Of Lights and Shadows (Book 4)

31) A Surprise

Silence climbed the stairs to his door that evening and let himself in. It was unlocked, he was pleased to find, which meant Susan was home, and as he walked in he was greeted by the warm smell of home cooking and Susan's favourite classical selection playing. It was mainly all piano music as she grew up playing it and her father was a great pianist, though he never quite made it to the greats. He was great within his household and to his family that was all that mattered.

Silence found Susan humming away to a tricky piece of music in the kitchen while washing the dishes. A dishwasher had been installed in the apartment when they had bought it, but somehow Susan had never gotten the hang of it and so washed the dishes by hand.

He wasn't sure whether she had heard him come in or not, but he snuck up on her anyway and planted a kiss on her exposed neck. Her humming stopped immediately and she turned wide-eyed to face him. And, hands dripping wet, embraced him around the neck in a hug and returned with a kiss of her own. Silence laughed as the soapy water dripped down his back, it was the only thing he could say that expressed his emotions. He grinned at her as he pulled away and sought for his notebook and pen.

'After you've written that you can help me with these dishes, they could do with being dried, I'll need them later,' Susan told him as she returned to the sink.

This was a different mood to the one she had been in the night before, and he couldn't help but smile. Whatever was bothering her must have left; if it had then he was glad, though the fact that she hadn't told him still nagged gently inside his mind. Feeling much better upon seeing her act like normal, he wrote his note.

How are you? And how was your day? He wrote before placing the notebook in front of her so she could read it. When she had finished she placed it on the kitchen bench and picked up a tea towel to help dry.

'I am very well, thanks for asking. I have a surprise for you, which I will tell you after dinner, if you're good. I made your favourite,' she told him before carrying on to describe her day.

Silence listened intently to everything she said, taking it all in, filing it away, and making notes of questions to ask her later. As always, much of what she told him were interesting stories she had had to write that you would find in the paper if you looked. He heard so much from her that he very rarely had to read a paper himself. Of course it wasn't always wise to listen to just one account of something that happened because it was possible at times for Susan to be prejudiced, so he had to be careful. But then, as well, they both shared the same thoughts and opinions quite often so if she thought something wrong or right then he would normally feel the same way when he found out about it. The one major thing that their feelings differed in was about Dastardious.

So this surprise you have for me, care to divulge?

He had waited patiently until dinner was complete before finally asking her, he had spent most of it wondering what it might be but held off asking. Now, with dinner before them finished he could see her itching to tell him, he asked.

'Well,' she started then stood up quickly, pushing her chair back. 'Let's talk in the lounge; the dishes can be done later.'

Silence quickly followed, his curiosity aroused even more, and sat down next to Susan and waited expectantly for her to tell him. She took it slowly, he could see so clearly that she wanted to tell him, but he could see just as easily that it was something she was finding hard to say. It worried him what it was that she had to say and he gripped her hand tightly in his. But she had told him it was a surprise for him and sounded so cheerful and happy that he couldn't imagine it to be anything bad. Susan obviously sensed his feelings and smiled brightly, washing all thoughts in his mind away with it, as she gripped his hand back.

'I stopped by our doctor today on a hunch, and the hunch turned out to be correct. I'm having another baby.'

Silence blinked. The news hit him like a tidal wave that washed over him and pushed him under. He felt unable to breathe as he digested the news. A baby? Another? He didn't know how to take it and he struggled to swim to the top of it.

Susan looked up at his surprised face, a look of concern and worry covered her own. She gripped his hand tighter than before. 'Silence?'

He blinked and gave his head a shake before releasing her hand from his and quickly writing out a note.

I am surprised. I... Well I don't know what to say. It's quite a surprise... But a fantastic one.

He wrote with a smile. It lasted a second before it was washed away by something that was pressing on his mind.

'You wonder if that same thing will happen with this one,' Susan told him sadly, interpreting his thoughts correctly. She wished he would smile again; he had a beautiful smile she thought, it so much better than the incredible look of sadness and worry he held at the news. It was understandable how he felt, she, in truth, was also scared that her baby would go the same way as their others. But there was a chance that this one could be different, and in no way was this to be a sad occasion.

'This isn't to be a sad occasion,' she told him sternly. 'It's a happy one, this one will be different, I can feel it,' she assured him.

Silence smile wanly in reply, he hoped it would be different this time but you never knew and he so didn't want a repeat. He had survived the first two, but what would a third do to him? What would it do to Susan? Her most of all. They both wanted children dearly, but she was the one that had to go through it all and what if the pain turned out to be for nothing once more?

In reply to her he slowly nodded.

It will be different. He wrote at last, dragging the smile from its hiding place and pushing the heavy feelings of sadness that were overwhelming him down. Not knowing what else to say, Silence embraced his wife in a deep hug.