WILLFUL WITCHES

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Stephanie and Robert began to follow the maitre' de to their table, Robert was thoroughly excited and eagerly hurried after the quick man through the restaurant sniffing the air as he walked. The smells of the Indian curry driving him wild with hunger. "Mmmm," Robert murmured to the maître de. "It all smells so good and it's been so long since I've had authentic Indian cuisine."

The maitre' de smiled as he pulled the chair out for Robert. Robert nodded to him as he sat, then picked up the menu and began to look it over wondering to himself what he should get. Steph arrived at the table a few moments later, a little winded and a wee bit ticked off to find Robert already seated and placing his order with the waiter.

"Gee Robert, nice of you to wait for your pregnant wife. Remember me?" Steph asked a bit testily.

"Oh, honey!" Robert said as he stood up. "I'm sorry, I thought you were right behind me."

"Mmm-hmmm," Steph said glaring at him. "Well, you might've noticed me lagging if you hadn't had your nose up in the air sniffing it like a freaking pug in heat. Honestly Robert for a moment, I thought you were going to take that man's food over there. It's not like we haven't eaten today."

Robert held out a chair for Steph and helped her sit down. Steph began to fidget on the hard chair, trying to make herself comfortable. Robert sat down and asked, "Are you all right, honey?"

"Oh yeah, I'm ducky. You do realize there isn't a damn thing on this menu I could eat that won't keep me up tonight with severe heartburn and if I'm up., you're up," Steph said.

Robert beamed.  "Oh, it'll be worth it."

"Gee thanks, honey. I love you too," Steph said just as the waiter came back with a pot of Chai and some Punjabi. 

Robert reached for the bread as though he never had bread before and began eating in earnest. Steph fidgeted some more, she found she just couldn't get comfortable, her back hurt. She began to pour some Chai.

As Robert swallowed a piece of bread he said, "Steph I don't think you should have the Chai. It has quite a bit of caffeine in it and you already had your daily intake of coffee today."

Steph rolled her eyes, looked at him, sighed heavily, and then shifted again in her chair. "Well my dear, you don't need that bread. Hell, you don't even need this food we did just eat 3 hours ago.  And, if you tell me one more time today what I don't need I'm going to take your lovely curry and put it where the sun doesn't shine."

"Honey, you're a bit cranky tonight, are you feeling o.k.?" Robert asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah. I'm lovely. I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell how happy I am? I feel like a beached whale, I have a backache that won't quit, I'm sore everywhere, I'm tired, my feet ache, my ankles are swollen, nothing fits, I look and feel like crap and you want to come out to an Indian restaurant and fill me with spicy foods that you know I can't eat because it gives me heartburn and gas. I have a headache from you constantly whining at me don't eat this, don't eat that, I don't think the baby should have that, or do you think it's good for the baby. On top of all this..," Steph said a bit too loudly, "I think I'm getting hemorrhoids."

"Do you mind? My husband and I are trying to have dinner," the lady at the next table said.

"Yeah, I do. Have you ever had a baby lady?" Steph asked. Robert tried to shush Steph.

"Oh wait...excuse me...Oh, I don't think...You did not just shush me, Steph said.

"Darling, please. We're in a restaurant," Robert whispered. "You need to calm down."