Summer's a Knife

Chapter 4

July 29th, 2029.

You wake up feeling rested. Rolling over on your back while you keep your eyes closed, you revel in the comfort of the soft mattress underneath you. Turning your head ever so slightly, a strip of sunlight hits you in the face, and the moment of comfort slips away. Sun in your bedroom means it is late morning, and late morning means your children should be up. Why haven't you been woken up?

You scramble out of bed and grab your summer morning robe from the chair by the dresser, smoothing down your tousled bed hair with the palm of your hand as you make your way to the door. In the hallway, the faint sound of voices and children's laughter echoes off the walls from downstairs, and a sense of relief washes over you. This means they're okay; no one has been kidnapped or died during the night. Not that you really expected any of that.

"Look who's up," Karlie greets you as you walk through the door to the kitchen.

"Hi," you say, looking from her to your children sitting around the kitchen table, clearly in the middle of eating breakfast. The table is full of plates with French toast, various berries, and a large jug of what looks like freshly squeezed orange juice.

"Mummy, look!" Eloise jumps up from her chair and takes your hand, leading you to where you normally sit. "We made you breakfast. I helped."

"You did?"

"Yes!"

You bend down to kiss her forehead. "You're amazing," you say and look over at the table, spotting a glass with three small yellow flowers in them. "Did you pick the flowers too?"

"Mhm," she nods.

"They're beautiful, darling, thank you."

You sit down and immediately Karlie offers you coffee, which you graciously accept. You watch her move around your kitchen, finding everything she needs with such an ease it's like she has lived here for years. For a moment you wonder if you woke up to an alternate reality today.

"What?"

The question grabs your attention and brings you back to this reality where three pairs of curious eyes are looking at you. "Oh," you exclaim with a smile, "nothing. I was just thinking about how you have really figured out my kitchen."

Karlie laughs. "I woke up at 4:30. Jetlag, you know? Figured I might as well go do something productive."

"And then we got up," Connor chimes in.

"And I was hungry," Eloise adds.

You grin at the two of them before you focus on Karlie. "Thank you for this. Really. It has been a while since the last time this happened."

She flashes you a smile you could lose yourself in over and over. "You're welcome. Now eat up!"

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You spend the day watching her play with your daughter. Instead of lunch, you all sit down for a tea party that even Connor wants to attend, with homemade pastries and lemonade and the fancy tea set Eloise got for Christmas last year when she was really too young for such an exquisite set. When it's time to make dinner, you watch Karlie run around with the kids underneath the water spray from the garden hose, Eloise screeching happily every time she gets sprayed.

Once the kids are in bed, the two of you sink into the large couch in your living room with a bottle of wine to share between you.

"I really enjoyed watching you with the kids today," you say softly, "you're so good with them." Your eyes meet long enough before she looks away that you can detect a hint of sadness in them, and you worry about having said the wrong thing.