Literaria by Carolyn K. Boehlke

Author:Carolyn K. Boehlke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Published: 2014-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

***

The night was filled with the plans of new-parents-to-be. Michael made a list of calls to make Monday morning, including Florence’s doctor and the insurance company. They also made lists of all they needed to buy over the next several months—crib, car seat, clothes, diapers. The list seemed to be endless. After hours of preparing for the months and years to come, Michael finally collapsed in bed beside Florence and the pages of plans they had devised. It was well past midnight by the time they fell asleep, Michael’s hand resting protectively across Florence’s abdomen, like a warm shield.

The next morning, Michael had left the apartment for his morning run by the time she woke up. Florence stumbled into the kitchen, momentarily disgruntled there was no scent of coffee as Michael must have forgotten to make it for her before he left. However, when Florence approached the coffee pot, canister of coffee grounds in hand, she found a large piece of paper taped to the top of the coffee maker and written in red letters were the words, “DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.” Florence grumbled and ripped the paper from the top of the machine. One cup of caffeine wouldn’t hurt the baby, she told herself. She drank it yesterday without knowing she was pregnant. Florence opened the top of the machine to fill with grounds, but found another note: “I’M SERIOUS—DON’T DO IT.” Florence sighed and snatched the note out of the basket. In the coffee tin she found, “DO NOT DRINK THE COFFEE!” In her favorite coffee cup was the note, “STOP, FLORENCE!” Finally, in the refrigerator, taped to her coffee creamer was the note, “THINK OF THE BABY.”

Exasperated but amused, Florence sank onto a kitchen chair. She didn’t have to wait long before Michael was back from his run. He poked his head around the corner of the kitchen, a sheepish grin spread across his sweaty face. He watched her for a moment, as though trying to determine how angry she actually was. She let him suffer for a moment and kept her face fierce and hard before the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile. “I don’t think I can last without coffee.”

Michael smiled and from behind his back presented her with a steaming cup. She recognized the logo from her favorite bakery around the corner. “It’s decaf,” he said and sat across from her.

Florence’s smile wavered. “Let me rephrase. I don’t think I can last without caffeine.”

Michael laughed and pushed the cup across the table toward her. “You’ll survive. It’ll only take your body a few days to adjust to life without caffeine in the mornings.”

Florence grudgingly accepted the cup and muttered a thank you. As she took the first sip, she couldn’t help but feel like she was betraying her body—fooling it with the taste of coffee but denying it the sweet nectar of caffeine it needed. Michael kissed the top of her head and disappeared into the bathroom. A moment later Florence could hear the spray of the shower ricocheting off the tile walls and curtain.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.