Landing

The Other Side of the Door

Daisy couldn't for the life of her explain why her legs still felt wobbly after her morning sun salutation. The beautiful cerulean skies that peeked through the trees that surrounded her Sonoma home, did not have a cloud in the sky. She had been gently rocked awake by Elisa's soft guitar strums by the pool. Her daughter - even at 32 - still felt sheepish playing the instrument around her mother. Daisy hadn't understood when Elisa was a teenager. Elisa was never shy, always speaking her mind, spending her free time in community with friends, peers, even coworkers from her waitressing jobs. Elisa never hid away. Which made Daisy worry that the problem was her. Had she made her child feel as if she would judge, or worse, disparage her? Daisy had tried so incredibly hard to be the polar opposite of what her mother had been. Still, on nights in her room alone, when insecurity and doubt crept into her mind, she found herself wondering if she fucked all of this up.

She never did, though.

It took a few awkward conversations in their kitchen, and a boundary setting session with their family therapist for Daisy to realize, and Elisa to communicate, that she simply liked keeping some of her hobbies to herself. They were hers and sacred, because Elisa was her own, wonderful woman. She did not devour the energy of performance, like her beloved mother, and that was okay. Once Daisy made peace with this, she took every opportunity that Elisa allowed as a quiet gift. It was one of Daisy's favorite sounds.

See, this was a perfect morning. Yet, when Daisy went to wash the bowl Elisa had served their soft boiled eggs in - picked fresh from the chicken coop out back - Daisy had dropped it, clanking against the iron of the farmhouse sink.

"Everything okay, Ma?" Elisa playfully mumbled with a raised eyebrow, a mouth full of of sourdough toast

Daisy chuckled, "Guess I'm just getting old."

"Shush!" Elisa chided, and swallowed. "Do you want to check on the tomatoes before I go?"

The daughter, mother duo checked strode through the airy kitchen to their treasured garden. It had started when 9 year old Elisa returned from a class trip to a farm. She insisted that plant based eating was the only way she could sleep with a clear conscience. Her big heart and conviction made Daisy fold in an instant. Her daughter taught her many things about ethics, love and care, without realizing it. Although Daisy occasionally indulged in a burger or BBQ at Simone's (nothing will ever beat - a Hickory order from the Apple Pan. She'd never had the heart to go back, too many memories) she found her eating habits mirroring her daughters.

The garden served as something to focus on when Daisy needed to feel grounded, and connected to the earth. It also gave Elisa an excuse to come back home when she was feeling overstimulated in graduate school."Oh, I'm just here to grab some basil and rosemary, we might as well watch a movie while I'm here."

Becoming a social worker was no easy feat. Daisy secretly couldn't wait to see her finish so that the weight would be taken off her shoulders. She assured Elisa that she would only bring a triangle to graduation this time, as opposed to the cowbell and güiro combo Warren had snuck into the college stadium to cheer his goddaughter on. If Lisa has anything to say about it though, there will definitely be confetti covering the floor when all is said and done.

Daisy almost didn't hear the knock at the front door as she washed the dirt that had snuck past her gardening gloves, off her wrists. Elisa looked up from packing a zip lock of carrots into her duffel bag but Daisy shooed her away, "finish what you're doing, I've got it."

Again her stomach flipped, but she ignored it as she glanced at the front door monitor. The color immediately drained from her face when she saw the outline of a man she knew so well. The slump of his shoulders gave him away before his green eyes did. Without thinking, she opened the door, not moving an inch, just staring at the man on the other side of the doorway. She needed to make sure this was real. When he offered a grin and the corners of his eyes wrinkled, the warmth immediately returned to her body and it all made sense. Her body had been preparing her for what was coming today, who was coming today.

Billy's hands were shaking, so he placed them on his hips before he opened his mouth, "I know I should have called, Warren gave me the-"

She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and laughed out, "Can I hug you?" Suddenly Billy's arms were around her. He didn't smell like smoke anymore, just leather with a hint of sandalwood.

They didn't say anything of substance, just whispered, "oh my gods" and "it's you's" into each other's shoulders. It reminded them both of their embrace after finishing 'Impossible Woman', but that embrace was sparks and excitement, this was steadiness. Disbelief at coming home. The second Billy's hands wrapped around her shoulders they both stilled. Breathing into each other.

"Wow, you're Billy Dunne, aren't you?" Elisa's voice broke through their trance and the two jumped apart like guilty teenagers.

"Ugh yeah, yes I am. You're E..."

Before Daisy could introduce her, Elisa kindly stated,

"Elisa. That's okay, there were a lot of people there the day we met. Again, I'm so sorry. It meant a lot for us to be there."

Billy swallowed deeply. The funeral was two years ago. The pain was no longer sharp, but still felt sobering when he wasn't expecting it. Maybe it always would.

"Thank you, Elisa." She nodded. When Elisa looked back at her mother, she caught her glancing between the two other people in the room. Seeing the two interact in her home sent a flurry of emotions running through her.

"Alright, back to the books I go. I love you mom. I let Luna back in, she's too old to be taking her naps out in the sun." The woman left a kiss on her mother's cheek before nodding her head towards the visitor, "bye Billy. See you soon."

Silence followed the closing of the wooden front door, left open from Billy's entrance.

"Are you hungry?" Daisy asked, as she led him further into the house. As he walked into the sunny kitchen, Billy couldn't help but notice the framed picture from Simone and Bernie's celebration of love. The picture was from just a few years prior, with college aged Elisa in a tailored ring bearer suit throwing up a peace sign behind the newlyweds walking away from the altar. As he squinted further, Billy could see Daisy smiling from a chair in the front row, a dainty baby's breath flower crown laying atop her auburn hair, as she held a tissue to her left eye.

"How beautiful." He let the statement fall from his lips without thinking

"It was a gorgeous celebration. They're actually moving a few doors down, next month." Billy smiled, nodding. Choosing not to elaborate on what exactly he was referring to.

"So that last time I saw you attempt to cook, it was tour bus ramen. I'd like to think you've gained a few more culinary skills since then?" Daisy joked, placing a few tomatoes from earlier in front of him and sliding a cutting board onto the marble counter he sat behind.

"Julia had a Chopped phase. I'm happy to play sous chef." The banter was light but made Daisy feel bold.

"Good. We've always made a great team."

Billy smirked, shaking his head, "you're damn right." 

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Hello dear friends, this is my first fic in years. I keep thinking about what comes next for these two and can't wait to write more. Any and all feedback is SO appreciated.