Page 41 of One-Star Romance

A Year and a Half Later

Dear Friends and Family,

We’d like to joyfully invite you to celebrate a gift from heaven, our daughter, Christina Alvarez-Stoat. These first months with her have been a beautiful adventure. Now please join us at her christening ceremony at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, where Gabby herself was christened. Details below.

17

The trees surrounding the church were just starting to bud with blossoms. Rob couldn’t stop himself from slowing as he passed beneath them. Though the church itself was nothing special to look at—brown brick, chosen because it was where Gabby herself had been christened twenty-nine years ago and where her parents continued to attend services each Sunday—Rob wanted to stop and stare as if before a great work of art in a museum.

Beside him, Zuri raised a questioning eyebrow, so he gestured at the blossoms. “There’s just nothing like an East Coast spring.”

She cocked her head and took in the trees. Her face softened the same way it did when she came across a particularly beautiful painting in her research.

“It is lovely,” she said. Then she waggled a finger at him. “But don’t start getting wanderlust, not when you’re on the tenure track.”

“I suppose there’s beauty in cacti too,” he said, and began to move forward.

“Wait. If you want to keep looking, we are”—she checked her watch—“four minutes early.”

“No, we’ve got the next few days to gawk at trees.”

The travel here had been easy. But everything was easy with Zuri. They anticipated each other’s needs, their priorities and interests almost all the same. Of course they would agree to get to the airport two and a half hours before their flight. They’d each made a list of podcast episodes they wanted to listen to on the car ride out to Long Island, and they laughed when they showed them to each other because those lists were almost identical. He loved her insights when they discussed the episodes afterward, the careful way she chose her words, wasting nothing. He even loved the way she challenged him when he was wrong—not taking offense, swiftly dismantling his argument and then moving on.

Moving in together had been easy too. They’d done it three months ago now. Together, they’d made list upon list—packing, tasks to do—and checked off all the boxes. And all the while, they’d been checking off boxes on another more subconscious list: the qualities they wanted in a partner. Cool under pressure? Check. Respectful to the movers? Check. Strong work ethic, ability to be a team player, a willingness to give each other personal space when necessary? Check, check, check.

Now, their apartment was starting to feel like home. Leaving paintings and pictures unhung would be an affront to Zuri’s whole world order. Her willowy frame clad in overalls, her dark braids tied up in a head wrap and amber eyes narrowed in focus, she’d created a gallery wall in their living room, photos of them together and with their families, framed pictures of both her and Rob at their PhD ceremonies, plus some work from up-and-coming artists of color who could use the support. No surprise that an art history professor could turn a plain beige wall into a thing of beauty.

A few weeks ago, they were sitting at their dining room table, doing work, and Rob went to make them mugs of tea. When he put hers down on the table in front of her, she caught his hand. “Hey,” she said, “we live together.”

“We do.”

“That’s lovely, isn’t it?” She pressed his hand to her lips. Zuri was not always touchy-feely, which made these moments of affection and intimacy all the more special. Rob blew on his mug, struck by gratitude that he had found someone he liked and admired so much. Their lives locked into each other like puzzle pieces. In that moment, as chamomile wafted up in front of them, the warmth of her full lips on his skin, he’d decided to make this trip as special as possible.

It was all too easy when he and Zuri were together to sink into quiet contentment, sitting side by side as they did their research or a crossword. Arms linked, the two of them had fast-forwarded straight into a comfortable middle age, despite only being thirty. That was perfectly fine with Rob. Even as a teenager, he’d felt that he had the soul of a forty-five-year-old.

But this long weekend out east, well, this would be something different. They’d be staying on Long Island, going up to the North Fork for a small vacation since they were out here anyway. Rob had researched inns and wineries, planning the most romantic itinerary he could. First stop, Christina’s christening and the ensuing reception. A chance for Zuri to spend some more time with Angus and Gabby, and for Rob to meet his unofficial niece. Then, on to North Fork, and the rest of their lives.

Rob held the church door open for Zuri, then followed her inside. Immediately, piercing wails echoed off the walls. There, in the growing crowd of well-wishers, were Gabby and Angus and a small yowling human with a tuft of dark hair on her head.

Though Gabby had dressed up nicely, she looked exhausted, purplish half-moons under her eyes. Angus waved at Rob, beckoning him over with the energy of an average human, which meant that he was exhausted too. Rob and Zuri made their way through the church to say hello.

After a round of hugs, Gabby thrust the baby forward. “Meet Christina.” Christina, clad in a puffy white dress, scrunched up her face, on the verge of bursting into more tears. “She’s perfect, but she’s a holy terror.”

“We really do love her, though,” Angus said.

“Yes, more than anything. We’d die for her. If she doesn’t kill us first.”

The two of them looked at each other and let out a sleep-deprived laugh that bordered on unhinged.

“So, are you back at work?” Zuri asked in her calm, steady manner, and Gabby nodded. “How is that?”

Gabby sighed. “I wouldn’t say that maternity leave was a natural fit for me, so it’s good to be getting out of the house again.”

“The problem is that everyone is so grateful to have Gabby back,” Angus said, “that they’re loading her up with work and assuming it’s the only priority in her life, like they don’t remember the reason she had to take three months off in the first place.”

“At least they gave me three months,” Gabby said with a dark look.

“Ah yes.” Angus grimaced. “I hate to say a bad word about my employers, but Insight Capital was not the most understanding about paternity leave.”

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