Richard Grommet drank a sad, sad cup of coffee. The thing was, breakfast was wonderful, truly Mary Ann had outdone herself on the eggs. She'd been adding in a dab of Creme Fraiche here lately. Thanks Gordon Ramsey! What a wonderful man, and an even dearer wife.
And the coffee itself tasted delightful. Mary Ann had picked up these beans from the roasters over on Margrove, the ones in that blue trimmed shop right after the Publix but before the light. Add in a little almond milk, little honey, and
oh heaven!
Even Marmaduke had a rather humorous panel.
Silly dog, you can't fit in the bathtub!
All that's not even mentioning the wonderful company. Praise Mary Ann's Jesus! Richard had a truly, truly wonderful family. He reached over and tickled his wife's bum.
"Richard!" She hissed and made a very pointed look at their daughter who was seated on the far end of the table.
Richard supposed there was that part. Twenty-three years of marriage and they
still
had sex with the lights off, penis through the pajama bottoms. Mary Ann couldn't handle the
moisture,
that rubby slidey feeling of bare skin on skin--perhaps the only point against marrying a Mormon girl. But like he said, her eggs were divine.
But other than that,
this was a perfect breakfast. Why, Richard often thought they all might actually live inside of a Norman Rockwell painting. There would be no way to truly know! That was his life.
Richard took another sip of his sad, sad coffee.
Tweety birds chirped out on the feeder. His wife idly hummed the "Bushel and a Peck" song, the Doris Day version. Richard fluffed the Sunday paper. The percolator
perced
on the stove. It all came together in just an idyllic morning tune.
Scrape. Scrape. Tink.
Mechanical scritches cut across the tune.
Scrape. Scrape. Tink.
Richard's darling daughter, sweet Abby Gene, scraped her eggs back and forth on her plate with her fork. Mary Ann would never scold the girl for that rudeness--oh, no, no, no. Any other day, Richard might, but he knew how the poor girl felt.
Blessed sunrays shone off sweet Abby Gene's golden hair. Lord above, a halo framed her in! Were Richard more inclined toward the big man upstairs, he might think the good Lord sent him an angel by mistake. He'd tell any man who cared to hear it, corniness be damned!
But all this was coming to an end, his whole world gone just like that. Next week, sweet Abby--lithe, innocent, and cute as a button--was heading off for Brigham Young University, for
four years!
She could come back home after her studies though. He was sure of it. He'd talk her into it. She could work out of her bedroom. He'd even renovate the whole upstairs to give her an office if she wanted it. He and Mary Ann could sleep on the couch downstairs if they had to, and then his darling girl could still live here, even work from home. They'd have breakfast just like this every morning and--
"Mom, Dad." Sweet innocent Abby Gene set her fork down. "I'm pregnant."
Richard took a sip of his coffee. "I suppose that'll be fine, Cupcake."
He glanced over at his wife.
Hmm?
That poor woman was gaping like a fish. Oh my! Her eyes were beginning to bug out of her head. Her color drained.
His wife, she was broken!
"Dear, dear." Richard shook her.
"Did you mean that, Daddy?" His daughter asked. "That it'll be fine?"
"Not now, Cupcake. Your mother's broken."
"Daddy, I think she's just, well, a little stunned, that's all."
Richard tried tapping on his wife's cheek. Nope, nothing.
"Did you hear me, Daddy?"
"Cupcake." Richard snapped his fingers. "Get me the telephone."
"Mom's fine, though?"
"Abby Gene, get me the telephone right now, young lady!"
His daughter wavered in her chair. She tensed and blurted out, "Daddy, I said that I am pregnant!"
"Abagail Gene, I told you to get me the--Oh." Her words sunk in. "You are pregnant, as in, you are with child."
She sniffled. "I'm sorry."
"You're pregnant, but--" Richard leapt to his feet. His chair tumbled backwards and slapped on the linoleum. He pointed his finger right at his baby girl. "---you can't be pregnant. You were homeschooled!"
His wife was still gaping like a fish, shock still. "Goddammit, Mary Ann, say something!"
Richard was shaking mad. He heard tiny hics and sobs on the other end of the table. Dear sweet Abby Gene had her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders shook. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm so sorry."
His heart snapped in two. Richard ran over and knelt beside his baby girl. He put his hand on her back and rubbed between her shoulder blades. "Cupcake, I'm sorr--I mean, it'll be--" Richard paused to find the right words. "I meant what I said, Cupcake. It'll be fine. We'll, we'll turn my study into a nursery. I'll, I'll sell my portfolio. I'll be the nanny."
"...please don't do all that. It's my fault. I'll take care of it."
"Child support! We'll get child support. Who's the father? It's okay, sweetheart. You can tell me. I will not kill him. I promise. I won't string the boy up or blow out his heart with my Mosen or anything like that. You can tell me."
"...Tim. Timothy Rapple."
"When did, when did it happen, Sweetie? You can tell me."
"Last week."
Richard took his hand off his daughter's back. "What." A statement, not a question.
"I was supposed to start my, you know--" Abby Gene looked down between her legs then leaned in and whispered in her father's ear. "---my period. It was supposed to start today."
Now Richard was a different kind of stunned. "Your period was supposed to start today, but it didn't because you got pregnant last week?" He truly did not want to ask, but now he really needed to know. "How did it...what did
that boy
do to you."
His daughter caught her voice on a sob. It hitched, and she threw her arms around her father. "He kissed me, Daddy! He did it right on my lips. Like with his tongue and everything and..." She trailed off, just absolutely gutted.
Richard patted her on the back. Thank her Lord Jesus, but his wife had stopped gaping. Her lip twisted, and her head cocked off at an odd angle.
Richard rubbed his eyes as his baby girl sobbed into his shoulder. It seemed that there was a chance their home curriculum wasn't up to snuff.
He sent his wife a nasty glare.
That was your job!
She wagged her finger.
No, no, no! You are the girl's father. I taught her math.
Richard threw up his hands.