Six Weeks Later

"A nd then, he ran down the hallway in his underwear, yelling that there was a snapping turtle in his bed," Felicity said through her laughter.

"Who put a snapping turtle in his bed?" Rosie asked.

"No one." Felicity continued laughing. "He'd just had a nightmare and woke everyone up. I've never wanted to see a man in his underwear in my life, and there was this two-hundred-and-fifty-pound bear of a man, with more chest hair than I thought was possible on a male body, barreling down the tiny hallway at two in the morning."

Rosie laughed and took a drink of her beer.

"That was my first trip. And as much as I never want to see another man in his underwear again, I saw what you see in it."

"A man in his underwear?"

"No," Felicity said, laughing again before she took a sip of her wine. "The job. Being on the water. It wasn't a big deal, but they hadn't been expecting to find anything left on that ship when I told them to look just a little longer. We found a cannon that shouldn't have been there, though, and that led us to discover that the ship was supposedly there as an ally but that they were prepared for war, too. Three more cannons were found there, and it's just the most amazing thing to be able to put my name to that."

"Yeah, it is," Rosie agreed.

"So, you're really going back out in the spring? I know that's what you said on the ship, but you love this."

"Ami wants me here, and I have a full-time teaching job now. They gave me a few weeks off for this last one because it was the Thanksgiving break anyway, so it was only six classes, and I have a TA."

"You didn't want to be a teacher," Felicity offered.

"It's not marine archaeology, but it's not that bad," she replied. "The students are hit and miss, though."

"Graduate level?"

"I've got one graduate, three undergraduate classes, and a seminar I'm hosting, so that'll be fun. Six weeks at the start of the year. I'll be talking about the discovery of the Mary Rose ."

"Yeah? You'll have to give me the info," Felicity said .

"Why?"

"So I can sit in. I liked your first seminar enough to want to work for you, remember?"

"Sure. It's Thursdays at five, starting the second week of the year, but I can get you the location when it gets a little closer."

"Great," Felicity said with a smile.

The time on the ship had been chaotic initially, but once they'd sorted out the technical difficulties, it had passed rather quickly. In fact, it had passed a little too quickly for Rosie, who hadn't wanted to leave. They'd had one week in the lab where they'd cataloged what they'd found, and then, she'd needed to get home. Felicity had actually joined her on the same flight, and they'd spent more time getting caught up. She was in town to get her stuff out of storage after leaving it there for her Portugal move. Then, she would drive hours south until she'd arrive at the three-bedroom house with a wraparound deck that she'd bought on the coast just recently. Felicity had been really excited about that deck, and Rosie had been excited for her, too. It had also been during that same conversation that she'd asked if Felicity was moving into that house with anyone.

"No, just me," she'd replied then.

"No one special?" Rosie had asked.

"Not in a while, no," Felicity had told her. "I dated a few women in Portugal, but nothing serious. One was for about a month. Another one was for a few months. And the last one was for just a few dates, really. That's about it."

"Really? That's all?"

"I was there for work at first, and, well, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to be in a serious relationship," Felicity had shared.

Now, Felicity was sitting at the kitchen table next to her, drinking white wine, while Rosie was finishing her beer.

"Um… Hi."

Rosie turned and said, "Hi."

"Hi, Ami," Felicity offered. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too. I didn't know you were in town."

"Oh," Felicity let out and looked at Rosie. "Yeah, just for a few more days."

Felicity hadn't mentioned anything about them flying back together, which Rosie was very grateful for. She hadn't seen this jealous side of her wife when they'd dated the first time around, at least, not where a woman was concerned – Ami had been more jealous of the ocean than a woman – but now that Rosie knew for sure that Ami had been aware of Felicity's old feelings for her, she could see things in hindsight more clearly. Ami had been jealous all along.

"Well, I got us dinner because I didn't know we had company," Ami said and held up a large brown bag. "I can try to turn two entrées into three."

"Oh, no need," Felicity spoke. "I was just about to head home, anyway." She stood. "Thank you for the wine."

"Sure," Rosie replied and stood up as well. "I'll walk you out."

"I think she knows where the door is, Rosie," Ami said.

"Ami!"

"No, it's okay. She's right: I do remember where that door is." She looked at Rosie. "It was great catching up with you."

"You too."

"I'll maybe see you around."

"Maybe in the seminar?"

"Yeah. It's not a long drive. I can come back for a lecture or two."

Rosie smiled at her.

"Bye, Ami," Felicity said.

"Goodbye, Felicity," Ami replied.

Ami and Rosie stood silently in their kitchen until the door closed behind Felicity.

"That was very rude," Rosie remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What was she even doing here, Rosie?"

"She's in town because she's moving, and she called and asked if I wanted to have a drink. I invited her over."

"She's moving? Well, at least there's that." Ami sat the bag on the counter.

"What is your problem with her?"

"She loved you, Rosie," Ami argued.

"Four years ago. And she loved me ."

"You loved her, too," Ami said softly.

"What are you talking about?"

"It was there, but you couldn't see it. I could. I saw it. And when you chose to keep traveling and started spending more time at work than with me, I assumed you two were… having an affair."

"What? No, I–"

"I may know that now, but imagine being in love with someone and watching them fall in love with someone else," Ami interrupted. " I already couldn't compete with your job, and then you were training this woman to go on these trips with you, who wanted to do the same thing and got you in a way I never could."

"Nothing ever happened with–"

"Again, I know that now. But, Rosie, tell me something. And be honest, please. In the past year, when have you been the happiest?"

"Ami…"

"When? It's okay. I already know the answer."

"On the ship."

"On the ship, or on the ship with Felicity?"

"On the ship. It was nice seeing Felicity again, sure, and it was great having her there, but it was more about just–"

"Not being here with me," Ami finished for her and sighed. "What are we doing here, Rosie? I feel like I'm your jailer. It's making you miserable, and it's making me miserable because I'm making you miserable."

"Maybe we should talk to someone. A therapist or something. They could give us some new things to try."

"You've been home for days, and we've kissed once. It was a quick hello when you got home."

"I know," Rosie admitted.

"I think I'm going to stay at my sister's place tonight."

"Ami, we should talk about this."

"I know. But not right now. Seeing her in our kitchen just brings back all the times that she was here before, and it makes me feel like you… should have chosen her."

"Ami, I–"

"Please don't."

Ami left the bag of food where it was and disappeared from the kitchen. Not long after that, she came back down the stairs carrying a suitcase and left through the front door without saying goodbye.

Rosie was at a loss. She sat back down at the table and looked at the unfinished glass of wine. Was Ami right? And if so, was what Rosie had seen that day the path she'd been supposed to take?

Rosie walked upstairs and into the closet, where she uncovered the metal briefcase and opened it. She stared down at the device and sighed before she pulled it out and held it in both hands. Her wife was gone, and it was wrong to be thinking about someone else; Rosie knew that. But it still didn't stop her from bringing forth that memory. She'd cupped Felicity's cheek in the kitchen in that moment that never was, and she'd watched herself make plans for a date. The other Rosie had been so confident, too. She'd smiled so wide at the idea of taking Felicity out on a date. But when Rosie had returned to reality, instead of asking Felicity about her feelings, she'd chickened out and had gone to coffee with Ami.

"Were you trying to tell me to be with Felicity?" she asked the inanimate object in her hands.