Caroline woke without opening her eyes just before her alarm was due to sound off. She snuggled down a little further under the covers, pulling Kate's empty pillow in closer to draw in her lingering scent. Her left nostril was clogged and her right nostril was working double to accomplish her mission. She swallowed hard and felt the crackling in her left ear, which made her realize she was probably getting sick.

As she became more fully conscious, she recognized she was lying diagonally across the bed, which was something she only did when she slept alone. It was a habit she got into after John left and she was feeling sorry for herself. She was surprised that after only four nights of sleeping alone she had moved back to the middle of the mattress. Old habits died hard.

As if intentionally aimed at breaking her train of thought, her cell phone rang. With one eye barely open and dreading whom it might be, she smiled when she saw the picture of Kate and Flora on its screen. She quickly sat up and looked at it more fully through sleep-crusted eyes as she enthusiastically answered the call.

"Morning sunshine. What a nice way to start my day."

"Morning love. We miss you."

"Not as much as I miss you two. What are you doing up at this hour? It's got to be like," Caroline looked at her clock on the nightstand. She felt the fluid in her sinuses shift and she could suddenly breath more freely. "Two a.m. your time."

"Flora had a nightmare and I just got her back down so I thought I'd call so we could start your day together. Your voice sounds thick, are you alright?"

"Think I'm getting a cold. I'll visit Beverley's desk drawer pharmacy and shake it as fast as I can. Can't be sick, the weekend is coming up," she dead paned. In actuality, just hearing Kate's voice on the phone was making her feel better already. "You two have only been gone a few days and I'm already going crazy. Not sure how I'm going to make it 'til I see you tomorrow."

"I'll be at the airport to meet you when you get through customs. You're not going to check your bag, right?"

"Right. All but packed so I can just slip out to the airport right after work."

Aware of the roaming charges, their call ended pretty quickly with the promise of a happy reunion at JFK in about 24 hours time.

When Caroline finally propelled herself out of bed, she shuffled across the bedroom to look for her slippers. She threw her cell back on the bed and made her way into the en-suite to start preparing for what she knew was going to be a very long day all the while thinking back over the short conversation the month prior that set the wheels in motion for Flora's first trip on an airplane.


"We've got an anniversary coming up," Caroline declared as she entered the kitchen with an empty mug she moved to place in the sink. She'd been catching up on endless paperwork in her home office in an effort to get it out of the way before taking Kate and Flora to run errands.

"Yes, I did know that," Kate said dryly as she looked up from the kitchen counter where she was scribbling the shopping list for the wholesale club on a notepad. It was one of Caroline's expressions she had adopted over time. She smiled at Caroline, who was moving to release Flora from her high chair. "Where are you going with this?"

"I was thinking, while you're making the shopping list, maybe you could make a list of where you'd like to celebrate it." She intentionally didn't ask what she'd like to do to celebrate it, as Flora was now too attentive to their conversations for even the most nuanced of discussions.

"With all we've had on, maybe just a quiet night in is all either of us need." Kate always seemed to prefer an early night and a late morning when she could steal one with Caroline. She was becoming more of a homebody as the years progressed. Caroline suspected it was because she was feeling a little more exhausted from chasing Flora than she was willing to admit.

"We did that last year." Caroline was determined to make Kate splash out as she finally had a marriage she wanted to celebrate and wanted to make Kate understand how much her love meant to her.

Caroline noticed Flora's hands felt a bit sticky and wiped them off before lowering her to the floor. Flora toddled off to her toy box in the corner without a backward glance to either of her mums.

Caroline began, again. "Seriously. I thought we could get away for at least a couple of nights. We always said we would, but since Flora, we've never made the time, not even to visit William."

"We had that one overnight in Manchester that time you had that seminar," Kate said as she laid down her pen and considered her wife. Caroline had a sad look in her eyes, the one that always makes it hard for Kate to deny her anything.

"Precisely. It was just one night. You know, we could really do with a proper holiday over the next school break. Let's do something special to celebrate us for a change."

"Mum's been on us to come for a visit with Flora." Kate suggested. She knew Caroline really wanted just the two of them to go away but she wasn't ready to leave Flora for more than a night at a time and was hopeful she could convince Caroline she was old enough to fly.

To her surprise, Caroline was readily agreeable. "I think that's a smashing idea," she responded as she turned to watch Flora throwing every toy out of her toy box. She couldn't tell what she was looking for but she loved watching her in action. She looked like a miniature version of Kate and her expression matched that of Kate's when she too was on a mission.

"Really? We could go over break?" Kate started tapping her pen against the notepad with anticipation of emailing her mum the good news.

"Yep. Talk to Ginika and see what her schedule looks like. We could always have you go early or stay a little longer if you're comfortable flying at least one way without me."


Caroline was calling out last minute instructions to Lawrence as he was rushing out to Kate's car to drive himself to Sulgrave. Celia came around from her flat just in time to watch her in full flow. She knew Caroline was worried about him being on his own and getting into mischief, but Celia believed it was time to let Lawrence stand on his own two feet as he'd be off to university in a few months.

"You never let William drive himself to school. Guess it's true what they say about second kids having it easier," she teased in greeting as she waved goodbye to her youngest grandson.

"Did you want something or did you just come around to dazzle me with your wit?" She smiled at her mum in greeting, revealing she was not unhappy to see her.

"I wanted to see you before we go off to Halifax this aft. I wanted to say goodbye and wish you a safe trip." Celia followed her into the kitchen.

"Right. We'll see you when we get back then." Caroline dumped the remains of her coffee cup into the sink and gave the counter a cursory wipe. She was disappointed she wouldn't stay in Harrogate to keep an eye on Lawrence but she knew Lawrence also knew how to get around her so maybe it was really time to let him sink or swim on his own.

"Give Ginika our love and have fun. I'm glad to see you getting away at last."

"What's that suppose to mean?" She leaned back against the sink and crossed her arms as she glanced down at Celia who seemed to be shrinking a little more every year.

"Well, you have both been tethered to this place since Flora. It'll do you good to get away and relax. I never see you really just rest anymore. You and Kate always seem to be burning the candle at both ends." Her smile assured Caroline she was trying to be supportive rather than judgmental.

"Ah, but that gives the loveliest light," Caroline said with a smile. She expected her to be jealous that she was going to see Ginika, as Celia usually didn't share her attentions easily.

"Mind you, I think you should take a real vacation. Have you thought more about Patsy's invite?"

"We haven't discussed it seriously but I'm not sure Kate's up for it. I thought we'd see how Flora does on this trip before I try convincing her about taking a flight that long. It would be wonderful to see Patsy again."


It seemed as though Caroline had only just arrived in NYC when, six days later, she was opening the door to DB Bistro Moderne to begin their anniversary celebration. She was relieved to be over the low-grade cold that had been dogging her all week and feeling more like herself. It was going to be a night to remember and she planned to enjoy every second of it with her scrumptious wife.

When they booked their trip, they agreed to splash out on dinner and a Broadway show. Kate picked the restaurant and Caroline picked the musical. Unbeknownst to Kate, Caroline had scored tickets to Hamilton with Ginika's help. She knew Kate would be just as thrilled as she was to be "in the room where it happened."

It didn't take much for Kate to pick this particular restaurant because she wanted to eat there from the first time Ginika told her about its renowned gourmet hamburger. Burgers were Kate's guilty pleasure as they made her feel close to her father. He had a playful side to him and throughout her childhood he tried to make even the most routine chore feel more like an adventure to make it as much fun as possible. Instead of just saying that they were going out to eat every Sunday after church, he would tell her they were on a search for the penultimate cheeseburger.

In reality, he was preoccupying her so Ginika could spend that time visiting her mum in the care home. They felt Kate was too young to see the inside of a care home so Ginika always went on her own. Sadly, Kate saw far too much of one during her father's final years. After his diagnosis, but before he lost his memories of their church and cheeseburger Sundays as he called them, he asked her to continue the hunt for the world's best burger and think of him when she found it.

She liked nothing better than wrapping her hands around a huge, drippy burger and giving it a little squeeze to see how juicy it is just before taking the first bite. She could usually tell by the feel and smell if she was going to like it even before sinking her teeth into one. It was how her father taught her to "research" a burger.

When her entrée was placed in front of her, it didn't look anything like she expected. She was surprised it was served cut in half but then realized that was to showcase the braised short ribs and foie gras tucked inside the sirloin mince. To her delight, she could detect the faint aroma of the black truffles flecked in it. The tomato and lettuce gave it a little splash of color while the soft Parmesan bun helped absorb some of the juices that escaped when she gave it her signature squeeze. In reality, she needed to compress it to fit it into her mouth. By her third bite, she knew her search for the most perfect burger was all but at an end.

She was so happy she didn't even try to put up her usual fake protest when Caroline reached over and stole some of her pommes frites. Caroline, realizing Kate hadn't said a word since her meal arrived, looked at her with anticipation. "Well, is it all you expected?"

"It's divine. I can only imagine what my dad would have thought of it." She was afraid to put it down for fear it would fall apart and its magic would be lost.

"Can I have a taste," Caroline asked, curious about how all the flavors blended as she adored short ribs almost as much as she did foie gras. She put her fork and knife down and wiped her mouth on the crisp white linen napkin in anticipation.

"Yes, but only because it's our anniversary. Otherwise I'd have to say no way, get your own," she teased as she leaned across the to feed her a bite.

Sensing Kate was soft and receptive to just about any suggestion at that moment, Caroline decided to broach the subject of travelling to Patsy's wedding as soon as she swallowed her bite of burger perfection.