The Witching Hour

[Part 5] The Call

The next morning, Alice awoke to the smell of bacon and fresh brewed coffee. I guess I fell asleep out here, she thought to herself, looking around the living room, glad for the bright yellow sunlight pouring in.  She'd fallen asleep sitting upright on the couch with her feet propped up on a couple throw pillows that she'd placed on the coffee table. She could hear the sound of a metal spatula clanking against the cast iron skillet and bacon sizzling and popping. Occasionally it would pop loudly, and Rick would suddenly cry out then mutter quietly to himself, no doubt trying to keep from waking Alice.

She smiled to herself as she stretched her arms over her head, waiting for the sleepy fog to leave her eyes. She blinked several times, then widened her eyes, and then squinted. After a couple more seconds she realized the fog wasn't clearing because the room was actually covered in a thin layer of smoke. Deciding Rick probably needed help, she forced herself to stand and then waddled her way to the kitchen, all her muscles were sore and tight.

"Oh no, I didn't mean to wake you, love." Rick said apologetically when he noticed Alice approach the wide doorway.

She laughed out loud when she saw him standing in front of the stove in only his underwear and her blue frilly apron. On his hands he wore two mismatched oven mitts, no doubt to protect his hands from the unforgiving pop of piping hot bacon grease. He stood as far away from the stove as he could, extending his arm fully to carefully flip over the bacon with the long grill spatula. 

The heat was much too high because the grease was scorching and sending billows of thin smoke wafting into the air, and the slices of bacon in the center were dark and shriveled stiff. As he flipped one of the softer pieces on the outside, it popped hard and shot a small drop of fiery grease that landed right on Rick's chest where the apron did not cover.

"Ouch!" Rick exclaimed and recoiled, purposefully not looking at Alice who began to laugh even harder.

He dropped the spatula on the counter, rather flustered, and shuffled around on the counter top, trying to find the paper towels behind all his breakfast mess.

"Here, let me help." Alice offered, trying to stifle her laughter.

She crossed the kitchen behind him to the cabinet next to the sink and took out a plate. Then she grabbed the paper towels from behind the eggs and orange juice jug, ripped off a few pieces and folded them across the plate, then handed the plate to her husband.

"Thank you." He said sheepishly.

Alice smiled and hugged his back, kissing him gently on the back of the neck, "No, thank you," she said, "It smells yummy."

Then she set the table with plates and silverware and orange juice glasses. She poured her husband a cup of black coffee that was so thick it left dark rings in the glasses, just the way he liked it. Then she sat down at the table, placing his mug on his placemat. Rick fished out the last piece of bacon and turned off the stove, waving a couple times at the pan as if it would cool it off just enough to make it stop smoking, then he took the orange juice jug in his free hand and strutted triumphantly to the table.

He winked at Alice and then dramatically exclaimed, "Alright, breakfast is served!"

He tossed the plate and jug onto the table, relieved to see the spread of fried eggs, slightly too dark toast, and accidently extra crispy bacon organized on the table. It wasn't even looking half as bad as he feared it would. He exhaled heavily and then plopped down hard in his chair.

As soon as his bottom touched the seat, a deafening alarm blared through the speakers of every smoke detector in the house, reverberating off every wall. Alice doubled over in laughter so hard that she had to cross her legs to keep from wetting herself. Rick hung his head in defeat for a moment before silently rising to go turn off the alarms. Alice felt guilty for laughing so hard, but she just couldn't help herself. She'd always loved him for the way he would make her laugh, that's one reason why she knew he was the one for her.