Epilogue
The London Underground is crowded this evening. Mom, Dad, and I are all huddled around the same grab bar.
“Were you able to nap after lunch?” I ask. I met my parents at their enormous Airbnb with boxes of our favorite Thai takeaway before my Zoom calls this afternoon.
“Some of us,” Mom says with a smirk. “Your father was snoring.”
“Why didn’t you just sleep in one of the other two bedrooms in the flat?” My mother insisted I find them a three-bedroom rental for the week that they’re here.
“Yes, Molly.” Dad grins. “Why didn’t you?”
Mom braces her hip with a fist. “Keep that up, and I’ll leave you home next time.”
We all sway and have to shuffle our stance as the subway slows for our stop.
“Mind the gap between the train and the platform,” the disembodied voice urges as we exit the Tube at Blackfriars station.
“Do you think that’s a voice actor or AI?” Mom muses as she takes Dad’s proffered elbow.
“I don’t know,” Dad says. “But if it is an actor, I know a good lawyer he could turn to if he isn’t happy about his contract.”
Cute.
“They’re called barristers here,” Mom corrects.
Dad frowns. “I thought they were called solicitors.”
We debate the finer points of British law as we make our way out of the Underground, turning up on Queen Victoria Street.
“How long before you got your bearings?” Dad asks. “I’m completely turned around. I thought the theater was the other way.”
Mike and I have been in London for the past three months and happily married for the last five.
We figured a big wedding, on top of setting up house across the Atlantic and learning a new city with his rehearsal schedule, would be a bit much.
So on New Year’s Eve, we met all our family at the courthouse and said, “I do.” It was the perfect wedding, complete with a gorgeous reception at the beach house.
As Mike and I were heading to the airport the next day (we honeymooned in London while also doing a little real-estate shopping), Mom had to admit that Portia had been on to something.
She mortified Adam by telling him in front of Sarah that Hawaii or another courthouse wedding would be fine by her when it was their turn.
She said she’d never seen Adam turn so red, but Sarah just laughed. She’s a keeper.
I pull my parents into step with me. “The theater is that way, but we’re crossing via the Millennium Bridge because the view is better.”
London is a gorgeous city, and this May evening, it’s even prettier than usual with picturesque pink clouds in the sky. Soft light bathes us in all the magic that comes with opening night.
“We’re not really going to stand the entire night, are we?
” Mom asks as we enter the atrium of the Globe.
I pose her and Dad next to the displayed Queen Elizabeth costume and snap a picture for Portia and Julie.
Portia is at the no-fly stage of her pregnancy, and Julie has a newborn to contend with.
But they were each up in the middle of the night to FaceTime us this morning.
“No, Mom. You have lovely seats in the Gentleman’s Box. And you don’t have to worry about anyone’s elbows, Dad, because the seats honoring Mike’s mom and grandma are on either side of you.”
“I still have to worry about your mother’s elbows,” Dad says with a smile.
Mom’s wandered into the gift shop and is examining Shakespeare-themed socks. “What did they call the people who stood in the yard for the show in our tour this morning?”
“Penny-stinkers,” I say.
A couple who look remarkably like my brother and his girlfriend stop us. “Groundlings is our preferred term.”
Oh my stars and sonnets, it is Adam and Sarah. “No way!” I pull them in for hugs. “How are you guys here?”
“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Adam says.
“Sorry we’re late. I wanted to go for a run after we got in, and then we got turned around on the Tube,” Sarah says with a giggle. “Thank you so much for hosting me, George and Molly.”
So that’s why my mother insisted on a bigger place. “You could have just told me Adam and Sarah were coming,” I say to my mother.
“And ruin the surprise?”
“You excited?” Sarah asks me. “I am! I can’t believe I’m going to be seeing my first Shakespeare play at the Globe in London with Adam’s brother-in-law starring.” Sarah squeals before giving me another huge hug. “Oh, I forgot.” She slips me an envelope. “I was given an assignment.”
I read a handwritten note from Julie and Portia. Had to make sure you had at least a surrogate sister on hand to give you a hug tonight. XO, Julie and Portia.
The postscript is in Portia’s hand. Shakespeare should have referenced pregnant big sisters in Sonnet 37. Take a bow, you Fair Youth.
Mom hands a rather large shopping bag to my father. “You ready?”
“Are you guys sitting with Mom and Dad?” I ask Adam.
“Why would you want to splurge on those seats when the better view is front and center?” Adam asks, taking Sarah by the hand and heading outside.
“My thoughts exactly.” I peek in Mom’s shopping bag and discover it’s filled with socks.
“I beg to differ,” Mom says. “Our seats give us a view of the stage and the yard.”
“We picked our seats so we could see both you and Mike,” Dad explains.
“What?”
“We want to see you light up when Mike is onstage. Your smile. Your joy. What you worked so hard for. What you’ve built.”
“What are you talking about?” I say. “This is Mike’s big night. This is his dream.”
“Oh, honey,” Dad says, getting the door. “Life is a team sport. All of it. Family, success, happiness, and joy. This night belongs to all of us, but especially to you.”
“Dad. Stop. You’re going to make me cry off my mascara.”
“And we have to get out there if we want Bea to be center stage,” Mom says.
We make our way into the theater, where I kiss my parents before I shuffle and sidestep my way through the crowd of people who have gathered for opening night, until I make my way to the front of the stage, where Adam and Sarah have saved me a spot.
The play begins, and when Mike enters stage right, I’m beaming, I’m crying, I’m cheering so loud inside I’m shaking. A more dashing Romeo there’s never been. My Mike Benedick is Romeo at Shakespeare’s Globe, living the dream. He’s onstage, and when tonight is over, he’s going home with me.
I am his Beatrice. We’re living our dream. Together.
The course of true love never did run smooth, but at last I love and am beloved where I may not remove nor be removed.