to the moon & to saturn | cate blanchett

chapter 30

"And this is our new baby, the lovely Lulu!" Sarah exclaimed.

She struggled to hold the newest addition to her family up to the camera with one hand, much like how Elle was struggling to lug a huge package up the flight of stairs to her apartment while holding her phone at the same time.

Lulu was a chihuahua that looked identical to Winnie, minus the black fur that was swapped for a camel brown. Her full name was Louise, but Sarah referred to her by many nicknames throughout her introduction.

"Her little white paws are adorable!" said Elle. "Hi, Lulu! Aw, she's precious."

Sarah kissed the top of the dog's head.

"She's a very sweet girl," she cooed.

"How is Winnie taking this change?" Elle asked.

"Not well!" Holland yelled from somewhere off camera.

"Oh, shush," said Sarah to her partner. "Actually, Winnie loves Ousie. However, she is having a sliiiight problem adjusting to not being the only princess in the house anymore."

"Big problem," Holland clarified.

Elle reached the door of her apartment and set the package down on the ground so she could grab her key from her pocket.

"How diva of her," she commented.

Sarah nodded vigorously. "I'm sure she'll come around. They are sisters, after all! And it's impossible to not fall in love with Ousie!"

Elle grinned; Sarah's happiness was contagious.

"Hey, listen," she said. "I gotta go, but call me later, okay? I want to see Louise again."

"Of course! Bye, honey!" Sarah blew a kiss to the camera before ending the call.

After finally managing to open the door, Elle stumbled into the apartment with the package.

"Another package?!" Dylan asked.

Sweating, Elle set her backpack down next to the door and propped the box up to lean against the wall.

"Yes," she said, wiping the back of her hand against her forehead. "I love the woman, but she's turning the mail staff against me."

"Did I hear you talking out there?"

"Sarah called. They adopted a new member of the family: Louise. Looks exactly like Winnie, but brown. Literally the cutest dog in existence."

"I'm gonna need pictures asap."

"She's gonna call again later."

Content with that, Dylan wiped her hands on a kitchen towel—she just finished baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies—and walked over to the package to examine it.

"Holy shit, this one is massive!"

"I know," said Elle. "I carried it up the fucking stairs."

"Open it," requested Dylan eagerly.

"Patience, young grasshopper!"

Elle went to grab the box cutter from her room. On Wednesday (the third day in a row of receiving a package from Cate), Elle decided that the box cutter needed a new home, so she moved it from the junk drawer in the kitchen to the top of her dresser. It sat next to the museum of presents (four in total) collected over the week: a bottle of perfume that smelled like jasmine and orange blossom, a simple silver necklace with a sole diamond pendent, a pair of small silver hoop earrings to match, and a pair of chunky white heels with a couple of dainty cross straps attached to the ankle.