Gemma’s mother waved her down as she headed for the car, one last box held aloft.
‘Wait!’ she cried out, despite the fact that Gemma had already stopped at the gate. ‘One more, one more!’
‘It’s alright, Mum,’ Gemma laughed. ‘I’m not gone yet.’
‘Oh, but you’re about to be,’ her mum sighed, slowing to walk the last couple of steps. She handed over the box – heavier than Gemma expected – and sighed, crossing her arms into herself.
‘Only two suburbs over!’ Gemma said, hefting the box against her hip. ‘You’ll still see me all the time.’
‘Oh, no I won’t,’ her mum said. ‘You’ll be off, tracking down the best buyer’s advocate for buying a home near Hawthorn, generally living your life – just as it should be! I just don’t have to like it, is all.’
Gemma smiled softly at her mother, and gently placed the cardboard on the ground. It groaned under its own weight, and she briefly frowned at it. What the hell was in there? Books?
Shaking her head, she turned back to her mum, clearly putting on a brave face for her daughter.
‘I promise you,’ Gemma smiled. ‘I’m not going anywhere. Besides, I haven’t found a buyer’s advocate for Elsternwick yet.’
‘Har-har,’ her mum rolled her eyes, then smiled back at her daughter. She pulled her in for a deep hug, knocking Gemma’s breath out of her body.
‘Woah,’ Gemma wheezed. ‘Too tight.’
‘Deal with it,’ her mum whispered into her shoulder, clenching her tighter still.
Gemma let herself melt into the hug, gently swaying the pair side to side. Eventually, her mum sighed and pulled herself back, grasping Gemma’s shoulders and looking up into her blue eyes.
‘Promise me you’ll call me once you’re settled in?’
‘I promise,’ Gemma nodded. ‘As soon as I find my phone.’
‘It’s in the small box next to the red suitcase,’ her dad yawned, from where he’d been stationed beside the car the entire time. ‘Can we go now, or…’