Earth, Modern Day
"Yes, I have gotten the gift for her baby shower," Tina Craige said to her grandmother, Mary Craige. The house smelled gloriously of freshly baked bread.
Her grandmother grinned. "I knitted her a baby blanket."
Tina nodded. "I know, you showed me last time, remember?"
Her grandmother nodded. "Right, of course. It's green. I think she'll like that. That way, it's cute if it's a boy or a girl."
"You know that she's having--"
"No. Don't," Grandpa said.
"Right, I'm sorry," Tina replied, smiling at her grandfather. "You two don't want to know."
"Biggest surprise and joy is to see what that baby is when it comes out. You young people always want to know early to prepare, which is funny, because you can't prepare. Not for a baby."
"You're right," Tina said. "That's what I've heard, anyway."
Her grandmother reached over to her and patted her arm. "You'll have a child someday."
She chuckled. "I need to find a husband first." Which was the biggest issue. She wasn't about to just randomly have a child. That would mean having to deal with a random baby daddy, and that's a whole no-thank-you for her.
"Surely, there's plenty in that job of yours at the museum."
Tina grinned. She worked in a part of a local museum that did a lot of astronomy research as part of a worldwide outer space cataloging and exploration project. "There are scientists, sure, but not too many are looking for wives. And honestly? I wouldn't want to marry one of them. They're all just kind of, well..."
"They've probably never dated a girl anyway. Wouldn't know what to do with you."
Tina laughed. "Grandpa! There's a lot of rather handsome ones there. They're all just married to their college sweethearts or something."
He huffed and went back to his lunch.
It was a lovely lunch at their home. Tina had always loved coming there.
Her mother thought it was because of the beach in the backyard. While there wasn't much more awesome than being able to walk out onto the beach whenever she wanted, there was more peace in that house than being in her own home.
She'd practically grown up with her grandmother and grandfather.
That happened when your mother was single and needed all the help she could get raising her three children.
After the meal finished, Tina and her grandmother cleaned up. Her grandfather went into the living room to turn on the news or some such thing. A former police detective in their small town, he liked to know what was going on in the world.
Though as soon as the television went on, both Tina and her grandmother rolled their eyes.
"Grandpa, that's a little loud, don't you think?" Tina asked.
"What?"
Grandma shook her head. "He won't admit his hearing is going."
"How do you stand it?" Tina asked.
"Earplugs."
They laughed as they continued.
"You didn't tell me what you got the baby."
