Here at Last (49 page)

Hannah’s things had been the last to go onto the truck and the first to be unloaded. Of course, her bedroom was so large that we got all of her furniture and toys settled in nicely. I worked with her to unpack her clothes and other boxes so that her room would be set up despite the hubbub and disarray downstairs.

By the
following
morning, everything
that
Nicholas
needed
– clothes, toiletries, and cooking supplies –
was unpacked
. I must admit that it was nice to open the bedroom closet and drawers and see his clothes there. To say that the kitchen was fully outfitted would have been an understatement, but
we
had made room in our lives for one another, and neither of us would have wanted it any other way.

A few weeks later, we celebrated a new set of firsts – our first Christmas together and our first New Year’s in the same house. Then came Valentine’s Day when we reminisced about our time on St. Bart
s
– most of it anyway. The anniversary of JT’s death was bittersweet
and, I suspected, always would be
.





Winter quickly moved into spring,
and Todd and I presented our paper at the American Astronomical Society
conference
in May. Held in Boston’s Westin Copley Place, it was well received. A few weeks later,
Hannah was out of school, and Nicholas had decided to take the summer off and not teach
summer school
so that they could be together
. The two of them spent a fair amount of time exploring New Jersey and New York, sometimes meeting me for dinner in the city before we would come home together. We loved our life.

We planned a simple wedding
with a
few guests
, including Nicholas’s parents, who would fly up from Boca Raton two days before. Of course, Lydia, Darrell, and their kids would be there.
Paul and Stan
w
ould fly
in from Chicago
, and I looked forward to finally meeting two of Nicholas’s friends
. Neelie and Roger
would
attend
as would
my parents,
Rhonda, Matthew, and their kids.

Though Rachel’s parents appreciate
d
the invitation, they weren’t sure if they could bear being
at
the wedding.
They included a lovely letter with their RSVP stating that
they did want to meet me and looked forward to
coming to
Hannah
’s
seventh birthday party
in July
.
A few days before the wedding, however, they
had a change of heart and decided to come.
While
I’m sure it
would
be
difficult for them to watch their son-in-law marry another woman, they wanted to stay involved in Hannah’s life
, and we would be ensure that they felt welcome
.

When they arrived at Newark airport, we were there to pick them up.
I’d suggested to Nicholas that he and Hannah go without me, but he wanted me to be there.
Hannah had insisted on making a welcome sign for them
and taking her flower girl dress alon
g
to show them
.
As
they
walked past
security, Hannah held up her welcome sign and ran to them, and her grandfather Leonard laughed and picked her up, giving her a big hug. Nicholas took Verna into his arms, and they stood quietly for a long time. I watched until Nicholas turned to me
, his eyes wet,
and took me by the hand.

I walked over to
Verna and leaned down to hug her. “I’m so glad you came,” I told her, but she was teary-eyed and couldn’t say anything. Nicholas stood beside her and rubbed her back.

Once Leonard put Hannah down, he and I embraced as well. “Welcome to our family,” he said
warmly
.

“Thank you,” I smiled.

It was late, and the ride back home was fairly quiet. When we returned to the house, we carried their luggage up to the
blue room
so that
they
w
ould have plenty of time with Hannah upstairs.

Rachel’s parents were wonderfully warm and had been so touched to have been invited. On several occasions, Verna was moved to tears, and her husband Leonard had sought to comfort her. We did our best to
en
sure they knew that they were welcome
to visit
any time
. Both Nicholas and I told them that their continued presence in Hannah’s life was a must and suggested that they come to
see us
at least once a year. Although they were a little uncertain about
it
at first, they felt so welcomed that they agreed by the end of their
visit
that they would
return
each summer
around Hannah’s birthday
. They also wondered if they could take Hannah back to Chicago with them for a week every summer
.
Of course,
Hannah was delighted by the idea
, and Nicholas agreed
.

Knowing that Rachel had been an only child and that
her parents had
been alone the past few
years
, Nicholas and I discussed the possibility of having Rachel’s parents come to Morristown to spend the
holidays with us. When we raised it with them, they were surprised at the invitation and agreed to come back
over Christmas
, which had become a lonely time for them
.

Alt
hough
Nicholas’s parents insisted on staying at a hotel so that Rachel’s parents would have time with their
granddaughter, it was lovely to see all of them together when they met up for the first time in years. It brought tears to Nicholas’s eyes, and I enjoyed standing back and watching these two families, who had once been
united
by the bonds of marriage,
come together again
.

The four of them welcomed my parents warmly, who seemed to be moved by becoming part of a larger family. The six of them got along famously, and I noticed that my view of my parents continued to
shift and soften over
time.

The following day, Nicholas and I
married. The wedding was held
in
a
beautiful English courtyard belonging to some family friends,
and the entire affair
was
unforgettable
.
Hannah was a
wonderful
flower girl, and my father cried as he gave me away. Seeing my father cry
for the first time
moved me to tears, and Nicholas smiled
as he
slipped his fingers through mine
,
and
we stood together before Reverend Ellsbury.

After finishing our vows, Nicholas
turned to face me
and looked
into my
eyes as he lifted the veil over my head. Very gently, he reached his right hand up and placed it under my chin before delivering one of the most
exquisite
kisses I
’d
ever
experienced
.





That was a year ago. Nicholas and I just celebrated our first anniversary with a
romantic trip back to
St. Barts
. Of course, we stayed at the
Aramada
again.

While we were away, Hanna
h
stayed
with Rhonda’s family and now feels like she’s part of a large family of aunts, uncles, cou
sins, and
three
set
s
of grandparents.
Every now and again and with increasing frequency, she calls me “Mom” like she’s trying it on for size
, and i
t makes me smile.

Hannah has a lot of friends at school and in the neighborhood. Two families with young children have moved in since Nicholas and I married, and it’s given Hannah more playmates than she knows what to do with. True to tradition, her favorite game remains dress-up.

Nicholas is doing well. He enjoys
teaching at Rutgers
and
likes his students and coworkers
. Although he’s talked from time to time about moving into the private sector, he enjoys the practical aspects of having holidays and summers off so that he is available for Hannah. Since we married, he
is happier and
more relaxed. In fact, he seems just like the man who
showed up
in my dreams
four-and-a-half
years ago
. He smiles readily and laughs and loves easily.

As for me, I’m
happily
adjusting to being a wife and stepmother,
and
I
still
love my job and going into the city every day.
The vastness and complexity of b
oth the city and the field of physics
continue to
inspire
me,
serving
as a
reminder
that there is much more
to life
than meets the eye.
I may never be able to understand how the dreams of Nicholas came to me,
how he’d been able to conjure my image
years
before, and how we’d run into one another on a cold day in downtown Chicago. But I do know that I’d long dreamed of a life that felt like the one I have now. It’s filled with love and happiness, just
as
Nicholas promised.

About the
Author

Kat
Lansby
is a hopeful romantic who lives in the mountains of North Carolina. When she isn’t busy taking care of her animals, she loves to spend time outdoors hiking with her “better half” or playing with friends and family.