A Curious State of Affairs

“I should really be going, I am sure you have things you need to do and I have housework that needs tending to,” Amber said as she rose from the kitchen stool. The scotch we had been drinking gave her cheeks a lovely pink glow.

“As much as I hate to I have work that needs to be done for tomorrow. I have presentation I need to make. The company I work for is bidding on another government contract.”

“If you have to go into work tomorrow who will be watching Andromeda?” she asked curiously.

“If Lazlo or Vidcund are off they take care of her, if we all have to be at work, like tomorrow, I will call ‘The Nanny Van’ and they will send someone over to keep her. Usually that old cow Sophie Miguel.”

“Is she that bad?” Amber asked.

“She is really good with the baby, but otherwise she is completely useless. Last week she caught the stove on fire. It was a lucky thing that Lazlo got home when he did, or the house would have gone up in flames,” I explained.

“Oh my! That’s terrible. How on earth did she do that?”

Morning broke over the seemingly peaceful desert haven of Strangetown. Birds twittered in the palm trees. Butterflies glided on perfumed breezes over the flowerbeds. Sleepy eyed children woke to the smells of blueberry pancakes.   The sun crested the distant mountains to the east, bathing the tiny oasis town in golden beams of light. A dog barked a playful warning to a passing mail carrier and a cat pounced from a neighbor's windowsill onto a feather fluttering in the breeze. Lazlo Curious stood naked in his bathroom and wept.

I have heard it said that the miracle of birth is a beautiful thing to behold. It’s a lie. At least from my perspective; It is painful and it is messy.

 

We all looked at each other for confirmation that the others had heard the same sound.

"Where’s Vidcund?" I asked.

It had only been three months since my father's death when our old family home was sold. It would be strange to live across the street from our childhood home, but not have our parents living there.  I hadn't met the woman who bought the house, but Vidcund had on the day she moved in.  According to him, we were all invited to a party she was going to have so she could get to know some of the people in our neighbor hood.