Four years later
The house is alivewith the sounds of everyone near and dear to my heart – my parents, Cooper’s Mum, Leo, Zara, Darshan and Damian (his boyfriend turned fiancé).It was exciting when Darshan video-called me from Germany, showed me his ring and told me that he was now an engaged man.
We are hosting a send-off party in the house that Cooper and I live in – a house that I moved into after Cooper delivered a heartfelt speech.He told me that he wants to make the most out of the many years we have left with each other because he regrets being absent from each other’s lives for so many years.He ended his speech with a question in Tamil,nambo ini ore veetla serndhu irukkalaama?Which nearly brought me to tears, I didn’t expect him to learn Tamil for me, but it wasn’t surprising that he did.
We house hunted for a few months, and we found the perfect dainty house, which we both were excited about and placed an offer for it immediately.We were grateful for our financial situation and the fact that we are able to afford to buy a house for ourselves.We got a house in Roehampton, which is between Kingston and Wimbledon, so that we can visit our parents and he can get to his gallery easily.We both bickered over the interior design we were going to decide on for the house, and in the end, mashed both of our tastes into a cohesive looking apartment – combining my love for space, chocolate, dark colours, with Cooper’s love for music, chess, paintings, and neutral colours.Apollo’s guitar now hangs on our wall.I signed up for guitar classes so that I can breathe life into his instrument.
I took a break for a while after my ISS mission.I am thankful to my superiors for giving me an opportunity to take a break because it helped me put down roots in London with the person I want to spend my entire life with.We went on hundreds of dates, and whenever I thought I was at the highest point of feelings for him, he would do something that would make me fall deeper in love with him.For example, Cooper surprised me one fine day with a basket containing a small orange kitten (he found her abandoned on the streets), saying that he wanted us to rescue and raise her.We named her Nova, and she is my biological child whom I definitely gave birth to.
Now, I watch Nova as she climbs on top of Leo’s head and sits on it casually while Zara makes fun of him.Leo always flirts with Zara while being unapologetically himself, and Zara always pretends not to like it when we all know that she is also interested in him.We hope Nova can be the cupid that pushes them together.
The party is for me because today, I leave for the pre-flight quarantine for my mission to the moon.I walk around the room, hugging everyone goodbye before I go out to the car waiting outside for me.It took a few years of training and hard work, but I can finally fulfil my lifelong desire to go to the moon.When I got selected for the mission, as much as I was excited, I was also terrified about the idea of travelling further into space than I had ever done before, but Cooper calmed me down, as always, with his words.You can go however far into space, and I will be the gravity that keeps you tethered to Earth.
I finally stand in front of Cooper to hug him, and we both melt into each other’s embrace.He holds me tight – as if he is afraid to disturb the equilibrium of the universe if he moves the slightest.I try not to cry.I need to keep reminding myself that after the two-weeks of pre-flight quarantine, it’s only an eight-day mission, and I’ll be back in his arms even before I start to miss him.I grab Nova, who has now receded to Leo’s shoulder, and I hold her in my arms.I give a big kiss on her forehead, and she licks my nose in return and purrs like an engine.
Cooper and I decided that he wouldn’t send me off at the car or the airport because it hurts more, and that we would say our goodbyes at our house.My heart warms at the sight of Mum standing next to Cooper, slowly rubbing his back and providing comfort.She knows how difficult it is for him to watch me leave.She warmed up to him again over these few years, because she understood how much Cooper means to me and how much he loves and takes care of me.I blow a kiss to everyone in the room and go out the door with my carry-on while the chatter continues in the house.
I get in the car, and it moves out of the driveway.I travel for about ten minutes, and my phone rings.Cooper is video calling me.I shake my head and swipe to accept the call; I’m smiling already.Cooper’s video fills my screen with Nova in his hand.‘Hi, my darlings, don’t you think it’s a bit too early to check in?Considering that it’s been just ten minutes since the car left our driveway?’
‘Nova missed you and wanted to say hi.’Cooper hides his face behind the kitten.
‘Mmm.Are you sure Nova is the only one who misses me?’My voice is laced with both playfulness and sadness of being separated from Cooper again.But I stay strong for both of us.
‘Maybe Cooper misses Luna, too.’
‘I’ll be back in the blink of an eye, darling.’I reassure him, even though my tears are seconds away from flowing down my cheeks.
‘I know.’Cooper smiles knowingly.‘But if not, I can always say hi to you from the telescope on our balcony.’
That gets a chuckle out of me.‘There’s that, of course.’
After a beat, Cooper speaks.‘Say hi to Apollo for me,’ he sounds prideful.
‘I will,’ I respond as I press my pocket, which has a photo of Apollo and I in the backyard that my parents had secretly taken one night in our childhood.
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