Not that she didn’t love Via and Fin. Not that she didn’t value their friendships deeply. She did. The same way she did with Tyler and Seb. Her best friends. The two people who’d been there in her darkest times. Who’d helped her start her shop. Who’d helped her rebuild her shop. But somehow, having John there, as odd a fit for the group as she herself was, made Mary finally feel like she fit. Because no matter what, John was going home with her. He wanted to go home with her. He checked her drink level to make sure she wasn’t thirsty, literally and metaphorically, and at the end of any gathering, they held hands on the train, on the way to one of their houses, wherever Ruth currently was. It was a fresh, potent heaven that Mary had barely let herself hope for.

Via, still smiling over teasing Mary, paused for a second and twiddled her fingers on the counter. “Listen, while Matty’s upstairs, I wanted to bring something up to you.”

“Shoot.” Mary didn’t often see Via look nervous.

“We’re headed up to White Plains this weekend to spend time with Art and Muriel.”

Art and Muriel were Matty’s grandparents on Cora’s side. They’d met and interacted with Via plenty of times since she and Sebastian became an item, but to Mary’s knowledge, this would be Via’s first time in White Plains. AKA Cora’s childhood home. That might be...a lot.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Via let out a deep breath. “I’m really nervous about it. But also, Matty asked to go see Cora’s gravesite. And he really wants me to be there too.”

Something twisted inside Mary, but not in a bad way. “That makes sense. You’re his other parent. He wants you to be with him.”

“I know. It’s silly, but I really don’t want to be stepping on anyone’s toes about it. I’ve never attempted to replace Cora or anything like that. And part of me would really like to go to her gravesite and pay my respects, you know? She is the reason that I have a real family now. Seb and Matty are everything to me. But I guess... I was just wondering...” Via cleared her throat, many layers of emotion all swirling together in her throat. “If you’re not doing anything this weekend, if maybe you might want to join us?”

“You want me to come with you guys to Cora’s grave?” It surprised Mary simply because she would have thought that might be something their family wanted to keep very private.