Caroline rolled over and glanced at the clock, knowing before looking it was past 5:00 am. She knew this because the volume of the birds chirping outside told her so. She wondered if it was a rule of nature that they not sing before 5:00 am because they never seemed to do so. She was accustomed to opening her eyes about 4:00 am most school days. Some mornings she could will herself back to sleep only to reawaken with the rising level of the birdsong just after 5:00 am. She knew any attempt to fall back to sleep on this day would be fruitless so she didn't even try. Although it was a Friday, it wasn't a school day. Instead, it was the first day after Flora's last school day and that realization brought Caroline equal measures of satisfaction and trepidation as the sound of the birds reminded her that their nest would soon be empty.
She eased herself out of bed quietly so as not to disturb Nicola and slipped downstairs where she turned off the house alarm and went outside to retrieve the daily newspaper Nicola insisted they have delivered. Caroline preferred getting her news on her tablet since she disliked having to deal with recycling the newsprint, but on days like today, when there was an article she knew she'd want to keep, she had to admit she was glad Nicola had won that small battle.
She flipped on the kitchen light switch as she entered the room and pulled the pocket door closed so any noise she made wouldn't travel through the rest of the house. She was feeling wistful and wanted to extend her alone time as long as possible before the hustle and bustle of readying breakfast for their houseguests began.
She took the damp plastic wrapper off the paper that kept the morning dew on the grass from ruining it when it landed there; she didn't understand why the paperboy could never get it on the front steps or at least on the walkway. She tossed the paper on the island before turning to discard the wrapper in the bin. Then she surveyed her kitchen; there were dirty dishes and glasses from the night before scattered on the counter. She smiled to herself as she realized that, after all these years, she could finally sleep without worrying about the mess that awaited her in the morning. She rolled up the sleeves on her robe and started to set everything to rights before doing anything else. For a brief moment she wondered if she really was 'mellowing' as Lawrence and Flora loved to tease but knew that if she were she might have taken the time to start the coffee maker before tackling the mess.
When the counter was cleaned to her satisfaction, Caroline finally opened the paper while she waited for the coffee to finish brewing. She immediately turned to the local section in search of the article on last night's scholastic awards banquet. She couldn't help but smile at the picture of Flora holding the local female student of the year award staring back at her.
From the time she was a toddler, it was clear Flora was a very bright child. She all but taught herself to read when she was three. She started piano lessons at age five and Caroline believed that her learning to read music at such a young age helped her excel in math. She had Kate's ear for languages and was top in her form in both French and Spanish. She had a keen understanding of the sciences thanks to Caroline's tutoring her. They suspected she was a contender for the top award in any of those subjects, but her receiving the overall award was a bit of an unexpected surprise.
Reading about the banquet made Caroline reflect on how her life sometimes seemed to be a series of banquets. She recalled all the sports banquets for Lawrence and the academic ones for William. Celia was always so good about attending those events as was Alan after he joined the family. She missed having them there last night and knew they would have been as proud of Flora as they were of the boys.
Caroline's thoughts then moved to Hunter and his wife, Penelope, who had become surrogate grandparents to Flora and were kind enough to attend last night. She knew from experience how boring those functions could be and was so touched by their presence. She made a mental note to send them a thank you note for being a part of Flora's big night as her thoughts briefly flashed back to the first Unilever Banquet she attended, the one at Wimbledon the summer after Kate passed. Little did she know then how pivotal the events of that night would prove to her life and she smiled at the memory of arriving late to Hunter's retirement banquet and how he forgave them when he learned the reason.
Aside from last night's, her favorite banquet to date had been the Spelling Bee Banquet the year Flora was the grand champion. The accolades lauded on her were so well-deserved given how hard she studied for it. She placed in the top ten her first year in the competition, having stumbled on the word eudemonic, but was victorious the following year with the word elucubration. Caroline still didn't know how to spell either of those words and was hard pressed to give their proper definitions when asked as she sometimes confused the two words. She realized the night of that banquet that there wasn't anything Flora couldn't accomplish if she set her mind to it so she wasn't truly surprised when she was named the Female Student of the Year.
There was one last school scholarship banquet tonight, immediately before the graduation ceremony, and Caroline wondered briefly what banquets might follow in the years to come; perhaps some for her grandchildren. She so preferred the banquets where her kids were the stars to the boring rubber chicken dinners she and Nicola seemed to be constantly attending for work and local charities.
Caroline was about half-way through reading the coverage of the awards ceremony when Nicola entered the kitchen.
"Good morning. Thought I'd give you a hand with breakfast for the masses," she said as she reached for the coffee pot.
"Morning." Caroline merely responded without looking in her direction.
Realizing the pot was still full, she pulled two mugs from the cupboard, filled both and placed one in front of Caroline. She then rested against that counter and considered Caroline who not only didn't seem to register her presence in any measurable way but who also didn't seem to be focused on the newspaper in her hands.
"You look lost in thought," Nicola remarked after a few minutes of silence. She wondered what was preoccupying her and figured it was Kate as she heard her say her name in her sleep last night. "Thinking about Kate?"
"No. Thinking about you actually." She said as she closed the paper and looked up at her wife as a grateful smile emerged on her face. Suddenly, it became clear she knew something Nicola didn't. "Did you hear any of Flora's interview with Eric Gentry last night?"
"No, why?"
"Look at the second page of the local section," she said as she handed Nicola the newspaper.
Nicola took the stool next to Caroline's and flipped the paper open to Gentry's articles on the students honored at last night's banquet. Caroline pointed to the one featuring Flora and Nicola began to read it aloud.
Flora G. McKenzie-Dawson, this year's Valedictorian of The Westminster School, received the All-County Female Student of the Year Award which is bestowed upon the best all-round scholar from a public or private school. She is the daughter of Dr. Caroline McKenzie-Dawson and Nicola S. Moffatt. She will be matriculating into Cambridge where she intends to double major in Economics and Spanish. The selection committee noted she was the most accomplished of all this year's nominees, having received nominations for a record five subject areas. A winner of the National Spelling Bee at age 14 and a semi-finalist in this year's Regional Science Fair, many expected she would read English or Chemistry at university. When asked about her future plans, she said she hopes to obtain an MBA from Harvard and then work for the World Economic Council where she hopes to encourage multi-national companies to expand their operations into developing nations. When asked how she became interested in such a lofty goal, she said, 'My Mum, Nicola, has been taking me along on some of her business trips for years and as much as I've enjoyed seeing the world, I've enjoyed listening to her focus on the symbiosis of her company's interests and the economic health of the communities where their plants are located. I hope to do some of what she does for the more impoverished countries where there are untapped work forces to be found.'
Nicola swallowed hard as she set the newspaper down on the counter without finishing the article. Caroline silently got up off her stool, moved behind her and gently spun Nicola's stool around so she could look into her eyes. She tenderly wiped away the tears she saw starting to fall. Nicola, overcome with emotion, wrapped her arms tightly around Caroline as she pressed her face into the comfort of Caroline's body.
"I've sometimes doubted my influence on Flora, but I've never doubted yours my love," Caroline began, before pausing to kiss the top of her head. "I admit that I hoped she'd follow me into the sciences, but looks like she's got a higher calling. Your feeding her wanderlust on all those business trips clearly made her think of the whole world as hers to change and I couldn't be prouder of either of you."
"I've often…I've always…I've wished…" Nicola started but just couldn't find the words to express how moved she was to learn that she might have affected Flora's life as much as she did hers. When she finally found her voice again, she quietly said, "I'd like to think we've both done Kate proud."
"I dreamt about her last night," Caroline confessed.
"I suspected as much," came the soft reply. She suddenly didn't feel like pressing her for details so she merely said, "I hope it was a good one."
Before Caroline could respond, Nicola released her hold on her and reached up to grab her robe by the lapels and pulled her down into a slow, prolonged kiss that said more than any words could at that moment. When it ended, Nicola thumbed the tired fabric of Caroline's robe and smiled at the memory of giving it to her during her first visit to Conway. She smiled to herself as she noticed the belt was tied with just one loop. It was how Caroline always tied it and she suspected she might be the only person in the world who ever noticed that endearing quirk of hers. "I can't believe you still have this old robe. It's looking more than a little worse for the wear. Maybe once the nest is empty we should take a Spa vacation and get you a new one."
"I'm not ready for her to fly the coop," Caroline responded honestly. "It seems like just yesterday I was looking forward to Lawrence finishing his schooling and tried to talk Kate out of having a baby as I was more than ready for an empty nest. Now that's about the last thing I'm ready for. Thank God she didn't listen to me."
Nicola she stood to face Caroline eye to eye. "At least she's not going too far from home and I'll bet she'll be back whenever she needs her washing done and wants a home cooked meal." The memory of William doing just that made Caroline realize Nicola was right and they would keep their close connection with Flora, even if they didn't see her everyday.
"Perhaps we should revisit the idea of retiring," Caroline offered. She had already been thinking about the banquet she wanted to plan for Nicola to celebrate when the time came.
With the bad timing of an awkward court jester, Gillian picked that moment to walk into the kitchen. "Morning. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Nope. We were just enjoying a little peace before today's events get into full swing. We should be heading to the school around 4:00 pm so I thought a big breakfast around 10:00 am is in order. It feels so wonderful to have the house full again," Caroline said with a contented smile as she moved to pour Gillian a cup of coffee. "The milk and sugar are on the counter; it's a little stronger than usual I'm afraid because I needed something extra to get me going today."