The sun was usually high in the sky by nine o'clock but as if the sun knew of the anguish in the Honolulu Heights B&B, it stayed hidden behind clouds. Rain dripped off and on the evening before and continued to make the day seem like a waste.
George was thankful that Nina had the decency to call out for him. There was no way he was facing mopping up shit or listening to doctors bitch all day. Not today. He trudged down the stairs in a stroppy mood holding his robe closed. He seemed to have misplaced the tie for it and in the state he was in it just seemed one more reason God hated him.
Pushing through the kitchen door his nose was assaulted by the heavy fumes of bacon. He was not always a good Jew. He favored bacon above any breakfast meats, but this morning it made his stomach churn. Whether it was because it was food or that it wasn't kosher, he wasn't sure.
"Annie, what the hell are you doing?" he asked harshly. Annie, in contrast, turned quickly and smiled widely.
"You're up!" she said cheerfully. "I'm just about to put the eggs on. Did you want cheese with them?"
"No!" he yelped. "I want coffee and perhaps toast, and maybe even some whiskey in my coffee. The last thing I want is a fry up!"
"Well that…"Annie paused thinking of the right word. "That is just rude! Here I am trying to make you feel better and this, this is how you repay me?" She turned from him and leaned over the sink. She felt tears form and swiped at them quickly before they had a chance to fall.
"Our friend died last night, I don't understand why this inspires you to cook bacon," George said shortly.
Annie turned swiftly then. "You think I've forgotten?" she yelled. "I didn't just go up to my room and sleep for 12 hours, cry in the arms of someone I love, maybe have some comfort sex, talk about how my child's life will be better now! Those are the things you did! I paced my room, cried alone, lamented the idea that no one can love me like Mitchell did, that is, if he even loved me!"
At the mention of his name, George winced. She was right. His night had gone almost exactly as she had lain out. Now he felt incredibly guilty for taking such comfort in Nina when Annie had just lost her love. He remembered how gutted he felt when Herrick said he'd killed Nina. The physical pain it caused him was dizzying and the emotional strain meant he still held her close when she was near him.
"I wanted to make bacon, I thought it would make me feel better!" Annie sighed signaling the close of the rant. "I just thought being cheery might make me feel better. But it hasn't." Annie's voice escalated again. "I love bacon. I love bacon and damn it, Mitchell would have preferred a bowl of cereal instead. Who chooses cereal over bacon? I just thought it would make me feel better." As she finished she stomped her foot like a toddler and a light bulb shattered in the kitchen. With that, Annie disappeared just as Nina walked into the kitchen.
"Is that bacon I smell?" she asked innocently as George hung his head over his coffee mug. "She's handling this as expected then?"
"You expected her to fry three pans of bacon and throw a fit?" George asked confused. "Because if you did, you should have warned me."
"If I lost you, George, I'd be baking cakes and rearranging furniture in between bouts of crying and drinking," Nina explained before snagging a piece of bacon from one of the many plates strewn about the kitchen. "Annie can't drink or even eat cake, if cooking bacon makes her feel better, so be it."
"But what about the fit?" George's voice squeaked. "Should we stock up on light bulbs and move all the good china to the attic?"
"Oh George," Nina said sympathetically. "We don't have any good china."
Nina knocked on the door to Annie's room quietly. She pushed the door open and was surprised to see that her friend wasn't there. Closing the door behind her, Nina checked Mitchell's room. She didn't seem to be there either. But at the last minute Nina heard a sniffle. Annie was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed. Knowing what she might find, she'd come prepared with a hankie.
"Hi," Nina said as she sat on the floor next to Annie. She would have preferred sitting on the bed, but thought Annie might be bothered by it. This place could be a shrine to Mitchell or maybe just somewhere off limits to everyone but Annie. At the moment, Nina wasn't going to try to figure that bit out.
"He didn't really love me," Annie said suddenly. She took the hankie Nina offered and wiped her eyes.
"Surely that's not true," Nina said, but she didn't believe it. Nina was not a fan of Mitchell and she thought Annie was very perceptive to see through him now that he was gone, or maybe she'd known all along.
"He wanted someone to save him," Annie replied. "I'm not a hero. I'm not a savoir, I couldn't stop him."
"Annie," Nina said softly. "Are you really blaming yourself for his choices? That's not fair."
"I should have done it sooner," she sighed. "I should have been keeping a better eye on him. He can call me the love of his life all he wants," Annie said through her tears. "But it's actions more than words. I know he didn't want to hurt me but how could he start this relationship with that secret hanging over us?"
Nina recognized that Annie was all over the place. She was jumping from idea to idea without a moment to consider the thought before. She didn't care for Mitchell, but she loved Annie and hated to see her in such chaos and pain.
"Do you think he would have ever come clean about it?" Nina asked while putting her arm around Annie.
"I think maybe he tried," Annie conceded. "But it doesn't matter. I loved him so much and he was using me as a crutch." She shivered and asked, "Do you think he's okay? I shouldn't care, but that's the part that hurts. I care so much."
"I'm sure he's at peace now," Nina lied again. She hoped that if there was a God he would punish Mitchell in hell for years and years, but she knew Annie didn't need to hear that. "Thanks for the bacon, it was just what this pregnant woman needed."
Annie smiled just a little. "I'm glad someone could enjoy it. George seemed to pick today to be kosher. I found it to be very inconsiderate."
As Nina dressed for the day she noticed the growing swell of her belly. She knew the proper timeline for a pregnancy and as she feared, the baby was growing too fast. At first when the OB technician had suggested they had the dates wrong she was a little excited, pregnancy wasn't fun and the idea of a shorter gestation had appeal but now the practicality of the situation was hitting her and she was worried. Besides the fact that they'd need to prepare by gathering necessities like a cot, clothing, and nappies, an even bigger concern loomed. They could not have this baby in a hospital.
"What do you mean you want to have a home birth?" George asked in his high-pitched squeal as Nina helped him with the dishes. "I don't know how to deliver a baby and what if I drop it?"
"We're talking about a baby, not an 'it,'" Nina corrected. "And we cannot explain to a doctor that my pregnancy has been half the time of a regular one."
George handed her a plate to dry and paused for a moment. "But what if something goes wrong? Who will help me? You're the nurse, not me," he said still panicked.
"Annie can help," Nina suggested.
"Annie?" George squeaked. "Annie who goes all wonky when a baby elephant is birthed on the Discovery Channel? You know she nearly passed out!"
"Oh, she did not," she defended. "She just got a little pale."
"She's a ghost! She started out a little pale!" George said while handing her another plate to dry. "Surely there must be someone who can help besides Annie and I. I mean, I guess I can see that we'll need to have the baby here, but we need some back up. God, I miss Mitchell. He would have been good at this."
"Are you serious?" Nina asked taken aback. "How could he have been good at this?"
"Well, not you know, delivering the baby or anything," George tried to explain. "But he was so old, he surely would have experienced something like a home birth before."
Nina glared at George. "Okay, maybe he wouldn't have been useful in this situation, but he would have at least known some supernatural doula or something."
"A doula?" Nina asked with a smile. "You know what a doula is?"
"What? I read books," he answered with a scoff. "Maybe we can still find some werewolves that have dealt with this? Maybe we should be looking on the internet?"
"The internet?" Nina groaned. "You think there's some werewolf facebook group?"
"Well maybe there is!" George said excited.
"I hardly think that would be a good idea," she said rolling her eyes. "It would uncover our secret pretty swiftly, don't you think? Bring unwanted attention."
George's face fell. "Yeah, you're probably right about that. Better get looking for a supernatural doula or maybe a witch?"
Nina shook her head and smiled. Her man was ridiculous sometimes.