Lizzie closed the hatbox and put it on top of the pile of boxes next to the door. It was the last of the things that she was taking with her.
They honeymoon had been fabulous and relaxing. It had given them a chance to unwind after the wedding and catch up after their busy school year ended. Two weeks afforded them enough time to do all the touristy things they wanted, as well as lay on the beach, or by the pool and just talk about what came next.
When they returned home each had a mountain of mail, regarding their future options, to sort through. Gordo had started to get responses from film schools and it had come to no surprise to Lizzie that he had been accepted to all the schools that had responded thus far. Lizzie was getting job offers and internship offers from all over the country. In addition to the contacts she had made at the fashion show, it turned out that her professor was sending out resumes and portfolios on Lizzie's behalf. The amount of mail and number of offers made was overwhelming. After each went more carefully through their mail they met and talked about options together. While it was important to both of them that each had the best possible opportunities in their field they were not willing to be separated, so a mutual city had to be agreed upon.
While it would have been ideal for them to have a few months to mull over all the cities they could choose from it was already late August and most of the graduate schools offering film as a topic of study were starting classes right after Labor Day, in early September. They decided that each would make a list of their top five picks from the options they had been given and if between their two lists they had a mutual city; that was where they were headed. If they had more than one match, or no matches they would reassess from there. As it turned out there was a match and it was the top choice on each of their lists. They were headed to New York City.
When the initial shock and excitement wore off Lizzie was just scared and already feeling lonesome for home. Sure she had lived away from home during her college years, but both Seattle and LA were close enough that driving or taking the bus home for the weekend was not out of the question. This time she was moving all the way to the other side of the county. She would be 3,000 miles from her home and her family. It probably didn't help that when she'd pictured she and Gordo married she always saw them settling down in Hillridge, near their families and friends. She didn't know anyone in New York and it was so big! This marriage thing was new enough as it was, did they really need to add moving across the county to it?
Jo and Roberta, while thrilled at their children's accomplishments, were not thrilled about the cross county move. They worried about how little they would get to see Gordo and Lizzie. They also worried that Gordo and Lizzie would love New York so much that they would never want to move back to California. Then if they had children while living in New York, how would those kids ever get to know their Grandparents if they never saw them? Jo and Roberta's reaction to the move had sent Lizzie's feelings about it even further over the edge than they already were.
They had barely made the decision and they already needed to be packing their things and deciding what they were taking with them. Sam made arrangements with someone who would scout apartments for Gordo and Lizzie and try to find them exactly what they were looking for at not too outrageous of a price. Wherever it was, it needed to be within a reasonable distance from both New York University and Lizzie's new design job at Bella Bridal of NY.
Gordo's decision to pick New York University as his number one choice was easy, it was accredited as one of the best film schools in the world, if not the best. Lizzie's decision to accept a design job with Bella Bridal was also easy. While Lizzie did not want to limit herself to bridal design she thought it would be a good place to start and get her name established in the business. Also, she had so much fun designing her own wedding dress that she was excited to help other brides have that same feeling about their own dress. Bella Bridal was interested in Lizzie to work on expanding her bridal line from the dress she designed for herself as well as work with VIP clientele who wanted a one of a kind dress designed for their wedding. Lizzie had already decided that her line of bridal gowns and accessories were going to be retailed under the name, 'Lizzie G." Despite her anxiety over moving across the country away from her family, she was very excited about starting her fashion career.
When Gordo walked into the McGuire kitchen late that afternoon Jo said, "Good, someone who might be able to console her a little. She has been up there all after noon packing and crying. I kept offering to help but she kept turning me down. Besides, I would probably just make her cry more."
"I'm on it Mrs. McG," Gordo said as he sprinted up the stairs.
"Oh, and Gordo?" Jo called after him, "Please call me Jo or Mom."
"I'll try," Gordo said with a smile.
Gordo found Lizzie quietly sitting on her bed. "So," he said, "I heard that you have been up here all day crying. Want to tell me what's the matter?"
At his question Lizzie started crying again. "I'm just nervous and feeling very rushed about moving across the country from our families."
"Would you rather stay here," He asked.
"No, of course not. I am excited about my new job and I'm excited for you to start school again. It's just so many new beginnings at once and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed," Lizzie said.
"What do you mean?" Gordo asked.
"Well I just recently graduated college, next week I start my new career, we are newly married and we have to deal with all these new things in a whole new state, without our families there to support us. I just feel like I have been thrust into this whole new level of responsibility in adulthood and I am feeling a little unprepared," Lizzie said.
"That's normal. I am having all the same anxieties. I just keep telling myself that once we get settled in and build ourselves a new routine in our new life in New York we will be fine and it will all feel a little bit more normal," Gordo said, "We'll have each other and I promise that I'll help you through this transition if you help me."
Lizzie nodded and said, "I will."
"Anything else bothering you?" Gordo asked.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to paralyzed with homesickness. Just packing up my old things today made me cry and I'm still here. I went through my Gordo box…"
"Your what?" Gordo asked cutting her off.
"I had a box in my closet labeled 'Gordo' and I kept all sorts of memorabilia from our relationship in there. Anyway, I went through there today to weed it out a little and to repack it and it made me so sad," Lizzie said.
"Why did it make you sad? I'm going with you remember?" Gordo asked.
"How can I explain this? I feel like not only are we leaving behind family, friends and places that we love, we're leaving behind our memories in the place where they all started and a lot of them took place. I just love it here so much and this is always where I imagined you and I continuing our life together once we got married. Does that sound dumb?" Lizzie asked.
"No, I get it," Gordo said, "But you have to remember that memories live in our hearts and in our minds and they will always be with us. Aren't you ready to move onto our new life and create some new memories?"
"It will still be hard for me, but yes. I'm ready," Lizzie said as she hugged him.
"Good. Now, you'll have to show me what was in this 'Gordo box,' I am very curious," he said as he led her downstairs to finish packing the rest of her boxes into the moving truck.
Author's Note: Well, this is the end. Congrats to Abuhin who guessed what the ending would be. I hope no one is too disappointed—but to be fair I did keep saying that it was not what people would think it would be. I guess overall I was just trying to write a story in a creative way that would allow me to look back over a L&G relationship. I am happy with how it all turned out in the end and hope that I didn't disappoint too badly. Please leave reviews! I am thinking that this might be a good story for me to do a sequel to about their life in New York—but I promised that first I would get back to work on Sweet 16 Autumn. Thanks for your patience! Best, Tinkerbell.