Page 86 of Here In Your Arms

“What would you say to grabbing Claire?”

Her eyes immediately light up. “Yes! Let’s go see if she wants to go to the park for a bit!”

Rory plugs the address into my GPS, and we head toward her mother’s house. After a few minutes, we pull up to the house and park. Rory hops out of the car, me and Wes not far behind. We start towards the front door, but a voice from behind stops us.

“Aunt Rory!”

Rory turns and sees Claire at the end of the driveway, jogging toward us. Her smile is huge, and she looks over the moon to see us. Rory turns and opens her arms wide.

“Hey sweet girl! Sorry to drop in unannounced.”

“I don’t care! Grandma’s not home, so it was gonna be a boring afternoon anyway.”

“Wanna come with us? We’re going to go to the park and literally smell the flowers.”

Claire laughs. “Uh, sure, I guess?”

“Let’s head out then! Boys?”

Rory leads Claire to the car while Wes and I head over as well, Wes taking the passenger seat since Rory and Claire have already claimed the back with much giggling. Wes and I smile at each other before I steer us onto the road toward one of the public parks. Wes’ hand reaches for mine as we drive, and we intertwine our fingers. Claire is giving Rory all the school gossip and is still somehow going as we park in the public lot.

“I didn’t realize the intricacies of fifth grade social circles until now,” Wes comments as we exit the car.

“Wes, it’s not a joke. Margo is definitely crushing on Chad, and he has no idea. It’s, like, breaking her heart!” Claire insists.

“Hey, my heart is broken for her, I promise,” Wes says, hands up in surrender.

Rory cuts off that line of conversation before it escalates. “Claire, guess what?”

“What?”

“I have some really awesome news.”

“Did they propose? O. M. G. wait until the girls at school to hear about this!” Claire’s voice rises to a pitch that I’m pretty sure only dogs can hear.

Rory laughs at the enthusiasm. “Well, not quite that awesome.”

“Oh. Well. What is it?”

“Nathan isn’t going to be a problem anymore.”

Claire stops in the middle of the grass and looks at Rory, her eyes welling with tears. She launches herself at Rory and holds her tight.

“Do you promise?” I hear her softly say, sniffling.

Rory’s arms go around her, and she lays her head on top of Claire’s. Her eyes start to leak tears and she takes a moment before answering.

“Yeah, I promise,” she chokes out, holding back her tears as much as she can.

Claire starts crying in earnest. Wes and I look at each other, the pain in Wes’ face likely reflected in my own. I had no idea that Claire was so bothered by him. If I had known, maybe we could have made more of an effort sooner to help. Dwelling never fixed anything, though, so I breathe in deeply and watch the girls as they talk quietly.

I’m not sure what all is said, but after a few moments of hugging, they separate and walk hand in hand for a while. Their quiet conversation continues, and we stop at a patch of flowers that have been artistically planted near a sign. Claire latches back on to Rory, and I’m guessing she just learned what happened over the last few days. I clear my throat, trying to keep my emotions from overwhelming me as I watch these two wonderful women connect and love each other. Part of me sees Rory doing this with her own child someday, and while it feels fast, it also feels right. We’re nowhere near ready for a step like that, but I can envision it.

The girls eventually turn to lighter topics, and we meander around the park some more. There’s a heavy debate on if BTS or N’Sync is the superior boy band. I’m surprised that there is so much passion for this topic. I suppose it’s a classic old school versus new school argument, though. I glance at my watch, and when I realize it’s getting close to dinnertime, I nudge Wes.

“We should figure out food,” I tell him.

He nods in agreement, but before we can bring it up to Rory, Claire’s phone rings.

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