Beneath the Void

Beneath the Void-2

Chapter 2

I dumped the heavy tray on the light oak island, the cups clinking together in a beatless rhythm. I pulled out a fresh cup, and filled it with tap water, taking a long chug. Once I had finished my drink, I placed it next to the others on the tray, and walked out of the kitchen into the living room, plopping myself down on the couch next to Gina. She was looking at her stomach in awe, stroking it.

"Hey Sis. Still amazed?" I asked, smiling at her. She took a break and looked up at me, happier than I had seen her in a while. Mum was putting constant pressure on her to get out of the house, so she didn't smile a lot anymore. she and Mum had come to blows so many times over the past month, I'm suprised that my eardrums hadn't suffered for it.

"Completely and utterly. Did you know that in the first month, the child's heart starts beating?" she inquired.

"...No...Why?"

"Because my baby officially has a beating heart now! Isn't it great?" she sung. I'm guessing the mood swings haven't kicked in yet.

"Yeah, totally. Have you thought of names yet?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. Hunter if it's a boy, and Jessica if it's a girl" she smiled happily. "Oh, and guess what? I'm going to tell Brian today! He's coming over in an hours time, so I'm gonna need help preparing. It has to be perfect."

"Preparing? What do you mean preparing? All you need to do is say 'Honey, I'm pregnant', why do you have to do anything else?"

"I said, it has to be PERFECT! It's going to be the most special lunch of our lives, and THAT'S THAT!" she yelled at me. Maybe I was wrong about those mood swings...

"Ok, Ok! I'll help you prepare!" I hastily agreed. She walked into the kitchen. "Just please don't kill me..." I muttered once she was out of earshot. Following my sister back into our kitchen, I watched her pull out a various assortment of ingredients from our cupboard. Flour, yeast, salt, sugar. She turned to the fridge. Milk, eggs and butter joined the pile. An fairly innocent collection. Then she pulled out her little 'recipe box', and removed a familiar card from the breads section. A painfully familiar recipe card. "No...Please not them..." I pleaded. I couldn't. Too much work, too much pain, too much to remember.

"Yes, brioche rolls. They're the most perfect food for my announcement." She told me, emphasising the 'perfect'. "Think about it. Buns for bun in the oven! Get it? Huh?" she asked, giving me a 'you idiot' look. I sighed, and submitted. I was not going to make it out of this kitchen alive. Noticing my acceptance, Gina brightened up considerably. "Good girl! Ok, you get started on the brioches, and I'll get a few more little things going on..."

*****

Three hours later, my face covered in flour and my fingers marred with burns, I was dressed in a tacky 'waitress' costume that consisted of a knee-length black skirt, a plain white button-up shirt, a black vest and of course, a little bow-tie, endorsed by Mickey Mouse. While we had been cooking, everything had suddenly grown ten times as complicated. Now, Brian and Gina were going to have me wait on them, serving the brioches, cesar salad, wedges with chilli and sour cream, and at the end, a ginger tea cake with hazelnut cream and meringue. Guh. I'm completely drained.I feel like I've spent 3 hours runnning cross country rather than three hours cooking. Either I'm super unfit, or I'm just plain sick of cooking. I'm going with the latter. The former wouldn't be incorrect though.

From my languid position on the couch, I could see my sister peering eagerly out the shutters waiting for Brians little white car to pop up over the horizon. Her casual jeans and t-shirt had been swapped for a knee-length baby-blue skirt that sat at her waist, followed by a chunky woven belt and a strappy black top. She told me that she felt too heavy for heels with the baby (I honestly saw no weight-gain in the past month), so she just wore black flats. I had pulled her long blond hair into a messy bun, and affixed the heart-locket Brian gave her around her neck. She looked gorgeous. I just hoped that after all the effort, Brian thought so too.