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Mark and Elizabeth had transferred the Hawaii beach house into their names not long after they vacationed there for the first time, which marked a celebration of Mark finishing his cancer treatments. Ella had taken her first steps during that trip, and it meant the world to him to be present for that milestone. Rachel had even learned to surf and drive stick. So much had happened on that first vacation, and now, it was a yearly family tradition.
They had arrived at the house yesterday. This time, they were back to celebrate Rachel’s high school graduation and the fact that she, Mark, and Ella would soon be joining Elizabeth in North Carolina, where she was chief of trauma surgery at Duke Hospital and teaching at the medical school. Rachel would be attending Duke in the fall, although she still wasn’t sure where she wanted to go to medical school. However, continuing on at her undergrad or going back home to University of Chicago were both strong options. Ella would be starting kindergarten, which meant she was young enough to not have to worry about making new friends or adjusting to a new school after attending a different one back in Chicago.
Mark and Rachel woke up a little later than usual due to the jet lag that usually came from flying clear across the country. Elizabeth was already up because she had no choice; Ella was an early bird and she had always told Mark that she missed having her mom make her breakfast. So, she was already eating her scrambled eggs when her dad and older sister came into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Mark said to Elizabeth, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning,” she smiled and handed him a cup of coffee. “I assume you and Rachel would like bacon and eggs. Toast too?”
“You know me. I’m a growing boy.”
Elizabeth and Rachel rolled their eyes at each other, and Ella perked up. “Hi Daddy!”
“There’s my little girl,” he beamed. He kissed Ella on the forehead. “How are you today? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
“Yeah. I’m happy Mommy’s here now. I missed her when she moved away.”
“So did your sister and I. But now you can spend most of the summer with Mom because when we finish our vacation, we have to go home and start packing so we can move to a new state. And Dad’s going to start a new job where he’ll have more time to spend with you.”
Mark had just recently accepted an offer at an urgent care center in Durham. All he had known was emergency medicine, but he was excited to take a step back from trauma and deal with lower-stakes cases while having more time with Ella and Elizabeth. He’d also have more flexibility to visit Rachel at school, as he only had to work one weekend a month at urgent care. They were both already looking forward to Duke basketball games.
“Hawaii seems to be the place where we mark new beginnings, doesn’t it?” Elizabeth asked. “The end of cancer treatment for you, Rachel’s graduation and getting ready for college, Ella starting school in the fall. The only difference is I’ve been at Duke for a while now and you’re just joining me.”
“That’s a new beginning too, in a way,” Mark pointed out. “You’ve been in North Carolina for about a year, but me and the girls moving down there into the house we bought is a fresh start. Or the house you bought and sent me pictures of to make sure I liked it, I guess.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. Yes, I had to send you pictures, but both our names are on the mortgage.”
“It has a pool!” Ella exclaimed.
“It does?” Rachel looked up from her plate. “I don’t remember seeing the pictures of the pool. I saw where my room would be and the basement and stuff, but not the pool.”
“Oh, the old owners had just had it installed when they had to move for family reasons,” Elizabeth explained. “The photos were added later, but yes, we will have an inground pool and a deck for more barbecues. So, we’ll be doing lots of swimming and grilling when we’re all settled.”
“I can’t wait!” Rachel said.
“Neither can your father. He’s happy we can save the money on a dorm so you can live at home. That is, until you make friends and decide you can’t possibly tolerate us anymore so you’re moving to an off-campus apartment.” Everyone laughed except Ella, who didn’t really understand that Rachel wouldn’t want to live at home past a certain point of her life.
“When can we go to the beach?” Ella interrupted.
“How about as soon as we finish breakfast?” Elizabeth replied. She looked at Mark to make sure that was OK, and he nodded in agreement.
Ella hopped down from the table after she ate the last of her bacon and went to change into her bathing suit, and Rachel followed. “I’ll help!” she called out over her shoulder, which let Mark and Elizabeth know they could spend extra time drinking coffee and talking.
“Hard to believe she’s out of high school,” Mark shook his head. “I remember when she was a little girl coming with me to the hospital when Jen was working or studying for the bar.”
“Who?” Elizabeth winked and they both laughed at the mention of Mark’s ex-wife.
“But yes, seriously, I can’t believe where the time has gone,” she agreed. “Four or five years ago, I was afraid we were going to lose you. You really overcame the impossible. And I look around now…and see Ella is going into kindergarten, Rachel will be starting college, and a few months ago we had our five-year anniversary. I feel like this vacation is celebrating everything in one.”
“Me too. And now we own this house where we first came four years ago. I think we should keep coming when Rachel’s on summer break. She can always bring her reading for rainy days and downtime. I’ll make sure she stays on top of it and gets to be involved in family time too.”
“Are you sure you’re ready to leave emergency medicine?” she asked.
“Yeah. I think it’s time. County’s been good to me and I have a lot of memories there, but I’m ready to slow down and break away from the politics of that place too. It’ll be nice to not have to worry about covering late nights and have a more family-friendly schedule. Plus, when I do have to cover a weekend, I’ll get a weekday off where maybe I can give you a break and pick Ella up from school.”
“I can’t wait till the three of you join me,” Elizabeth said. “It’s been a hard year at times, and I’ve liked the townhouse I was renting, but it’ll be nice to have you guys move into the new house so we can be together again. I hope you’re going to grill steak to celebrate.”
“Absolutely.”
Rachel and Ella came out of Ella’s room. “Let’s go!” Ella cried. “I have my toys too.” She held up her sand bucket with a shovel and some other rubber toys. Rachel was following, carrying her surfboard. She had been excited to once again catch some waves and see cute boys at the beach.
“OK, honey, just let me and Mom get our bathing suits on.”
A short time later, they headed out to the beach, with Ella ready to build sandcastles with Elizabeth and Mark and Rachel ready to head out to the ocean on her own.
“Thanks for making this our tradition, Dad,” Rachel said. “I love coming here now. We can still come once I’m on summer break in college, right?”
“Of course we can. Elizabeth and I were just discussing that, and we cannot wait for many more summers in Hawaii.”
“Good. I'm excited too."