“Call him, please. I turned down the autograph he requested for his mother at my most flustered. She might be a real fan. So how long is the movie delay?”
“Three months, at least. Could be six…” Kara ran her hand through her hair and laughed. “Okay, so maybe the pixie cut was a bit of manifesting. I had wanted to go with him all along. One of the reasons why I chopped this all off. Shel said it'd be more practical in the field, I’d have to keep it covered mostly. And honestly? I love it. So much cooler in the heat.”
“Wow. Save some of that manifesting for the rest of us, Vanta.”
Kara laughed, and Tzipi bopped her with a throw pillow.
“You're sure about this?" Tzipi studied her sister's face. "You just got married. You could take a real honeymoon, not a humanitarian mission?—"
"This is our honeymoon." Kara smiled. "Shel and I, we're not beach people. We're 'make a difference' people. Tikkun Olam – repair the world. Besides—" She bumped shoulders with Tzipi. "I like knowing you'll be here. Taking care of things. Building your own life in New York."
"But seriously…what if it doesn't work out? With Jonah. And me?"
"Then you'll have me. And this apartment. And a nonprofit expansion that's already in the works." Kara smiled. "You're not alone in this, Tiz. You never were. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to be."
"You didn't?—"
"I did." Kara's expression turned serious. "I knew the whole Rosie Bloom thing was hard on you. How people always saw you as my replacement instead of your own person. And then when you quit acting, I was so focused on my own career, I didn't... I didn't make enough space for you in my life. I'm sorry for that."
"Kar—"
"Let me finish." Kara took a breath. "You are not my backup. You're not my stand-in. You're my sister, my twin, my best friend. And you are so much more than I ever gave you credit for. What you've built with That's a Wrap? The lives you've changed? That matters just as much as anything I've done on screen. More, probably."
Tzipi's eyes stung. "You really mean that?"
"Every word." Kara pulled her into another hug. "So yes, stay. Build your life here. Date your ridiculously tall comedian-accountant hybrid. Let me be the annoying sister who pops by unannounced and raids your fridge."
"Your fridge? I'm staying here, remember?"
"Semantics." Kara pulled back, grinning. "Although if things work out with Jonah, I'm guessing you won't be here much longer anyway."
"It's only been two days.” Hard to believe.
“Two pretty amazing days, from the sound of it."
Tzipi couldn't argue with that. “We basically binge-watched an entire relationship in a weekend.”
“And?” Kara raised a brow. “Are you hooked?”
“…Yeah. I really am.”
The second to last candle.
Jonah stood in Kara and Shel’s loft—because apparently, this was his life now, casually hanging out in a Tribeca penthouse—watching Tzipi and her sister hold the shamash together.
What a difference a year made.
It had been a year since he'd faceplanted on the Matzo Baller last Hanukkah and Kara Koff (the real one) had helped him. A year since he'd promised himself he'd make it up to her somehow.
He'd never imagined it would lead to this.
"Your turn," Kara said, handing him the lighter. "Honorary family member privileges."
"I'm honored." He took it, hyper-aware of Tzipi watching him with soft eyes. "But shouldn't Shel?—"
"Shel's on a call with Doctors Without Borders. Time zones are a nightmare." Kara gestured to the menorah—an antique silver one that looked like it had had many happy candles drip down it in years past. "Besides, you've earned it. You protected my sister. Figured out her Rob problem. Shielded her from my Hannon problem. And based on the way she's looking at you right now, made her happier than I've seen her in years."
"Kara," Tzipi hissed, cheeks flushing.
