#please he goes to get some homemade curry with his mother and father in law too and all of his technical nieces and nephews after this

[antiquatcd]

⚊ CHECKING OFF MY BUCKETLIST...

finn had left town just before the power outage. new york was calling his name, again, but he didn’t intend to stay long. it wasn’t until he was in his hotel checking in on the latest in cape hazel when he learned about the city-wide power outage. he had been taken aback by the whole thing, unsure of how the cold could ultimately stop everything and everybody from having access to electricity. nonetheless, he sent a message to a few of his friends confirming if they were okay and that he was out of town, but if they could check on butterball in the dark he’d be grateful.

the next thing finn had checked was zeff’s blog, this nightly routine of browsing different news sources (if that’s what you could even call zeff) had become somewhat of a routine. he wasn’t as shocked about zeff’s task in comparison to the power outage announcement. he read carefully, wondering if every cape hazelien truly did have a bucket list. finn’s bucket list had been written up recently, kept away in one of the journals filled with his assorted, eclectic ideas. the cursive handwriting was barely intelligible to anyone who wasn’t familiar with his style of shorthand.

he’d picked up the journal from the table where he had been writing earlier. his hands shook slightly as he flipped back to pages he’d written early that month. there it was, the bucket list. one item on it stood out to him, now: “6. VISIT NEW YORK TO PLACE A FRESH BOUQUET OF FLOWERS ON GIA’S GRAVE.” how coincidental that zeff had announced such a task while finn was in new york.

he supposed that it was too cold to try windsurfing, he was too far from home to reorganize his library of books, and it didn’t make sense to try any of the other options when he wasn’t in greece or when he didn’t have access to a bar.

he sighed softly, while closing the journal back up, knowing what he had to do.

he called up gia’s sister first, letting her know that he was in new york for a short while. she greeted him kindly, as she always had. her voice a painful reminder of gia’s. it was crazy how much the kaur siblings were alike. in finn’s observations, most siblings were the complete opposite of one another with only a few ideas and principles shared. but, the kaur children all had smiles like sunshine, nothing but kind words spilling from their lips, and wise souls. finn loved their family, he had even been accepted as one of them, but he felt like after gia had passed away he could no longer bear seeing the similarities to his wife.

it’d been over a year since he’d last called anuradha, gia’s sister. during that call, he had updated her on his move to cape hazel and how butterball was doing. that call had felt so dreary and unreal, once it was over he knew he would never call again. but here he was, on the phone with her on a winter afternoon in new york asking if she would like to visit gia’s grave with him. of course, she had told him yes. anuradha was not one to refuse a request from family, and that’s what he was to her.

--

finn wore a thick wool coat, but even the harsh winter wind got through it. his cheeks were a rosy red, but not as bright as the flowers he held in his hands. there was a vibrant, fragrant mix of peonies and carnations, some white and some a brighter pink.

a ghost of a breath went past his lips as he let out a shaky sigh. from a distance, he could see the floral patterned dress anuradha was wearing, and her husband at her side. finn prepared to say something, anything. however, as soon as the couple arrived, finn was simply pulled into a tight hug by his sister-in-law. he held her back, surprised that he didn’t burst into sobs on her shoulder like he had, weeks earlier, in his conversation with eddy. he moved the flowers to keep them from being crushed under the pressure of the hug.

“are you ready?” she asked, a gentle smile gracing her lips. all finn could do was nod as he turned to walk up the hill into the graveyard.

anuradha patted finn’s shoulder all the way as they walked to the grave, his heart pounding loudly with each step and each pat. he felt sick to his stomach, like he might see her body again... but, there was just a stone slab with simple writing across it.

gianpreet neelam kaur. 1986 to 2015. daughter, sister, aunt, wife. “go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.”

he read them over and over feeling a sense of peace looking at the inscription. with a stable hand he set the flowers across the barren ground. he took his scarf from around his neck and brushed off the top of the grave.

“i miss her,” he whispered to anuradha, his voice as soft as the winter wind.

“we all do, but it’s okay to find peace. she would want you to find joy in your life, we all want you to be happy again, finley,” the wise soul of the kaur family had shown up. finn only smiled, drawing an arm around his sister-in-law easily.

he looked down upon the grave once more and smiled for HER.