Ggggggrrrrrrr.”
Jonathan looks at Kimberly.
Smiles.
Gazes at his wife.
Her brown eyes warm.
She winks.
“Not too much though.” She hands Kimberly hers and then dishes for her husband.
“Love you, dear.” She blows him a soft kiss.
He blows a kiss too and then reaches out with his hand where the kisses meet and he catches them. Tosses one her way and puts the other to his chest.
“I love you more.”
He takes her hand in his.
She smiles.
Faces Kimberly.
Starts.
“Tomorrow’s pool. After dessert you’d better rush your teeth and get into your shoes. The bed needs some rest.”
She smiles at Jonathan then Kimberly.
Takes another bite of her dessert.
Kimberly giggles softly.
Jonathan frowns.
Worriedly.
م
Jonathan kisses Amber’s forehead and then her cheek.
“You okay, Love?”
She takes in his worried gaze.
Puts her hand to his cheek.
“I’m fine, Jonathan. Why do you ask, dear? What’s with the gloomy face?”
She sits up more.
Runs her fingers through his bushy hair.
Jonathan sighs.
Looks away.
Then back at his wife.
“You…” he hesitates, clears his throat, “nothing. It’s nothing.”
He kisses her softly on her lips.
“You know me. Just making sure my girl is a-okay.” He kisses her more.
“I’m a little tired. That’s all. Today was a busy day. My feet are still swollen. My back hurts. You know how it was with Kimberly.”
She runs her hand along her protruding tummy.
“We’re almost there. Another month or so, right?” He puts his hand on top of hers. Moves down and kisses her there.
“According to Brown, another five weeks.”
He moves further down, takes his wife’s feet and gently starts massaging them.
“You excited?” He smiles.
“Sure. More diapers and sleepless nights. What’s not to be excited about?” She laughs.
He laughs too.
“We haven’t decided on a name yet. You sure you don’t want Brown to tell us the sex.”
“Ruin the surprise? Jonathan, we agreed.”
“I know we did, but we’ll have to…”
“Everything will be fine. In time. Don’t fret too much. Yes. A little harder. Right there.”
She sighs with relief.
“That feels really great.”
“You should take things easier.”
“Tomorrow. I will. But only after I get the shed out of the attic and rearrange the paintings that has the tools to the garden. Haven’t been able to find the paintbrushes to add the fertilizer to the petunia patch. The soil is a bit dry too. Maybe some more paint will do the trick.”
She exhales deeply.
Continues.
“Then there is still the laundry too. Usually takes me forever to get it all into the bin. We should really get those recycle stuff. It will make things easier. Sorting the white from the colours and blacks, instead of throwing it all into the trash all at once.”
She closes her eyes.
“I hope you enjoyed the car I baked. I added a special ingredient especially for you.”
Jonathan looks at his wife.
He stops rubbing her feet.
“Amber?”
Worry in his voice.
“It was the knife.”
“What?” He asks.
“Love.” She opens her eyes. “You are my life.”
She closes her eyes.
Falls asleep.
Jonathan tenses up.
Something is not right.
He switches off the light.
Kisses his wife.
غ
“We can’t do this, Jonathan. Love. No. It’s…”
“The only way. I can’t…”
“We can’t. Not… no.”
“There is no other way… I won’t…”
“Jonathan, it’s part of life… we must…”
“No. I’m not ready for that… just can’t…”
“We must…”
“No, Amber, we… please… trust…”
“Jonathan, think of what you are saying. We must…”
“I refuse… there… I’m sorry… I just can’t…”
“Love, we’ll find another way… or just…”
“Accept it? Amber, no. I can’t lose…”
“You won’t. Not yet.”
“Only later? Before you… what about them… they can’t…”
“She’s our daughter, Jonathan… Please… we must…”
“No, Amber. My mind’s made up.”
“Can you really? What do we know…”
“Enough. And they can get us what we need…”
“And then what? Live… longer… filled with… I can’t… I just…”
“I won’t… I have to trust…”
“Dare we really, Love… to them… entrust… our daughter…”
“Amber… please.”
“Jonathan, we’ll have to live with this… forever… what if… it’s too painful to digest.”
“Rather this, than live with regrets.”
“But… what if we… regret… this.”
“Love, Amber, we won’t. Trust me… this is for the best.”
ع
She runs from her bedroom into her parents’ room.
They were both still asleep. She jumps onto the bed and throws herself on top off them, rolls off and lies between them.
Her dad puts his hand on her head. He turns to sit up straight.
“Morning, my angel. Did you sleep okay?” He yawns as he rubs the sleep from his face.
His wife stirs, but does not sit up. She coughs slightly. Her chest wheezes loudly.
She speaks softly.
“Morning,” coughs, coughs, “Kimmy, dear.” Coughs, “Give,” coughs,” Mommy a,” coughs “peck.”
Kimberly moves gently to her mother and kisses her on her forehead.
“Morning, Mommy. Did the angels take care of you as I asked?” She stares into her mother’s eyes.
“Yes, my love.” She sits up straight. Kimberly helps with a pillow for her back.
“I’ll remember to thank them later.”
She smiles and goes onto her knees between her folks. She stares at them; her big brown eyes curious, full of life.
She focuses on her dad.
“Daddy, are there such things as aliens?” Her eyes penetrate his.
He frowns and scratches his temple.
“Only in the movies, sweetheart.” He smiles then looks away. The frown returns to his face. His forehead creased and a twitch to his left eye. He scratches his head.
Kimberly’s gaze does not leave his face. She leans over his legs and faces him again. As he turns his head to look at her she asks.
“Then who were the people that were in my room just now?”
He tries to look at her, but can’t focus on her eyes for too long. He lifts her off his legs, gets out of bed then picks her up and carries her as they walk to her room.
He puts her down as he enters first. He immediately checks the window. It is closed, the lock in place.
Kimberly comes in and stands next to him.
“The man was standing there.” She points to the chest of drawers in the corner, next to the window.
“What was he doing, my angel?” Her dad walks to the drawer, goes on one knee and runs his hand along the wood. It was clean. No signs of soil or mud. If someone came in through the window, there should have been some.
“He was saying something, but I couldn’t understand him.” She takes his hand and forces him to look at her.
“It was more lik
e he was speaking in my head.” She explores his face then settles on his eyes.
He looks away and leaves the room, still holding her hand.
They walk down the short passage and descend the stairs. He lets go of her hand and checks the front door. It was still locked. No sign that someone tried to open it. He walks into the kitchen and checks all windows and the back door. All of them closed and no signs of tampering either.
He shakes his head as he passes her again and heads to the dining room with its sliding door that leads to the veranda. No signs of forced entry either. Confused, he returns to the foyer and goes on his knees in front of her.
“You must have had a dream, my angel.” He tries his best to look her in her eyes and keeps his voice soft and gentle. He puts a hand on her shoulder.
‘Sometimes dreams may seem real to us, but they are still only dreams.” He smiles and pinches her cheek softly.
She laughs as he starts to tickle her tummy.
“Okay, daddy.” She laughs more.
‘Come. I’ll make you some breakfast. You want some cereal or your breakfast of champions mixed with cheese.”
“Cheese, Daddy, cheese!” She laughs louder as he lifts her up and tickles her more.
ق
Kimberly goes back to her room.
She crawls underneath her bed and comes out a few seconds later with her small back-pack and opens it.
She takes out her drawing book, her crayons and throws her back-pack onto the floor as she jumps onto her bed.
Carefully she removes the black crayon and starts to draw.
As she draws, she hums softly to herself.
It was a song her mother always sang to her, especially when she couldn’t sleep.
That was not often.
Kimberly was rarely scared, but since a few months ago, she sometimes woke up late at night and called for her mother.
She never said why she was awake and she hid the fact that she was scared. Rather, she fibbed that she was never asleep in the first place. She fibbed only because she didn’t want her parents to worry.
Things were already very tense in the house.
Kimberly could sense it.
Dad was different somehow; like he was helpless somehow.
Kimberly sensed it had to do with her mother.
Her mother’s illness worried him.
Kimberly sensed that it must be something serious.
It worried her too, but she never said anything.
Even as a child, Kimberly was very mature.