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It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter - Marlene Dietrich
The front door creaking open, echoes through the otherwise silent house.
“I’m in here,” Tessa calls from the bathroom, where she’s sitting on the floor, her back against the tub.
“I got here as fast as I could,” Mel starts explaining before Tessa can even see her. “PJ was already at work, but she’s right behind me.”
It’s four twenty, which means Mel seriously broke some speed limits on what should have been a thirty minute drive. She’s still wearing her pajamas and her hair is a disaster. She must have gone directly from her bed to her car.
“How are you?” Mel asks as she sits down beside her.
“Numb.” It’s the only word she can think of, she was frantic when she woke up to the sheets covered in blood and called Mel and PJ but she’s gone numb since.
“Do we need to go to the hospital?” Mel asks carefully.
“The doctor said there’s nothing they can do, and to come in for a check up in a week.” Her voice cracks and she realizes she’s crying. She understands that she’s crying but she’s not sure she’s actually feeling it right now.
“Oh, honey.” Mel moves closer and Tessa puts her head on her shoulder.
“I just, I wanted it so badly.” She hadn’t at first. It wasn’t part of the plan and she lived by her plans, but as soon as she accepted the inevitable, she wanted it more than anything. They both had. “Oh god, what am I going to tell Scott?”
He’s away at a competition coaching for the first time. She can’t ruin this for him. Is it even something you tell someone over the phone. They’d been so sure when they made it to fourteen weeks that everything would be fine. She’d assured him not to worry about leaving her alone for a few days. That nothing would happen…
Now she can feel the tears, the idea of how he’s going to take the loss even more painful than anything she’s feeling.
“I’m here!” PJ’s voice rings through the house, cutting off Mel’s answer.
The house. The big four bedroom house that Scott insisted they go buy the weekend after they found out. The house that they were planning to fill with children. He said they should have six, she felt two was more than adequate. In a fit of madness she’d agreed to three with the option for four. Now it was just going to be a big empty house for two people who were almost never home.
“You’ll tell him the truth, and we’ll be here for you when you do,” Mel says over the sound of PJ’s heavy steps up the stairs and Tessa’s sniffles. Tessa squeezes her hand.
“I stopped to get supplies,” PJ explains out of breath as she runs into the bathroom.
“Shouldn’t you be on air?” Tessa asks and tries to wipe away the tears.
“You’re more important than any morning radio show. Nick’s got this,” PJ explains as she sits on Tessa’s other side, a plastic bag in her hands.
“What did you bring?” Mel and PJ stare at her. “I really need to stop talking about this for a few minutes.”
“Oh, then you have come to the right person. I excel at not talking about things.” PJ cracks her knuckles, like she’s about to get down to business. Tessa laughs and then instantly feels guilty for laughing. Mel seems to sense as much, squeezes her hand all the harder. “I bought a lot of candy, some of it is chocolate and a bottle of wine. You know people look at you funny when you buy a bottle of wine at four o’clock in the morning…”
“As they should,” Mel replies, and Tessa laughs again even as her heart aches.
“Some flowers, a People magazine, because I thought you might want to catch up on celebrity gossip, and oh…” PJ’s face goes red. “We don’t have to talk about that last thing.”
“It’s ok.” Nothing is really ok. She suspects it won’t be for a while, but she can’t hide from it, especially from these two women who mean so much to her.
“And some pads and tampons because I wasn't sure what you need and I thought you might not have any… and I’m sorry. That was a stupid…”
“No, that’s… Thank you. I didn’t.” She’s been sitting on a towel for the last half hour, not sure what to do. “It was the perfect thing to bring.”
PJ beams at her as Mel strokes her hair.
“Why don’t you get into the shower, while PJ and I make you something to eat?” Mel says, and the two women help her to her feet. Her body is in so much pain, but it’s nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
“I know that it doesn’t feel like it, but it’s going to be ok one day. Never good, but ok,” Mel says and hugs her tight.
“We’ll be here to make sure.” PJ throws her arms around both of them and they stay like that for a little while
A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden - Unknown
She’d been looking forward to going out for dinner for weeks. Between her work schedule and Scott’s, they’d barely seen each other and, truthfully, she’d been hiding a little.
“Are we celebrating something?” she asks as they arrive at the table. It’s a fancier restaurant than they normally frequent and she’s confused as to why he picked it. “And why are there six chairs?”
“Because Mel and Justin and PJ and Nick are joining us,” he says as he pulls out her chair.
“I’m leaving.”
He puts his hand on her shoulder and stops her. “No you’re not. This has gone on long enough.”
She gives him a look, but she sits down at the table because he doesn’t often tell her what to do and when he does, he’s usually right. Doesn’t mean she’s not going to pout about it.
The other four dining companions all arrive at the same time, which annoys her because it means that they probably drove in together and she was left out, again.
The men all greet each other warmly. Mel sits down, looks at Tessa, opens her mouth to speak, but doesn’t end up saying anything. PJ won’t make eye contact with anyone, staring at her hands in her lap until Nick sits beside her and puts one of his big hands on her back. Her eyes flutter up to Tessa, and then immediately back down again as soon as she sees the expression on her face. Good, Tessa wants her to know how angry she is.
“You’ve been away a lot,” Justin says to Scott after the waitress takes drink orders from the otherwise silent table.
“Competition season is kicking my ass, but luckily it’s all over so I can concentrate on Tessa and the…”
“I’m so sorry I told people!” The words explode out of PJ, startling the whole table.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Tessa answers and considers punching Scott in the nuts because he’s the asshole who tricked her into coming.
“Oh, you’re going to talk about it,” Scott says and she knows he’s serious because he has that look in his eyes that she’s only seen a few times. That look that says he’s done listening to her and she’s going to start listening to him. “I’m tired of you moping around the house, whining about how you don’t have any friends.”
“What you did was unforgivable,” she says to PJ, who immediately starts crying. Slow tears running down her face as she grips Nick’s hand for support. She’s momentarily taken aback by the tears, she’s only seen PJ cry once before and that was seven years ago.
“It was an accident,” PJ whispers back.
Tessa knows that she’s being an unreasonable bitch. She knows that PJ had no idea she’d slipped when she told everyone who listened to her radio show about Tessa’s pregnancy. That it’s not her fault that the media picked up the story and word got out before Tessa had even had a chance to tell her family. But no matter how accidental the whole thing was, she can’t help how angry she is. “It was my news to tell. Not yours.”
“Tessa, she really is sorry,” Mel says and Tessa’s blood boils.
“She wouldn’t even have known if you hadn’t told her,” she spits back. Mel’s betrayal feels more personal, and in some ways even harder to forgive.
“She’s my best friend,” Mel answers and Tessa can tell from the way that Mel’s face falls that she knows she fucked up.
“And I’m not?” Her answer comes out so strangled, that all the men instantly drop their eyes to their place settings and silence falls on the table. Fucking cowards. “I didn’t even want to tell you, but you were so worried about how sick I was.”
“I know, I know. I was just so happy for you…”
“And it was too early!” She’s yelling and people are looking and she doesn’t give a shit. “It was too early and you were there last time and you knew what it was like for me…” She chokes back a sob as Scott puts his hand on hers. She doesn’t know if he means to comfort her or tell her to calm down, but she shakes him off. “We tried for so long and I was so scared and you just… both of you…”
She can’t even make the words come out of her mouth anymore.
Even now that it’s supposedly safe, she’s terrified everyday that something is going to happen and she can’t even tell them that because she can’t trust them.
“Is there anything we can do to fix this?” Mel is crying too.
Tessa just shakes her head. She doesn’t trust herself to speak.
“T? Let’s take a walk,” Scott says and helps her to her feet. Her belly is already starting to get big enough that it gets in the way and throws her off centre a little. She rests her hands on it as he leads her to the front of the restaurant and to the sidewalk out front. The cool night air is refreshing and the rest of the world falls away. He’s always been able to make her feel like they’re the only two people in the world.
“I love you and if you want to walk away from PJ and Mel and never speak to them, then I will support you in that, and never question that decision. But is that really what you? Do you really want to go through all the milestones that are coming our way without them by their side?”
She tries to imagine her life without them. The birth of her child, not getting to watch Mel’s children grow up alongside hers. Never hearing PJ’s laugh again or feeling Mel’s too tight hug. The idea shakes her to the core.
“I don’t want that, but I don’t know how to get past what happened.” She loves them so much, and she knows that’s why it hurts so damn bad.
“You’re not going to get over it by ignoring them. The only thing that’s going to make it better is time.” Scott squeezes her hand and then gives her a quick peck on the lips. She wants to linger but she knows she has to go back to reality.
Mel and PJ are look at her expectantly, when she returns to the table
“I’d like to try and figure out how to get past this.”
Mel gasps in happiness and PJ nods so enthusiastically that Tessa gets a little worried she’s going to hurt herself.
They drop into silence again, because no one quite knows what to say. Finally, Justin makes an attempt at starting a conversation just as the waitress arrives to take their orders. The tension isn’t nearly as bad, but almost immediately the silence is back.
Tessa has never wanted a drink as badly as she does as they all sit around not talking. Even Scott looks like he’s struggling to think of something to say, and Scott never has trouble thinking of something to say.
“I farted so loudly when we were on air this week that the listeners could hear!” PJ says loud enough that half the restaurant hears.
Everyone just stops and stares at her.
PJ turns pink.
By the time she reaches red, a giggle escapes from Tessa.
When she deepens to the colour of a lobster, Tessa is in hysterics, which makes PJ laugh. Once PJ starts laughing, Mel follows and soon the whole table is laughing.
“Oh, my god,” Tessa groans and keeps laughing, now that she’s started she can’t stop. “I think I’m going to pee my pants.”
“Welcome to motherhood,” Mel answers, wiping her eyes. “It only gets worse.”
“You make it sound super glamorous.” The look of absolute distaste on PJ’s face makes her laugh all over again.
“What did you do when the fart happened?” Scott asks, when they finally stop laughing.
“I blamed it on Nick, obviously.”
“I took the blame because I love her,” Nick answers. She loves how much Nick loves her friend.
“And because I promised you a blow job if you did,” PJ says.
“Mostly because of the blow job,” Nick agrees.
Tessa looks away from the group and into Scott’s eyes and smiles. She is so glad that she has her friends again, but what makes her most happy, is that she married her best friend of all.
Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world - John Evelyn
She was warned. They all told her that motherhood was hard, especially life with a newborn, but she hadn’t listened. She pictured beautiful moments of bonding with her baby as sunlight streamed through the window and backlit her hair as it hung effortlessly around her shoulders.
But the truth is, her baby doesn’t sleep, so neither does she. Her nipples are cracked and bleeding and she hasn’t had a shower in days. Worse, she’s not sure she even cares if she smells anymore.
She hadn’t wanted to admit that she wasn’t as amazing at motherhood as everything else she’s done in her life. So when Scott needed to go away for three days for a competition, she’d insisted that he go, that she would be fine. And because she’s the biggest fucking moron in the world, she’d also turned down the many offers of help she’d been given.
She and the baby have been crying for twenty minutes straight when the door opens and Mel walks in carrying two grocery bags. Tessa just blinks at her because she thinks she might be some kind of mirage.
“I’m fine,” she sobs when the hallucination doesn’t disappear.
“Clearly,” Mel answers and takes the screaming baby out of Tessa’s arms. “So here’s what we’re going to do, I’m going to take this baby for a walk and you’re going to go upstairs and go to sleep.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Oh, honey. This isn’t a debate, it’s an order.” The baby continues to wail as Mel starts pushing her towards the bedroom. “I’m going to take this little nugget for a walk so he doesn’t disturb you while you have a very long rest. When you wake up, you’re going to have a shower, because you are rank.”
She debates arguing with her. Shouldn’t she be able to do this on her own? But the idea of some uninterrupted, unworried sleep is too tempting.
“I love you, Mel.”
“No thank you on the hug,” Mel says to Tessa’s outstretched arms. “You’re actually gross.”
Tessa nods and cries all the way to her room, where her perfect, non judgemental bed waits for her.
She sleeps for four blissful hours, harder and deeper than she ever has in her life, only waking up because her boobs feel like they’re about to explode. She takes a quick shower, washing her hair has never felt so good, before heading downstairs.
Mel is singing to the baby who’s just starting to get fussy, while PJ works on cleaning the kitchen.
“Oh, hey Tessa,” PJ says, when she notices her presence. “You don’t look like the dead. I feel lied to.”
“I think that was a fair description a few hours ago.” She takes the baby from Mel and he immediately starts rooting around on her chest.
“I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen and Mel put the laundry on while I got some baby snuggles. I’ll change your sheets now that you’re awake,” PJ explains.
“Oh, and dinner’s in the oven and there are enough premade meals in the fridge to keep you going until Scott gets home,” Mel adds and sits down on the couch across from the chair Tessa likes for breastfeeding.
She looks at her two friends and burst into tears. “Shouldn’t I be able to do this on my own?”
And they both start laughing at her.
“What would make you think that?” Mel asks through giggles.
“Because you did it by yourself.” PJ snorts at her answer.
“No I didn’t. My mother practically moved in with us and when she wasn’t there PJ was.”
“You just didn’t notice because you were busy Olympicing.”
The baby looks up at her, blinks and then latches on again.
“I’m so glad I have you guys,” Tessa says and she thinks she’s never meant it more.
Friendship is when people know all about you but like you anyway - Unknown
“Why do I have to come to this stupid thing again?” PJ asks, as she wobbles in her too tall heels.
“Because if I have to go, you have to go,” Tessa laughs. She hasn’t had a girls night out in so long. But now that the baby is finally weaned she can live it up a little.
“She’s your sister. You’re legally obligated to go to her bachelorette party. I have no such obligation as weird friend of the sister of the bride.”
“First of all, no one thinks you’re weird, and even if they do weird is the best.” It’s Tessa’s turn to wobble in her heels. She can’t remember the last time she got dressed up and put on heels. She blames the wobbling on lack of practice, and possibly the pregaming she did before PJ picked her up. “Plus I’m going to need you to take care of me while I get sloppy drunk.”
“I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but I don’t find taking care of your drunk ass fun.”
“You love me.” She gives PJ a smacking kiss on the cheek, just as Mel pulls up in a cab.
“We need to get wild tonight because Justin and I have decided to get started on making baby number three,” Mel announces and then woo hoos. Tessa joins in and PJ groans just as several guys turn to stare and then wink at them. “Do you think there’s going to be a stripper at this thing?”
“Knowing Jordan, I’d say several, both male and female.” Tessa’s still not sure she’s fully processed the fact that her sister is getting married and to what seems like a normal, stable person. Of course she thought the same about herself and she’s super married with a kid and a sort of normal husband.
“Can I just go home now?” PJ asks, as they make their way to the door of the club. The music is pounding inside and this might be their last opportunity to have an actual conversation.
“No way, superstar,” Mel says, linking arms with the other two women. “We’re in this together.”
Turns out that there are indeed strippers at Jordan’s bachelorette party because it’s at an actual strip club. The horror on PJ’s face lessens once it becomes clear that there are only female strippers but returns when Jordan stands on a chair and screams, “OVER HERE, BITCHES!”
“Jord, please don’t call us bitches,” Tessa says, as a shot is put in her hand. She downs it in one go, knows she’s going to regret it tomorrow and doesn’t give a shit.
“I’ll call you anything I want. IT’S MY BACHELORETTE, BITCHES!” Jordan yells to the women around her and they all cheer.
“I’m so glad you picked women,” PJ yells over the noise, clearly fascinated by the women on stage.
“Me too,” Jordan yells back and plants a kiss on her fiance Tanya’s cheek. Tanya looks like she thinks she’s the luckiest woman in the world, and Tessa’s so happy Jordan finally found someone who adores her.
“T,” Mel says, once they’re seated a little bit from where Jordan is getting a lap dance from a very busty blond. “I’m not going to lie, I’m two drinks in, my feet hurt and I’m already exhausted. This being a mom thing is bullshit.”
She nods in agreement. It’s been a long road to get to being a mom and she’s so, so grateful to finally have a child. She wouldn’t change a thing but she’s also exhausted and misses her freedom.
And spontaneous sex. Of all the things she misses, she misses spontaneous sex the most.
“So we have to have fun tonight,” Mel finishes her thought. They clink glasses and down them in one go. “I’m going to regret that.”
Tessa agrees, but she’s feeling floaty enough that she doesn’t care.
They’re laughing hysterically at Mel’s description of little Jack walking in on her and Justin having sex, Justin told him that they were just naked wrestling and now Mel’s worried he’s going to try and recreate what he saw in front of her parents when they come over, when PJ wanders over to them.
“I was just talking to Joannie, she goes by White Lightening,” PJ explains.
“What were you talking about?” Tessa’s not even a little surprised to hear PJ was talking to one of the strippers. PJ can and will talk to anyone and often ends up friends with them.
“She’s doing her masters in language systems and we were talking about how she was balancing the studying and work. She studies in the back between sets. Also, she has a solid action plan for defunding the police. Can we go home now?”
“Superstar,” Mel says and pulls PJ into her lap. “Why are you in such a bad mood?”
“Am I a failure if I don’t want to get married and have kids? Joannie says no, but she has a small ritalin problem, so I thought I should check with you.”
“No!” Mel says at the same time that Tessa asks, “How do you know she has a ritalin addiction?”
“She asked me if I wanted some. She says it helps her study, I declined.”
“Ok, we’ll talk about that later,” Mel says.
“Why would you think that would make you a failure?” Tessa asks.
“Nick and I had a fight about getting married and having kids.” PJ shrugs but Tessa knows that the fact that she’s telling them means it's a big deal.
Their conversation is temporarily derailed when Jordan gets up on stage and then works the pole for a bit.
“Jordan is very bendy,” Mel says, leading the round of applause.
“Tanya is a very lucky woman,” Tessa agrees. “Why didn’t you tell us about the fight when we got here?”
“Because I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s night and I thought you might be on his side.”
“We would never!” Mel shouts at the same time Tessa asks, “Why would you think that?”
“Because you’re both wives and moms, so you must think that’s the way to go.” Another shrug. “Can I stop sitting in your lap now, it’s not that comfortable.”
There’s a bit of shuffling as they locate a third chair and Jeannie comes by to offer PJ a lap dance on the house, which she declines but offers to hear her feminist take on lap dances when she’s done talking to her friends.
“Ok first of all,” Tessa starts as soon as Joanie is out of earshot. “We will always be on your side because you are our best friend.”
“Well, except that time you decided Nick should grow a moustache. That was a bad idea,” Mel adds.
“I was going through a Tom Selleck thing…”
“PJ, no one has gone through a Tom Sellek thing since 1984.” Tessa just rolls her eyes and silences PJ with a look when she tries to bring up Blue Bloods, again. “And just because that’s what we picked doesn’t mean that’s what we think you should do.”
“Don’t have kids, it’s a trap,” Mel says and then immediately clamps her hands over her mouth. “I don’t mean that. I sort of do because I love them but I also miss my freedom. I’m sorry, this isn’t about me.”
“It can also be about you,” PJ offers.
“I love you,” Mel answers and starts to tear up, which makes Tessa wonder how much pregaming she did before she arrived.
“But, if you don’t want to be a wife and mother then, you shouldn’t be.”
“I agree but the problem is, Nick kind of wants those things,” PJ explains and Tessa is momentarily distracted by Jordan doing body shots off of one of the strippers. “And maybe that means I shouldn’t be with Nick.”
“What does Nick say?” Mel asks and takes another shot. Tessa’s not entirely sure where the shot came from but she appears to have one too.
“He says I’m being an idiot. Hence the fight.”
Tessa takes her friend’s hand and says, “Look, PJ. No matter what happens, we are your best friends, we love you and we will always be here for you.”
“What Tessa said.” Mel’s enthusiasm almost makes her fall out of her chair.
“But you also need to go home and really listen to what Nick is saying to you.”
“What Tessa said.” This time Mel does fall out of her chair.
“And that is the last semi sober thing I’m going to say tonight,” Tessa declares and lets Jordan pull her up on the stage where she ends up sandwiched between her sister and a stripper also named Jordan.
Tessa’s floating on air as she tries to fit her key into the lock.
Magically the door opens on it’s own.
“Did you have a good time?” Scott asks. At least she thinks it’s Scott, he’s very blurry.
“So mush fun,” she answers and tries to kiss him, but he’s too far away.
“Your wife puked on my feet.” She hears PJ’s voice and she sounds angry, but that can’t be because she loves her. They’re best friends. “So you owe me a new pair of shoes and possibly a new car.”
“Sorry,” Scott says as she finally moves towards her. That’s right, PJ was holding her up because her feet don’t work anymore. “I’ll take it to be detailed tomorrow.”
“Well, you and Justin can work that out between the two of you because while your wife was throwing up in the front seat, his threw up in the back seat.” PJ does sound angry. “Make sure you make her drink some water before she goes to sleep.”
“PJ does sound angry,” she says out loud because she’s not sure if she did the first time. She tries to remove her shoes but it’s harder to do that than she remembers, so she holds her foot out to Scott. “It’s probably because Mel threw up in the backseat of her car.”
“I swear to god, I am never…” the rest of PJ’s tirade is cut off by the door slamming.
“I’m so lucky,” she says as Scott helps her to their room. At least she thinks it’s her room, it’s hard to tell because it’s a little fuzzy. Also, she discovers that her room is spinning when she lays down, which it doesn’t normally do. “Because I have the best best friends.”
Scott just laughs as he makes her sit up to drink water. “You really do.”
In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips.
“Vacations are the fucking best,” Tessa says as the water laps at her ankles. She and Mel had pulled their lounge chairs right up to the water, so they could watch the guys and PJ play frisbee in the water and stay cool.
“We should be on vacation all the time,” Mel agrees.
“I think that’s called retirement.”
They clink their margarita glasses as Scott tackles PJ into the water. She comes up spitting water, and vowing revenge, but smiling from ear to ear.
“How does she still have so much energy?” Mel asks.
“Same reason she still has a flat stomach and relatively perky boobs. She didn’t have children. That bitch,” Tessa says and they clink glasses again.
They sit in silence until Scott runs out of the water, shakes off all the water on his body onto Tessa, and then kisses her when she screams. He takes a sip of her margarita before running back into the water.
“Scott still looks really good,” Mel says, evidence that she’s well into tipsy range now.
At fifty, she’ll admit that her husband doesn’t look much different than he did in his thirties, starting to grey, in the way that just adds to his look. She can see the softening of his body, only because she knows him so well and for such a long time.
“It’s not fair that men don’t sag quite the same way women do.” She sighs, but can’t help appreciate him. He still drives her crazy after all these years, and if his enthusiasm is any indication, he feels the same.
“But they do go bald,” Mel giggles and points at Justin, who’s very bald head is starting to burn, and yells, “Babe, put some sunscreen on your head.”
He gives her a thumbs up but immediately goes back to frisbee, which seems to have degenerated into a frisbee tackle game. Tessa looks fondly at the small bald spot on Scott’s head that he refuses to admit exists and thinks she’ll try and sneak some sunscreen on when he comes out of the water to reapply.
“Wait, aren’t you technically retired?” Mel asks suddenly and they both laugh.
“From competition skating, not from everything else I do. Although, if retirement could be like this every day, I would consider it.” Sun, sand and water are all she needs to make her a happy woman.
“Sadly, I think we need to get all our children out of the house and through University before it’s a possibility.”
And skating coaches, costumes and ice time. There are so many things to pay for that she feels like any money she makes goes directly into her children’s careers.
“Where are the kids?” Mel asks, peering down the beach. They’re hardly kids anymore. Teenagers and young adults. Tessa clings to this vacation because she thinks it might be the last one all together.
“They went down the beach to get ice cream,” PJ says, as she flops down on the empty chair on the other side of Tessa. “I have bad news for you two. Your oldest was throwing the patented Moir look of longing at Mel’s youngest, so I see either heartbreak or grandchildren in your future.”
Both Tessa and Mel groan and PJ laughs at them.
“Where’s my margarita?” PJ demands.
“Text Nick and see if he’ll bring you one down from the house,” Mel shoots back and PJ does just that, and because Nick is her boyfriend and not her husband, he agrees.
“I guess there would be worse people to be tied to if I did have to be Grandma Tessa,” she says. The sun is starting to dip a bit and they should probably start thinking about dinner. She can hear the kids' laughter floating down the beach and she thinks her son might be holding hands with Mel’s daughter. Apparently, the Moir look of longing works just as well in the second generation as it did in the first.
“I want to be Granny Mel.” Mel laughs hysterically at the idea and Tessa and PJ exchange a look of agreement that it’s time to cut Mel off.
“And I will be Auntie PJ.”
“Don’t you mean Great Aunt PJ?” Tessa shoots back.
“While I am great, I’m too cool to be a Great Aunt.”
Tessa can’t help but agree. She takes the hand of either woman and holds it tight.
There’s plenty of years left to figure it all out.
If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you – Winnie the Pooh