It was a long drive on the opposite side of the road than Kate is used to, which is probably the most exhausting part of this trip so far. Not the transcontinental or transatlantic portions of it, no, just the part on the ground, where a left turn is right and a right turn is extra dangerous. At least they use the metric system here. God, what a relief not to have to switch gears on that between conversations. The little things like that, the tiny bright spots like stars in the darkness, are what'll make this a smooth transition on the personal front.

On the professional front... she's kind of amazed that a small, nowhere place like this has a decent observatory. Kate's used to thinking bigger: Arecibo, La Silla, international conferences. She never would've even considered Yaughton for research if not for Stephen -- Stephen, who stole her heart after putting enough passion and hard work into his studies to put any researcher to shame; Stephen, who might've stopped by her office more than necessary when she was his advisor but never once implied she should breach her ethics; Stephen, who saw her for who she is, not her looks, and who hated the casual, dismissive things that people sometimes whispered when they thought she couldn't hear them.

Maybe this project won't yield much, but he'd been so pleased with his findings that she'd just-- what was a year in a foreign country, anyway? A new piece of sky to see, and a new opportunity. Home isn't a place, for Kate; it's where she can sit and work and forget everything but the numbers and the data and the possibilities they open up to her. And, well, they met, wooed, and wed on her turf, so maybe it's fair that she gets to experience his. She's not hoping to be received with wide open arms, but maybe her mother-in-law (wow, that's... that still feels a little weird to think about) will at least appreciate that she got Stephen to come home after so many years.

You'll be fine, Stephen says, and Kate gets out of the cab and breathes in the impossibly fresh air of the English countryside, and looks up at the observatory standing proud and tall and welcoming.

"Thanks for putting together the proposal," she says, smiling back. "And for wanting me to come with you."

It'd be a lie to say she's not afraid of what the people in this tiny village will think of their scholar's American wife, but she thinks... it'll be okay, as long as she and Stephen are together.