“Well,” I say slowly, drawing out the word. “By the end of the summer, Cassie will be able to find me here at least once a week. And then it’ll beyourproblem that we don’t see you often enough, Baby!”
Jules gasps. “You’re moving home?”
I nod. “For a trial year. To see if we like it, and if there’s enough work for an OB to have a clinic day here once a week. I’m burned out.”
It’s a relief to say it out loud.
And then I burst into tears.
“Oh, Mini,” Jules whispers, shoving Cassie at me.
They wrap around me, and from a distance, Kerry asks if anyone wants tea.
“Mom is going to be so worried about your student loans,” Jules whispers.
“Shut up, Baby,” Cassie whispers back. “Mini will figure it out. She always does.”
“Still, maybe don’t tell Mom for a while.”
I wince. “That does sound like a classic Rory coping strategy, but no, I think it’ll be fine.”
Cassie nods. “Garrett won’t let them bully you.”
I take a deep breath. “Speaking of Garrett… We broke up in April.”
“What?” my sisters say in unison.
Jules wrinkles her nose. “Then why were there kissing noises coming from the back room last night?”
I make a choking sound.
She winks. “Just kidding, I didn’t hear anything, but now I know you guys were smooching. So what happened? When did you get back together?”
I glance at Cassie.
She shrugs. “It’s okay. No Bechdel Test today.”
“Like…maybe in August? And then maybe in September. Not in October or November, as much as I wanted to, but then last week. And last night kind of cemented us back together.”
“I’m confused.” Jules laughs. “But I don’t care! A second chance love story for Mini! Maybe there’s hope yet for Middle.”
“Bite your tongue.” Cassie glowers. “The last person I’m having any kind of love story with is my husband.”
Kerry brings us a tea tray, and we fill my sisters in on the business plan we’re going to propose to the OBs at the hospital. There are enough high-risk patients like Dani on the peninsula, who have to drive all the way into town for their clinic appointments, that I can take some of that pressure and see those patients a bit closer to home, and integrate their care more closely with Kerry and her partner Jenna. We can test it for a year, and then take stock on how it’s working for everyone. Low risk, fascinating data, and a break from the hospitalist life for me.
“To Rory’s next adventure,” Jules says.
“And to having one of my sisters back home with me for my return to single hood,” Cassie adds.
I clink their mugs. “Cheers. Now Jules, where are you going that you need to rush back to nannying?”
She screws up her face in an excited squeal. “We’re going to the Bahamas.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, get out of here,” I say, laughing and waving her off. “How much do you get paid to be nanny to the stars, again?”
“More than you.” She sticks out her tongue.
“Bitch,” I say warmly. But I’m proud of her. Nothing seems impossible for our fearless little sister.
