Love and Beasts

Chapter 59

After a short while, Iza left the bathroom. Everything was different. She was pregnant, without any idea which of the men is the baby's father and most importantly - what the future will bring with time. Squeezing the tests in her hand, she made her way to her room and put them in one of the drawers in the desk. "Now gotta make an appointment to check if everything is fine with you." She stroked her flat stomach gently and smiled under her nose.

For the rest of the day nothing else happened. Her grandma talked about her job in the shop and how much she enjoys it. "Could you give me a massage honey? I know you're also tired after today and probably have other things you want to do, but if you just spared me a moment for this little thing?" "Sure thing grandma. But can it wait till later? I really gotta take care of a few things and can't do it right now." "... Of course darling. Say, would you mind if I invited Akito and his nephew over on Christmas Eve? As far as I know, the two of you seem to get along very well."

At this question Izabela drank the tea she had in her mouth and coughed slightly. "You want to invite them over for Christmas Eve?" "Yeah! Akito told me that he mostly spends Christmas alone as he doesn't have a family of his own and at my proposal he said that he'd love to come over, but only if you feel comfortable enough to have him over." "Hmm, fair enough. But won't they be surprised by the dishes we will serve? I mean, Akira told me that when he used to live in Japan, there Christmas was mostly for couples and they often eat KFC at Christmas Eve." "Oh, really?" "Yeah. That's why I think they'll be surprised when they see all the food we'll make and wonder why there is no meat."

Anna seemed to be intrigued by the information and for a moment was thinking deeply about something. "Doesn't matter. I'm sure that lack of meat will be replaced by our other dishes that aren't bad." "But you won't serve all twelve of them at the dinner, right?" "Of course I will! Just because I've been living in States for so long doesn't mean I will let go of my Polish traditions." When she looked at her granddaughter she noticed that she was begging her with her pleading eyes to not make all twelve of them. Seeing this she sighed. "Alright. We'll do it the old way, which is pierogi and borscht on dinner and the rest on supper." "Yes!" Izabela cheered, relieved that her grandma decided to slightly bend her traditions.

"But I'll do all of the ones we've been doing every year!" "Wait, then that means you won't be making all twelve of these like at Mrs Kus' place?" "Have you lost your mind? I may be quite weird due to my age, but I know two people won't eat all of these. And you forgot that my sister has many kids compared to me and all of them have families of their own. It's normal she made all of these since she had many mouths too feed, especially after remarrying when she widowed." "Ah, I guess you're right. I completely forgot about it. But why do you want to invite Akira too?"

"While me and Akira will spend the rest of the night together, you could use some help in cleaning after the supper." "... So in short you want more people to take care of the dishes after eating?" "This too. But heard the boy spends Christmas Eve alone and didn't want him to feel left out. As far as I know you two are in relationship, aren't you?" "Oh uh, you could say so?" "What's with that answer? Does he treat you like trash or cheating on you that you seem to not want him here?" "No, it's not like that! He's sweet and caring and he isn't cheating on me." "So you don't have anything against them both coming over? I'm sure everyone will enjoy this Christmas very well." "... Yeah. Don't mind at all grandma."

...

It was finally 9 pm when Izabela was finished with everything. Just like she said, she had many things to take care of and after doing them she gave her grandmother the massage that Anna enjoyed after a long day of physical fatigue. Right now she was checking the internet in seek of information for some reliable gynecologist, as she has never been to one in her entire life and was a little worried about the first visit. When she finally found it, she wrote the number on a piece of paper and put it on her calendar. She was tired too, but still didn't feel like going to bed and sleep, so she laid on it and looked at the ceiling in her room.