Where You Are

Halifax

Jesse

I had to disagree with Birgitta. It hadn't been the worst Christmas ever. Mind, it hadn't been the best Christmas ever, or even the Christmas I'd wanted it to be, but we'd been together, plus a few extra unwelcome people at times, but we'd still had each other. That was all I'd wanted, just to be with her. And we'd already promised each other we'd do it again properly once she was finally in London with me permanently. If anything, it would be a funny story to tell years down the road. Our first Christmas together, ambushed by the in-laws.

Her parents left Moncton only a few hours before I was scheduled to leave. I hated leaving her on her own, but took comfort in the knowledge that it would hopefully be the last time. I would see her again in eight days' time and, provided all went well with her interview, I would be bringing her back with me.

In an odd way, I was happy it had happened that way. I'd met my in-laws and knew I wasn't missing out on any sort of useful relationships by moving my wife to the UK. That, and I understood a lot more about my wife by meeting them, I could understand a bit better what she'd been through growing up and exactly why she'd moved so far away. It made me respect her even more and simultaneously made me want to step up and be the one to protect her for the first time in her life.

Birgitta

I was getting sick and tired of airports.

I used to love going to the airport, especially the one in Halifax because it usually meant I was about to go on a new adventure and it was probably going to be a more direct flight than if I'd left from Moncton. I'd started a lot of good trips from the Halifax airport. I'd gone to Reykjavik, Frankfurt, Zurich and, of course, London.

Don't get me wrong, I was beyond excited to see Jesse again, I was just done with doing this thing long-distance. I had no idea how people could keep it up for years.

But hopefully this was the beginning of the end. He'd said on the phone that he was bringing me back with him if all went well with the interview, but I never knew if he was serious or not. He probably was. There were still a lot of loose ends to tie off even if this did go well and my visa was approved. The biggest things being that I hadn't quit my job yet, I knew it would be stupid to do that too soon in case I wasn't approved, and I still had my car. I really needed my car, I couldn't just sell it without knowing for sure I wouldn't need it anymore. I knew even if everything went perfectly, I'd still be sleeping in my apartment in Moncton for the next two weeks or so before I was actually ready to move across the Atlantic.

Jesse had offered to rent a car and drive to Moncton to pick me up, and even though I knew he'd definitely do it, I couldn't let him. He wasn't used to winter driving and I wasn't going to take the chance that there wouldn't be a snowstorm. That was the last thing he needed, to be driving to Moncton and back in a blizzard on the opposite side of the road and car from what he was used to.

So there I was, in the Arrivals Hall of the Halifax airport impatiently waiting for my husband's plane to land. I had my phone open in front of me, checking both the time and Jesse's flight status from the app that was connected to his new watch. He'd landed about fifteen minutes ago so I knew I should be seeing him any minute. We had an hour to get to the British consulate and the roads were clear, so there wasn't anything to worry about there. I wasn't nervous about the interview, I had nothing to hide. Jesse had said they'd asked him a bunch of questions about me and our relationship back in London but he'd had a hard time gauging how his meeting had gone. I really just wanted to see him. In person. Alone. Without anyone interrupting.

My family had stopped by my apartment the morning after Boxing Day to say goodbye before heading to the airport. It was awkward, but it always was. Only a little more than usual after the conversation with my dad the day before, but I was pretty sure my mom and sister were oblivious that it had even happened. Mom had tried one more time to coax free plane tickets out of Jesse with no luck, and then they were finally gone. It felt like a weight had been taken from me. I'd finally got a lot of garbage off my chest from my childhood and I really had no idea when I was going to see the next. It was freeing. I felt like I was finally free from my old family and now a part of a new family that was just Jesse and me.