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September 3rd, 1991 — Cambridge, MA 11:30 AM, EST
"Congratulations, Doctor Colewell."
Shelby broke into a grin as she quickly walked to the front of the lecture room, shaking the hands of each of the professors on her dissertation defense panel. "Thank you so much, Doctors!"
The doctor on the end handed her a pile of notes, compiled by each of the professors in regards to Shelby's publication. "We look forward to seeing these changes made on your publication. We believe it will make a more well-rounded piece, and we look forward to seeing you in print."
"Thank you again." Shelby beamed as she took the feedback from them, a panel of the best electrical engineering professors that MIT had to offer. She'd known most of them from her undergrad time, and she was pleased to have completed the next level of her education with them, too.
As she headed back into the hallway, her brain raced with the millions of things on her to-do list, knowing the revisions to her dissertation would have to be added to the top before she could finally walk out of MIT with a graduate diploma.
"Well?" Dr. Feldstein stood in the hallway, a hopeful look on his face as he placed his hands together in a preemptive clap. "Do we have another doctor on our hands?"
He'd been her mentor at NASA since the beginning, and he'd be her mentor in life forever. She was pleased to bring him, along with Dr. Mitchell and Maggie, along with her to Massachusetts to defend her dissertation.
She'd worked tirelessly through the summer semester, knowing it was the only way she'd complete her doctorate on time before the Tenacity flight. There were a few things she needed to do yet before walking across the stage in December to get the paper diploma in her hand, but as far as anyone would concerned, she was as good a doctor as the rest of them after completing her defense.
"That will be Dr. Colewell to you, Dr. Feldstein," Shelby joked as she hugged the man, then turned to Adam, who was waiting with open arms.
"I knew you could do this, Cherry Bomb." Adam planted a loving kiss on her forehead as he squeezed her tight, their relationship free to be expressed in Boston, long away from NASA. Dr. Feldstein was still the only one that knew of the couple, and they intended to keep it that way.
"What about a celebratory lunch, on me?" Dr. Feldstein suggested. "It's not often we get the chance to enjoy time off together."
Joe was right — it was nothing short of a miracle that NASA had allowed the three of them to be off of work at the same time, especially so close to the launch date. Nevertheless, they were ahead of schedule, so the two had been allowed to join Shelby.
