"You're my princess," he said around his soup. "I like pampering you."
Beaming, I made myself a bowl. He finished his in minutes, while I was still blowing on mine.
"Kiss me, I'm leaving," he said.
I jumped up from the table and threw my arms around him. "Have fun at practice."
As I watched my husband walk out of the kitchen and into the garage, I sighed. My childhood had been somewhat chaotic, but Lucian had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. His family lived next door to mine in our small, run-down neighborhood. It had always been him and me against the world.
Nothing had changed, and I hoped it never did.
3
Constance
Isipped my grape juice out of a wine glass; I would swirl it around in my mouth wishing it was wine instead. It was worth it, giving up wine, but I was looking forward to a glass after my nine months was up.
I took another sip and watched Lucian move around the kitchen. He had his grandmother’s cast iron skillet out. It had been seasoned by her over decades of use, and she claimed she'd fed her husband his first meal from it when they married. I loved that idea so much that I followed in her footsteps. “I hope you’re hungry." He flipped the steaks and added butter to the pan. "I'm starved."
"Ravenous. I was a little nauseous earlier and skipped lunch." I'd napped straight through it if I was being honest.
"I had back to back meetings, so lunch was packs of crackers from my desk." He grinned at me and poured mushrooms into the sauté pan with the fresh green beans. The smells rising from the stovetop made my mouth water. I was sitting at the island that was installed during our kitchen reno a couple of years ago. We spent many evenings with him cooking dinner and me sitting on the other side of the island talking to him. We were the picture of modern domestic bliss.
"When is the next ultrasound?" he asked.
"Next week,” I said, smiling and rubbing my stomach. I've got it in your work calendar, so you won't book any appointments during that time."
He turned to look over his shoulder at me. "You always make sure I'm organized."
While he continued to cook, Lucian launched into a story about an insurance claim he'd had to follow up on today. He'd left his position with a large insurance company a couple of years ago, where he was nothing more than a faceless salesman, in favor of a smaller company. It was a risky move, but it had been worth it. Instead of just sales, he now stayed with his clients through the process from sales to claims and everything in between. He even sent cards for special events like holidays and births...
He loved it.
I only had to be social a couple of times a year, when he threw parties for his clients, so it worked for me too. Lucian was the social butterfly. I preferred my makeup brushes and the internet. Introverts unite.
His story was cute, and I was about to tell him so until something caught my eye. I looked up from my grape juice and gasped when I saw the same shape from yesterday fly past the window.
Launching off the barstool, I had to grab the side of the island to steady myself as I ran around it toward the back door.
"What are you doing?" Lucian ran after me, shocked at my behavior.
"I saw something run past the window!" I exclaimed. Jerking the door open, I stepped out onto the back porch.
Lucian met me at the door and pulled me backward, using both hands to make sure I didn't lose my balance. Then he stepped in front of me and searched our backyard.
On my tiptoes, I looked over his shoulder. "See anything?"
"Well, it's almost full dark," he said dryly. "Are you sure about what you saw?"
"Yes! Luc, it was the size of a person, but maybe bigger. Remember when I thought that maybe an owl flew close past the window? I'm telling you; this was too big to be an owl."
He looked to the right, squinting, and I stepped out from behind him, peering to the left. "We need a big flashlight," I complained.
He huffed. As much as he loved me, sometimes he thought I was a lunatic. "Doesn't pregnancy cause stuff like brain fog? I think they call it baby brain?"
I elbowed him in the side as hard as I could. "Don't be a jerk. I'm not foggy."
A large, dark shape darted behind the neighbor's barn, but it seemed to be on all fours. "There!" I whisper-yelled. "Behind the barn."
