"Maybe it was just an animal," Richard said. His effort in trying to calm the nerves of his wife backfired.
"An animal? That's absurd! This is a neighborhood filled with houses, school buildings, offices, restaurants, and many more not a fucking zoo!" Caitlyn screamed.
"Shit! Caitlyn, keep your voice down, the kids are asleep. We can report this to animal control in the morning. This isn't the first time a wild animal will burst into a living area. It happens all the time," Richard said.
"What I saw didn't seem like an animal, it's like a human," Caitlyn explained and ran her hands through her hair.
"A human? And how would you have known? That's total darkness out there and the street lights are not lit tonight," Richard said.
"If it were an animal, I know the level where the eyes ought to be. That was a damn human!" Caitlyn insisted and rubbed her temple. They were silent for a while before Richard talked.
"Are you sure about this? Cause this is fucking ridiculous!" Richard said sharply before he realized the repercussion of his words. He was already exhausted and his wife's absurd conversation further irritated him.
"Don't take this wrongly, I didn't mean to snap at you," Richard explained, sighed, and cursed under his breath. Caitlyn stepped away from him and blinked.
"Babe, that's not what I mean…" Richard explained and moved towards his wife.
"Don't you dare touch me," Caitlyn screamed. She turned away and ran to her room. She locked the door and fell on her bed. She could hear her husband's voice calling unto her and apologizing for what he said. Caitlyn shut her eyes tightly to prevent tears from dropping. Caitlyn soon fell asleep, the exhaustion from the anger acted as a sedative.
She woke up the following day around 6 am. That was the time she had always set for her alarm. She got up from bed and went to her bathroom to take a long bath. She still remembered the glowing eyes vividly and her argument with her husband. She wasn't in the mood to deal with all that.
"Thank goodness, Ashley's coming. I need some bit of distraction," Caitlyn said and finished rubbing her body lotion on her skin. She stood, wore a short gown with a flowery design, and slipped her legs into one of her flip-flops. She left her room and went to the kitchen to begin cooking breakfast. It was a Saturday morning, Caitlyn would have just prepared a light and easy breakfast and then returned to bed or gone to her place of work if she was on duty. But Caitlyn settled on preparing bacon, tomato, and cheddar breakfast baked with eggs, Ashley loved eggs and bacon and she was going to make that for her though they weren't part of Caitlyn's normal meal. She preheated the oven to 350° and lightly oiled a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. She tossed a white bread with olive oil in a bowl and spread it on a large rimmed baking sheet. She baked for about 20 minutes, tossing regularly till the bread was golden and light crust. She set it aside and began to cook bacon over moderately high heat in a large skillet, stirring occasionally, until crisp, for about 8 minutes. She transferred the bacon to a paper towel to drain; and reserved some fat in the skillet.
She heard some footsteps and knew it was Richard. Her body tensed up and she drew in a quick breath.
"Hey….good morning. I'm sorry about yesterday..." He began to apologize but she cut it short.
"I'm busy right now, we can discuss it later," She said and continued to cook. Richard stood and watched his wife for a while before he left her alone.
Caitlyn added onion to the skillet, stirred occasionally, and cooked over moderate heat until it softened. She added tomatoes and crushed pepper and cooked for about 3 minutes until the liquid evaporated. She returned the toasted bread cubes to the bowl. She added the contents of the skillet, along with bacon, shredded cheeses, chives, and broth. She stirred until the bread was evenly moistened. She seasoned it with salt, spread the mixture in the baking dish, and covered it with lightly oiled foil.
"Hmm…what's that you're making? This is different, we've always had cereal or something light for breakfast," Simeon said and his face shone with interest. Caitlyn was so engrossed with cooking that she didn't hear when her sons entered.
"Good morning to you too," She said and Simeon rolled his eyes. He knew his mother was trying to tell him he should have greeted before diving into the talks.
"Good morning, mum," He finally said.
"Good morning. Aunty Ashley's still coming?" Henry asked and walked to the fridge. He brought out a bottle of cold water and drank from the bottle directly.
"I have always told you to not drink from the bottles directly. You can easily grab a cup and pour the water into it. Good morning, how was your night?" Caitlyn asked.
"It was fine," Henry responded and smiled as he closed the fridge. He dropped the bottle on the slab and walked out of the kitchen. Caitlyn shook her head and returned the bottle to the fridge. Simeon also followed his brother out of the kitchen, leaving Caitlyn to deal with the food preparation.
She baked the bread mixture in the center of the oven for 30 minutes. She removed the foil and baked until the top was crispy, for about 15 minutes longer. She carefully removed the baking dish from the oven and used a ladle to press eight indentations into the bread mixture. She cracked an egg into each indentation. She returned the dish to the oven and baked it for about 15 minutes until the egg whites were set but the yolk was still running. By the time she was done, the time was already about 10 minutes past 9. She quckly made oat meal for herself and was about to start making tea for the rest for the family when she heard a vehicle parked in front of the house and her sons' screams.
"Just in time for breakfast. Welcome home, Ashley," Caitlyn said to herself and smiled. She had always been fond of her husband's half-sister. She removed the apron she had put on before she started to cook. She walked out of the kitchen to meet the kids all around Ashley.
"Look at you sweetheart, your baby bump appears bigger in real life. It didn't look this big in the photos you sent to me last two weeks," Caitlyn said and laughed. She walked to her and hugged her.
"I'm 7 months and almost eight months gone, Caitlyn. My baby bump was as big as this last two weeks," Ashley responded and smiled. Ashley was part of the women that appeared finer and more beautiful during pregnancy. She was a beautiful woman initially, and Caitlyn would always tease her that she and Richard have only "beauty in common". Ashley and Richard were like positive charges, they always repelled each other.
"Where's Richard?" Ashley finally asked and settled into a sofa.
"He ought to be in his room. Let me check him," Caitlyn said and was about to leave the sitting room when the door opened. A hefty man with a bushy and long beards entered. He dragged in two suitcases, he dropped the suitcases and closed the door.
"Jesus! You didn't tell me Ramon was coming with you, Richard won't like this!" Caitlyn whispered furiously to her sister-in-law. Ramon walked towards the women and stretched out his hands to Caitlyn.
"Hello, Caitlyn. How are you doing?" He asked and shook her hands. She had only met him once and that was a few months ago when Ashley introduced him as her boyfriend.
"Hello, Ramon. It's nice to have you here," She hugged him and mouthed "This isn't right" to Ashley who used her hands to indicate for Caitlyn to keep quiet, Ramon wasn't aware of the interactions. She eventually released him.
"Y'all should come to the dining table. You are just in time for breakfast and I made something delicious," Caitlyn said and ushered them to the dining room. She ordered her sons to bring to them a jug of water to relieve the driving stress before they eat. She went to the kitchen, saw that the water had boiled, and then quickly made tea. She served them all and Ashley couldn't stop talking about how hungry she was.
"I haven't seen Sheila, where is she?" Ashley asked.
"She went for a sleepover at her best friend's house. She will soon be around. I told her she should be home before 10 am, if she doesn't abide by that she knows she will be grounded," Caitlyn said and left them to eat while her sons kept asking the soon-to-be couples all sorts of questions.
Caitlyn walked into the guest room that her husband had already converted to his room, she met him working on his computer.
"Ashley's around," She informed him.
"Yes, I know, I heard the commotion. I'm just about to round off the thing I'm doing and I will come out to say hello," He said and continued to stare at the screen of his laptop.
"Ramon is around too and it's like they came to stay for a while before the wedding. They brought suitcases," She explained. Richard stopped what he was doing to look at his wife.
"What is that supposed to mean? There isn't extra room. And I thought it was only Ashley that was coming. Aren't we going on a short trip next week? Should we leave the house while they inhabit it till we come home? " He asked.
"This is the guest room, Richard, you have to move into our room which I'm not looking forward to. And we can just tell them they could stay for a couple of days and not till the wedding. The wedding is in three weeks, right? I don't want you to create a scene, just go out there and talk to your sister and her fiancé in the most civilized way. We can easily fix the trip for another week," Caitlyn said with an angry tone. It was obvious that she was still upset about the previous night's incident.
"My half-sister," Richard corrected her.
"I don't care!" She said and hissed, she left the room and forcefully closed the door. Richard closed his eyes and grinded his teeth in frustration.