancer progressed enough to be labeled terminal, months when Rory and I took Ava to school, accompanied Annabel to doctor appointments, and helped maintain the house when she was knocked out by medical interventions. And although the diagnosis that things had progressed was devastating to all of us, I was so grateful that we had those months together before she passed, a time when we could make decisions as a family and plan for Ava’s future.
Sure, my grief still affected me. Sometimes, it lingered like a gray cloud, making everything seem distant and foreign, and at other times, it reared up and grabbed the scruff of my neck, shaking me into tears. But Rory had been strong and supportive, and he had given so much to hold me and to bring Ava more fully into our family.
It wasn’t a surprise, of course. I’d been a mess when I first met him, broken by my own family, and he had been the man who pulled me together. But now that we were home and welcoming Ava to Seattle, I wanted to be just as strong as my man.
“Speaking of getting back to normal,” he said, pulling me from my thoughts, “are you going in to Northstar tomorrow?”
“I’ll have to work from home with Asher,” I answered. “But I’ll swing by the shop in the morning, mainly just to grab some papers I’d like to review and take a look at the backstock.” I smiled to myself, thinking of the familiar comfort of the store, from the employees to the fresh new comics I had yet to read.
“Everyone will be glad to see you,” Rory said warmly.
I sipped my tea, my mustache dipping over the ceramic rim. I’d been able to keep an active hand in all the daily work, managing accounts and paying bills and that sort of thing from afar. “I’m sure there will be a few surprises waiting for me. I told the employees to have fun with the store while I was away, but I can’t imagine they kept up the displays like I did, for instance.”
I smiled to myself. Owning a comic book store catering to LGBT people was an honest dream come true, and seeing Northstar thrive gave me a sense of purpose and pride. Once I returned to work, I was confident I would pull myself out of the grief and turn back into the lovable goofball Rory had fallen for twenty years ago.
After all, I had another purpose in life now. I needed to be productive, happy, and confident for Ava’s sake and to show her that it’s possible for life to go on. It was a promise I had made to Annabel, and one I fully intended to keep.
“Enough about me,” I said with a wave of my hand. “How was your day back on campus? Are you ready for classes on Monday?”
Rory nodded, then stretched an arm above his head while we talked. The fabric of his shirt was pulled tight, and I saw the dark patch of hair in his armpit, tempting me from across the table. “Ready for classes,” he agreed, still stretching. “It’s just Intro to LGBT Film History and Intro to Culture Studies this semester, so nothing too taxing, thankfully.”
I looked my husband up and down, then rose to get the food out of the oven. “You hungry? I warmed up that Thai food.”
He nodded, and I scuttled into the kitchen to grab the plates. “You love LGBT Film History,” I hollered over my shoulder as I shifted the noodles and rice into bowls. “That’s your best class!”
When I turned back around, Rory was up and standing in the doorway. He smiled to me, but his eyes showed how tired he was. “It is,” he agreed. “Nothing quite like showing some college freshman that gay people existed before 2008.”
I laughed as I handed off the bowl. “The dark ages, when phones were rotary and you had to meet people in person to find a boyfriend.”
“Like picking up a nerdy guy with a cute beard at the Blockbuster,” Rory answered, pressing his forehead down against mine.
“Try to tell your students our love story,” I joked back. “But you’ll have to explain what video rental stores were in the first place.”
Rory dropped his bowl on the counter beside us, then tightened an arm around my waist. I groaned softly in response, and he took the dinner out of my hand, depositing it on the counter while he pushed against me with a kiss.
“Mmhmm,” I hummed my appreciation.
Rory pressed his lips against my ear, the curly hairs of his beard like sparks on my earlobe and the tender skin of my neck beneath. “You know, speaking of all the things we need to get done in this house, pretty soon, there’s going to be a teenager downstairs every evening.”