All too soon, it was time for Akemi to leave.
Anne offered to take her, just the two of them. She’d drop Akemi and then do a Costco run, since the warehouse-sized store was right near the airport.
“Remind me,” Anne said as they drove up the mountain, “where are you headed to this time?”
“Albania.”
“Why Albania?”
“WhynotAlbania?”
Anne gave her a puzzled glance.
“Sorry.” Akemi put a hand over her belly as the baby kicked and rolled. Lately he was active whenever she tried to sit still. “I’ve got some work there. Tirana first, then a bunch of tiny cities… big towns, whatever. Making content for the tourist board, some free hotel stays in exchange for videos, that sort of thing.”
“You don’t sound excited.”
Akemi sighed and looked out the window. The lush green vegetation of the Hilo side was slowly giving way to the lava fields that ran along the side of the mountain. Spindly trees and bright pink succulents broke up the miles of black rock.
“I’m not excited,” she admitted after a while. It felt strange to say out loud, because she wasalwaysexcited to explore somewhere new. “Albania’s gorgeous, and I was excited when I booked all this. But now I’m just… tired.”
“Do you have to go?”
“I have commitments, Anne. I’m not going to flake at the last minute. Anyway, I need to save up. If I want to be able to take a maternity leave when the baby’s born, that’s all on me.”
“You’ll come home, won’t you? To have your baby?”
“That’s the plan.”
“That’s good. It’s so important to have family around when you’re a new mom. Claire wasn’t my first rodeo, but being alone with a newborn all day every day was so hard.”
“Yeah.” Akemi realized (with some consternation) that she wanted her family aroundnow, even though there was no concrete reason for it. She simply felt a pull towards home and family with an intensity that she had never experienced before.
“I’ll still be here, I think,” Anne went on. “And Mom’s getting better all the time. She’ll really be her old self once you put a new grandbaby in her arms.”
The drive passed peacefully, with long stretches of comfortable silence broken up by meandering conversations. When they finally pulled up to the airport, Akemi had never felt less excited to board a plane.
Anne hopped out and pulled Akemi’s luggage out of the car: a rolling suitcase this time, instead of her usual backpack. She set it on the sidewalk and pulled Akemi into a long hug.
“Text us when you land, okay?”
“I will.” Akemi stepped away and grabbed the handle of her suitcase.
“Okay.” Anne wavered, looking like she wanted to stay until the last possible moment, but the car behind her honked. She flinched and then gave Akemi one last quick hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Akemi squeezed her big sister and stepped away, joining the security line where her fellow travelers stood sweating in the Kona heat. She put a hand on her belly, where her baby stretched and then relaxed back into sleep.
“Just you and me,” she said quietly.
She had never been less alone… and she’d never felt more lonely.
23
Anne
Morning came mellow and bright to Pualena as the sun crested the horizon and lit the pale blue sky. Anne was in the kitchen, as usual, making breakfast for her guests and watching the sky shift through its subtle sunrise colors.
All four rooms were full with an extended family on vacation. Unlike the busy guests who had passed through in the past few weeks, this crew seemed content to spend their days sitting around the house, catching up with family and eating tropical fruit.
