Just before boarding her overnight plane home, Nicola checked her phone and found the Cellarette sent an email confirming her reservation for their usual table for dinner the next night. Without Caroline's knowledge, she changed her travel plans to arrive home on the morning of their anniversary so they could celebrate it together. When they spoke briefly the day before, Caroline reassured her that she understood their inability to be together on the day was outside Nicola's control; she said was going to just retire early with the book she was trying to finish and it was fine as long as Nicola made it up to her when she returned.
But it was the cryptic remark Caroline made about having a mind-blowing special surprise for her that made Nicola decide to change her plans and come home early. Something about the playfulness in her remark led Nicola to hope Caroline was finally softening on the idea of retirement even though Caroline didn't fully tip her hand. Nicola didn't want to ask her directly and risk a bad conversation in case she had the wrong end of the stick so she let it drop. Either way, she couldn't wait to get home.
Nicola wouldn't have been able to return early had her boss not agreed to her letting J&J know that Marcus was assuming the reigns on the latest joint venture. Her boss agreed that she could let J&J know that she was transitioning to retirement, thus giving her an opportunity to say an in-person goodbye to her counterparts at J&J. She felt as though she had come full circle with the people she worked with before she took her family medical leave to return to her ailing parents in England. She hadn't planned to take a job at Unilever at that time and always felt a bit guilty about not getting to say a proper goodbye to her work family.
When Nicola entered their front door just after 9 am, feeling more than a little sore and bedraggled from the long flight, she was instantly buoyed by the sight of Caroline, wrapped up in her bathrobe, perusing the newspaper, nibbling her toast with a steaming mug of coffee beside her. "Surprise! Happy Anniversary," Nicola began as she dropped her bag and embraced her thrilled wife.
"What…how…Happy Anniversary," came the grateful reply from a startled Caroline; she was overwhelmed to have her wife back in her arms and not at all disappointed to miss having the house to herself. "I can't believe you're here. How did you manage it?"
"Thanks to Marcus, the details for everything were humming along so well it made sense for me to bow out and leave it all to him to finish. Since it's going to be his baby, the powers that be had no issue with my heading back a little early. Actually, when I told them it was our anniversary they all but insisted."
"Hmmm. So how big a thanks do I owe to Marcus for getting you back today?"
"You can show him your appreciation another time, but for now how about you just show me yours," Nicola said with a wicked smile on her face as she reached over and playfully took a bite of Caroline's toast. "Breakfast first and then bed or bed first and then a proper breakfast," she offered, leaving her luggage and dirty laundry forgotten just inside the front door. Once they were curled up in their bed, they found other things to do rather than worry about laundry or even engage in the retirment conversation both were eager to have.
Caroline was not surprised, but thoroughly delighted, Nicola picked the Cellarette for their anniversary dinner. They stopped to chat with Polly, the owner who was permanently perched on a stool at the back corner of the bar; it was the perfect spot for her to see the entire front dining room but yet quiet enough for her to field all the calls for reservations. They guessed Polly had to be in her late 80's and the feared the day they would enter to not find her there as Polly, and the rest of her family that really ran the restaurant, always made them feel special, addressing them by name, asking about the kids and grandkids, as well as sharing parts of their lives in return.
By the time they settled into their starters, they were fully relaxed into the moment. Nicola thought about splashing out someplace a little finer, but decided the Cellarette was the prefect spot as Caroline, in one of her more contrite moods about turning down Nicola's first marriage proposal there, once promised she'd never say no to her about anything there ever again. She knew it was dirty pool but she planned to broach the retirement subject over dinner and was so desperate get her to retire that she was willing to play that as her last wild card.
"I can't tell you what it means to me that we spent today together," Caroline began. "What a lovely and unexpected surprise. The way you've constantly put me and Flora first makes me feel like I just don't do enough to show you what you mean to me."
"You absolutely do my love," Nicola responded demurely, not sure where Caroline was taking the conversation.
"No. Not enough, I'm afraid. Which is why I got you this," she responded as she reached into her bag and pulled out a manila envelope. The first thing Nicola noticed about it was the word Unilever stamped on it. Caroline sat back in her chair with a Cheshire cat grin and watched intently as Nicola slowly opened the metal clip and lifted the flap to access its contents; a wide smile erupted on her face as she read the first line on the top page.
Before she could speak, Caroline began again. "It's time. I called Angela to get a set for me as well as this one for you. All we need to do is fill in the dates for our last day, sign and return them. We can sort out all the pension and retirement savings details with the benefits department later."
Nicola swallowed hard to remove the emotional lump that had instantly taken up residence in her throat as she stared at her wife with a profound look of gratitude on her face.
"I feared you would say no again and I was prepared to give you a hard sell," Nicola admitted when she finally found her words. "I had a whole speech rehearsed and everything. I can't tell you how thrilled I am. What finally shifted?"
"Now I'm sorry I didn't get to hear that little speech," Caroline teased. "Honestly, Gillian calling me an idiot every five minutes while we were discussing the pros and cons of retiring finally wore me down, I guess. I didn't tell you but she's selling the farm and retiring too."
"Remind me to send her some flowers as a thank you," Nicola retorted, more than a little surprised that Gillian got further with her wife than she had been able to do over the last year. "And as for that little speech, I think I'll tuck it away for another time you refuse me something."
Caroline could see the teasing look in Nicola's soft blue eyes. She noticed a few more gray flecks in them as she aged but they were still the most beautiful she'd ever seen. She was on the brink of getting lost in them when she pulled her thoughts back to the present. "Seriously, it's time to see what new adventures await us as Flora goes off on her own. It was just me being my inept and silly self really. I'm ready to do this whenever you are."
"About that," Nicola said. "I was thinking that we could retire at the end of June, which is the end of the second fiscal quarter. That will give us about 60 days to transition everything. Then we'll also have enough time to get Flora organized for her move to Cambridge and we could go along to get her situated. It would be fun for me to properly introduce her to all my old haunts."
"That's what I was thinking, too." Caroline said in relief. She really wanted to see Flora settled so she could rest easier about her being so far from home. She also wanted to see where she'd be so she could picture it all in her mind.
"If you're game for it, I was thinking we could rent a place on Cape Cod for a month or so after her classes start. Flora could come see us if her schedule allows. I always loved the Cape and have wanted to show it to you for forever. We could spend our days ferrying to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and anywhere you'd like. You could shop in Hyannis Port and we could go to Wellfleet for oysters pulled fresh from the ocean. We could bike on the path at Falmouth. There's just so much to see and Provincetown, up at the tip, is a required day trip as I always loved the burgers at Burger Queen; I wonder if it's still there after all these years."
Caroline could see the excitement building in her wife as she described her thoughts and she felt herself getting excited about having the luxury of time to focus on Flora as much as starting their retirement tripping with Nicola in her favorite part of the States.
"That sounds lovely. You've really missed New England, haven't you? I've often wondered if you would have moved back after your dad died. I'm guessing that had it not been for Flora and me you would have. I'm sure J&J would have jumped at the chance to get you back."
Mid-bite, Nicola put down her fork, and leaned across the table to take Caroline's hands into her own. "I have spent all these years exactly where I was meant to be and I wouldn't have changed a minute of it." She squeezed Caroline's hands to emphasize her point. "The moment I saw you on that plane, all I wanted was you. I still can't believe you moved down south to be with me. I was prepared to even take a job as a janitor at Sulgrave to be near you if you wouldn't move to me."
"Ha. I'd have paid to see that considering you're crap at even tidying up for the cleaning lady." Caroline threw her head back as she laughed at her wife's unbelievable confession. Nicola released her hands as she joined in the laugh. Caroline resumed putting all the elements of her starter onto her fork to build a perfect bite. She was preparing to offer it to Nicola but her movement was impeded as her wife turned her attention to looking for her purse. She sat back in her seat and realized her back felt looser than it had in days thanks to Nicola helping her give it a good workout earlier. She smiled broadly at the memory of it all.
"Fair enough," Nicola capitulated as she remembered she too had an anniversary gift for her wife. She put her hand into her purse and pulled out a square robin's egg blue colored box tied with a white ribbon. "I brought you a little souvenir from New York. Happy Anniversary, my love."
Tucked inside were two identical eternity rings. Caroline knew Nicola had wanted a set for them since their 10th anniversary when they redid the bathroom instead. She was pretty sure Nicola was intending to get them a set and frankly would have been disappointed if she hadn't; she just didn't think they would come from Tiffany's and would have bigger diamonds than Caroline expected. "They're gorgeous. Perfect, just like you."
"I've always admired eternity rings on others because of the symbolism of them. It's well past time we had some, if for no other reason other than to remind you that you're not just my past and my present but my entire future, wherever that may take us. I don't want to go anywhere without you again."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she responded as she leaned over the table to give her wife a perfect kiss in which the tips of their noses touched and which left everyone who saw them, including Polly whose sight wasn't what it used to be, without a doubt about their commitment.
"So how do you feel about an RV trip from New England to Alaska," Nicola lobbed, fully expecting a flat out rejection. "I've always wanted to do that."
"Well, Gillian threatened to come live with us after she retires so maybe we need to discuss that as an escape route," Caroline responded in jest, causing her wife to flash her a knowing smile as she leaned in to enjoy that perfect bite from the end of Caroline's waiting fork.