North Star

31 | a hui hou

2019

While some goodbyes were easier than others, I would never classify them as fun.

Today's goodbye, however, happened to be more fun than most, but that likely had something to do with two factors: I wasn't the emotionally attached woman being left behind, and the two people I was hanging out with were Leimomi and Micah, which meant it was nearly impossible to be in a bad mood.

I was surprised by Leimomi's request last week to drive them to the airport. For one, I would have thought Micah would be dropped off by her family since she was leaving for college, but I wasn't going to question it. If there was any couple I knew who could talk themselves out of having to deal with overly emotional parents saying goodbye to their child, it was Micah. They weren't just attached at the hip; if they weren't on the same wavelengths, the entire world was doomed to tilt off its axis and spin into chaos.

Then again, Micah wasn't the first one Leimomi told about deferring college for a year. But they had moved past that, as only the two of them were capable of, and were beacons of hope that this next year apart would help them grow in their own ways before eventually meeting again.

I was also surprised that Leimomi had asked me, not Kanani or our mother. Even if I had been the first one she told about college, they were the ones that offered her substantial advice once she broke the news to them as well. It made sense that they would be the most capable of holding her hand through this difficult time of change.

Whatever reasons had brought us here, I sat across from the two of them inside an old family-owned diner near the airport. I absentmindedly picked at the food on my plate while they clung to each other as if they never wanted to let go.

"Maybe if you guys go to Disneyland, I can drive down to meet you?" Micah suggested.

"I don't think that'll be happening soon," I replied. "Nani is due in January and she won't be able to go. And it'll probably take them a while after the baby is born to want to travel anywhere." Micah's face fell, and I scrambled. "But, you know, never say never."

"I still can't believe she's having a baby." Her eyes widened. "It feels like we're still babies."

I laughed. "You two are babies."

Leimomi narrowed her eyes at me. "You're only seven years older than us."

"All I'm hearing is that I'm older."

"Yeah. Old."

Smiling at the two of them, I excused myself to use the restroom, which, surprisingly, had a line, albeit a short one. But since we were getting ready to leave soon, and I wasn't going to risk having to pee while we were stuck in traffic on the way home, I waited behind a young woman, probably not much younger than me, with perfectly curly hair I was envious of—I could never get my curls to look like that—and a curious smile.

"Someone went in there with two kids who looked a little... green," she said after a few seconds. "It might take a while."

"Lovely." The only good side I could find to this was that Leimomi and Micah had some extra time to themselves before we drove to departures. "Another reason I do not want kids. I can barely take care of myself."

"Honestly, same."

We laughed together while the line moved forward one person since they threw in the towel. If it weren't for my lack of available options after, I might have done the same. There was no telling what those facilities would look like once we were given the chance to enter.