Glimpses

Chapter 26

April 11th, 2020

"Life is pretty good right now," Rory exhaled peacefully, as she and Paris leaned back on a wide double recliner on the poolside of Orlando World Center Marriott. It was spring break, and the only mechanism they'd fought the masses, wanting to get their kids to Disney World and to a decent hotel that week had involved massive planning, using inside contacts, Finn included, and paying through the nose.

It actually seemed kind of worth it. Kids were happy and exhausted, the two mothers just the same.

Rory sipped her rosemary lemonade, pushing her sunglasses up her nose, as she glanced around the poolside, fake waterfalls creating a peasant wooshing of the water in the background.

Paris had figured it'd probably be the last time her kids even took an interest in Disney, and it was likely also the last time they could do this together. Paris needed someone like Rory by her side to do this kind of thing - she needed a guide to having fun and letting go almost as much as Rory needed her to pull her out of her shell and make sure she didn't get ripped off or went uninformed about any of the dangers of pool-side holiday. Sun protection was still a big thing, for example. But it was exactly what both of them had signed up for.

Em napped deeply between them, the recliner neatly hidden by the sunshade, as Rory and Paris took turns keeping track of the twins, allowing the other one to endulge in some lighter reading than they usually did.

"I told you you needed it," Paris couldn't really hold her tongue.

"I never disagreed," Rory shot back.

Despite some friendly bickering, it was a peaceful afternoon, and after a day and a half already at Disney, they both were very happy doing very little, especially now that Em slept and the twins were already at a pretty self-sufficient age and good swimmers, and only really needed a distant lookout to keep track of their activities, their biggest issue being getting into arguments with each other.

"So how does it feel being in the house all by yourself?" Paris asked, but before waiting for her to respond shared her own experiences, "I first didn't know whether to laugh or cry, it was so freeing to just wear whatever I wanted, eat whatever I wanted without someone making commentary, but then I just missed the breakfast talk, you know - politics, world affairs - stuff you can't talk to 8-year-old about, nor to Doyle the past couple of years before that come to think of it," she added.

"Calm," Rory sighed in response. "I've definitely been less anxious. But I've had a lot of work to do. Chilton really isn't very easy on the teachers either. Come to think of it - being a student there was like a walk in the park except now I get to set the deadlines," Rory explained.

"Have you had a chance to...you know," Paris said, glancing down at Em to make sure the girl was asleep, but made the question pretty self explanatory.

Jess had begun the move out of the house already last summer, but for quite some time that had simply meant that he'd slept downstairs on the couch, and been away for work a little more, having had now also the Apparatus Bay to get up and running. And as the plan had been to set the place up for housing him upstairs, Rory hadn't bothered rushing things, both for Em's sake and for the sake of being a decent human being. She really hadn't thought Jess should just rent a place while all his money was going into fixing up the shop. So he had, in fact, stayed until Christmas, Rory having only really had the place entirely to herself for the past four months or so.

Rory rolled her eyes at Paris' question.

"Yes," Rory replied reluctantly then, knowing Paris would probably start installing dating apps to her phone otherwise, despite not realy feeling like discussing her sexlife in the presence of Em, even if the little girl was fast asleep. She wasn't lying. But she didn't really feel like it was something to brag about.