“Hey, remind me to get that key back from my mom,” Rory says, reading my mind.
I chuckle. “I was just thinking that. If we aren’t careful,she’s going to use that key to let herself in one day and hear something she won’t want to hear.”
Rory snickers. “Maybe that would be a good lesson for her to learn.”
I give her a stricken look.
“No,” she says solemnly. “Of course not.”
“It’s bad enough that she’s held the eggplant version of my dick.”
Rory giggles.
“Okay, let’s focus. What kind of gelato do you want?”
“Pistachio,” she says immediately. “You?”
“Chocolate.”
She smiles happily.
After we get our treats, we move away from the noise of the street, heading down the side street until we find a bench.
“Do you want to try some of the pistachio?” Rory scoops a little of her gelato on her spoon and holds it out for me.
“Yep.”
She tries my chocolate next, and then we sit quietly and finish our scoops. I finish faster than her, so I just watch her eat.
Around us, the city hums with a quiet vibrancy.
I’m going to miss this a bit. Not enough to think we’ll move back, but even with the ups and downs, Ottawa has been really good to us.
After six gruelling—and yes, sometimes miserable—months finishing her residency, it feels like a gift to have this final moment together in the city where we became adults. Where I joined the army and became a mechanic. Where Rory charged through her degrees and training with breathtaking ease—from the outside—and became a doctor, and a surgeon.
And then, over the last six months, she bloomed into an even brighter, stronger version of herself.
She scrapes the last bit of gelato out of her paper cup, then tips her head to the side. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Have I told you that I really love who you’ve become?”
Her face softens even further, impossibly tender, as she smiles up at me. “Yes. But you can tell me again.”
“I do. You are amazing.”
Her eyes crinkle with delight. “I love you, too. And I’m excited for what comes next for us, you know? We’re going to do that together.”
“Absolutely.” I slant my mouth against hers. “Forever together.”
Rory
Two days later, we mount up for a final road trip to Pine Harbour.
Garrett drives his truck, with our bed frame in the back, the last thing to leave our condo. I drive my brand-new SUV, a graduation present from Garrett. It’s a more rugged vehicle that’s perfect for stuffing full of boxes for this move, and will be equally perfect for winters on the peninsula. Way better than the hatchback I bought last year. He fixed that up and we sold it this spring.
We stop twice for coffee, but otherwise it’s just a hard press to get home.
When we arrive late in the afternoon, there’s a welcome party.
