ELEMENTS Book Two

Chapter Ten: Setting Up For Baby

The very next morning, while Violet is still sleeping, I tiptoe downstairs and get out everything I need to make eggs, bacon, and toast for Violet, and cereal for myself. While the eggs and bacon are frying, I pop the toast in the toaster.

My cereal obviously won't take long to make, so I'll leave that for last. Violet likes her toast and eggs in an open-face sandwich style, so, after the toast is buttered and the eggs and bacon are ready, I make the sandwich and my cereal and head upstairs to wake her up with breakfast.

When I open the door, Violet mutters sleepily "Mmmm, what is that delicious smell?" When she opens her beautiful blue eyes, I whisper "Surprise, my beloved..." and kiss her forehead lightly while grabbing our food from the tray I brought it up on. "What do we have here?" she asks.

"Well, for the best wife in the entirety of Maurasia, we have an open-faced sunny-side up egg sandwich with bacon on the side; and for myself, we have a simple, yet non-negotiably delicious bowl of cereal." She smiles and blushes at the endearing comment, and then says "River; I've been thinking..."

I try to answer with "What have you been thinking about?" but, somehow it translates into "Sjfvjuffnirrofmurcjdjgukygfyt?" Violet rolls her eyes and mutters "Pig" before I swallow and respond "But I'm your pig; now, what I was trying to say was... what have you been thinking about? It's obviously important, if you're thinking about it, my love."

She wraps her arms around my neck, being careful not to cause me to spill my breakfast, and says "Well, I was thinking that we should get the baby's room ready. Just so it isn't much of a hassle when the big day comes, and because I know you like to build things, and do things for your wife; am I correct?" I shrug, unable to say more than "Eh... if you put it that way... I want a compromise, though." She seems intrigued by my request.

"What kind of compromise, dear husband?" I think for a minute, then say "If I help you get the baby's room ready... will you get me swimming lessons?" Though she seems surprised at my offer, she nods and replies "I know someone who can give you lessons."

"When can we start?"

"Later, River; eat your breakfast first." I nod and dig through my cereal, eating every last visible flake, because Violet thinks leaving food on the dishes is 'a waste'. By now, she has already finished her breakfast, and is leaning what little weight she's gained onto my shoulder. "How was your talk with Lazarus last night, beloved?"

"Not bad; nothing really interesting was said, and we didn't talk about much; just Kellie." I nod and respond "Alright; I just wanted to know how my wife is doing."

"I'm doing alright, River; even more so, because I have the best hubby ever." This makes me blush a little. "Thank you, Violet; I like knowing that I don't go unappreciated, and I'm sure you do, too."

She smiles, something that's been kind of rare these days. "I do; thank you for breakfast, River. It means a lot that you'd make me something to eat and give me a break from all the stress I'm dealing with right now."

"You don't need stress, my love; but you definitely do need a break." I kiss her cheek and she whispers "You're a sweetheart" before getting up to put our dishes in the dishwasher; she gets as far as opening the appliance before I stop her and whisper "No stress, my love." I hand her a magazine and tell her "Go pick out what you want in the baby's room. I want to see the eye my wife has for style."

She giggles and says, in her sexiest voice, "I'll surprise you... tiger" and winks at me before she leaves. I know that Violet will pick out everything she will need and make it coordinate in the process.

About thirty minutes later, Violet comes back into the bedroom, where I'm buttoning up her favorite plaid shirt. "River; I found everything we need for the baby, and more!" She shows me the things she picked out and I can't help but marvel at how perfectly coordinated everything is.

Even though I am merely looking at everything she picked, Violet thinks I'm acting bored. "If you don't like something, say so, honey..."

"It's not that I don't like something, beloved; I was just marvelling at how perfectly everything... fits..." She smiles and says "I also have a layout plan for the baby's room" after which she pulls out a sheet of white paper that looks like it has a floor plan on it.

Upon closer inspection, I notice that she has already laid out how she wants the room to look in relation to what she chose.

I nod and mutter "It's beautifully laid out, my love. I know you've thought long and hard about this, and I want you to know that I'm grateful."

"Grateful for what; that you didn't have to do this?"

"No; just that you wanted to do this." I hate it when she gets defensive; it really bugs me. Unlike when I was in a relationship with Marie (yes, it happened; my parents wanted to keep the whole Earth-Water pairing scheme going), where neither of us judged the other based on morals.

Unfortunately, our relationship was short-lived when I found her kissing a young man who would later become my best friend (Adam.)