"Alright. Step one, set oven to three fifty. Seems easy enou-, wait. Convection or conduction?" Minion asked himself, reading over the page in the cookbook. Looking at the double ovens on the wall, he shrugged his metallic shoulders and reached over to the touch screen to set the temperature to three hundred instead, making sure to turn on the fans for even heating.
"Okay, that's settled. Step two, mise en place."
He looked over the ingredients settled on the table, each in their own carefully weighed out container. He double checked on making sure everything was measured to the gram, including the eggs, before looking back down to the book.
"Step three, cream fats and sugars," he murmured, his hands working on grabbing the bowl of shortening and butter to put inside the commercial tabletop mixer Sir had gifted him the previous Christmas (with Miss Ritchie's help, of course). He followed with the sugars and set the speed to cream them while sifting the dry ingredients together.
"Step four, add eggs one at a time and stream in buttermilk until homogenized," he said aloud while he added the eggs, scraped down the sides of the bowl and streamed in the buttermilk slowly to fluff up the batter before folding in the flour mixture.
He smiled down into the bowl of cloudy sweetness when something began chewing on the back of his mind. He detached the bowl from the mixer and stared into the batter, a feeling of having forgotten something important as a loud buzzer went off in an adjacent room, the sound that meant the laundry was done and needed to be put up properly before they wrinkled.
As he walked out of the kitchen into the mud room, a waddling figure came into view from the main hallway; Roxanne making her way back to her office from the bathroom deciding to make a quick stop in the kitchen for a snack. Her stomach leading the way, she walked around the island to the double door fridge when she stopped by the bowl Minion had detached. Peering in, her nose caught the faint wiff of creamed butter and brown sugar, her belly letting out a groan in demand of the sweet stuff.
"Alright, alright. But just a smidge. Minion would kill me if I ruined any of his pastries," she said to the sounds coming from her stomach.
She reached into the bowl and dipped a finger into the cake batter before bringing it up to her lips for a taste. Her eyes lit up with delight, and she figured there would be no harm in taking another fingerful. Or two.
Eventually she was leaning on one arm against the counter while scooping out the batter with a spoon she had fished out of the utensil holder on the bar. An assortment of cookie crumbs, chocolate nubs, nuts and other toppings more commonly found on top of ice cream that she dug out of the pantry spread around her in a semi-circle as she mixed them in by the handful in unpredictable movements.
Minion walked in remembering what was missing from the cake just as Roxanne raised the last of the batter to her mouth, catching her red handed (from the strawberry jam she spilled) in the act.
"Oopfs," she said around the spoon tucked in her mouth, looking like a deer in headlights. "Were you gonnah bayck dith?"
Wide eyed, Minion responded, "I-uh, kinda planned to, yes."
She gulped audibly and put the spoon into the empty mixing bowl, a look of guilt crossing her face. "I'm sorry Minion. I don't know what overcame me. I smelled it as I walked by, and a sample became a bite and-well... I actually came in for pickles."
He quickly made his way around the kitchen island, his hands fanning air in short, quick bursts. "No, don't worry about it, no harm done Miss Ritchie, it was just a practice run for the real birthday cake-"
"What?" she interrupted, her eyes looking as if they would water over. "You mean, it was his birthday cake?"
oh no. they warned me about this-he thought in a panic.
"No-no-no, it was practice. And look! You managed to fix it for me," he motioned to a jar of sprinkles she had sitting on the counter.
Looking at all of the toppings, he said "Well I guess that's why they call it 'Everything but the Kitchen sink', although I think you would've eventually figured out how to put that in, too."
Through a sniffle she let out a coughed laugh, a small smile teasing her lips. Minion smiled back, raising an eyebrow as he squat down to eye-level with her rounded stomach.
"You've only been in there seven weeks missy, and you're already causing me trouble," he scolded her belly, a bubbling sound letting out as protest. They both laughed as Minion raised a hand to the small bump, his bio-metric scanner detecting higher than usual levels of dopamine and serotonin being emitted from the child within.
"Just like your father," he laughed.
"Who's father what?" Megamind asked as he walked into the kitchen dressed in one of his mechanic suits; pull over leather gloves up to his elbows and goggles held tightly over his head, a small ash stain streaked across one of his cheeks with the front of his smock dirtied with grease.
"Ah, well. Miss, uhm, raided the ice cream I had set for tonight's dessert. So now I have to come up with a backup," Minion covered quickly to Roxanne's relief.
Megamind had a look of surprise mingled with guilt cross his face momentarily. "Roxanne? Are you feeling alright?" he asked, reaching over to hold her stomach and back alternatively.
"I'm fine," she assured him with a laugh while taking both of his hands in hers. "Just had a sudden craving attack, that's all."
"Well I'll start preparing for some muffins if you don't mind, might make them vanilla," Minion said as he started to clear out the island once more.
"Ooo, Minion if it's not too much of a bother, could you possibly add chocolate chips to mine?" Roxanne asked with hunger moving her stomach again.
"Make mine double fudge instead of boh-ring vanilla, Minion!" Megamind added with a mischievous grin.
"Why don't I just make them all plain chocolate then?"
"Well, could you maybe also add nuts to a few?" she asked coyly.
"Oh, and add marshmallows too! Make them like a rocky road!" Megamind insisted.
"Yeah, add marshmallows!" Roxanne agreed with a smile that immediately turned into a frown as she looked down. "Aw, I just came back from the bathroom," she spoke into her stomach.
They all shared a smile as they separated once more; Minion to clear out the kitchen in another baking attempt, Megamind to work on a machine of his in the garage, and Roxanne for a repeat bathroom visit before heading back to the office.
That night after dinner she fell asleep on the couch while taking a break from eating her sixth muffin, the book Packing For Mars still left open over her bump.
Megamind woke up on his birthday with a terrible creak in his neck and half of his body hanging off the bed.
With a groan and a slight shift of his body, he managed to fall off sprawling onto the floor with a moderate thumk.
He stood with confusion, pulling a full body stretch to pop his back while his eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of their windowless makeshift bedroom.
He could see Roxanne had rolled into the middle of their bed with her arms splayed out, the blankets and pillows having been tucked and curled around her in a bundled nest.
It seemed she had left him a sliver of mattress space for him to claim as his sleeping ground, and he did not want to wake her up to have her re-adjust herself. She hardly ever had a good nights rest lately.
He looked at the time on his watch and concluded he would've been woken up by his internal clock around this time anyway had he not fallen off the bed, and after leaning over to brush his lips over her temple he walked out of the room to tinker around his garage for the morning.
Lindt. Cadbury. Ghirardelli. Hershey's. Godiva. Ferrero Rocher. Toblerone. Dove. He pried over the various chocolate brands the supermarket sported in the candy isle for those wanting to satisfy a craving any time of the day.
Unfortunately for him that craving was in the middle of the night. Three A.M to be precise.
Reaching over for the smoother chocolates on the high shelf, he grunted as the height difference was just enough to leave the bars a whisper away from his fingertips, pull over hoodie teasingly revealing his warm mid-riff to the freezing December air that circulated the market.
just, ngh. oh COME ON this is EMBARRASSING.
He lowered himself back to his heels, looking around for any leverage he could have against the overshadowing isle.
Taking in a deep breath he rolled the grocery cart over to stand underneath the chocolate he was intending to get, and looked over his shoulder and down the isle to make sure there wasn't any witnesses.
From his wrist came an improvised compact spring-loaded De-Gun, one he wouldn't ordinarily carry around unless running a quick errand. Or caught off guard by the wife for a midnight food run.
He aimed it carefully towards the gold and green foil wrapped chocolates on the high shelf, his finger steady on the trigger when his earpiece went off in his ear, causing him to clamp down on the trigger a little too far south, hitting and dehydrating the shelf instead to leave the entire row of chocolate bars to fall with a crinkled flourish.
Mouth agape as he stared at the colorful mess on the floor, he reached up to tap on the piece with his free hand to answer the incoming call while the hand holding the compact gun still lingered overhead.
"Eh, ollo?"
"Megs, honey, I think she changed her mind because now I smell cheese sticks."
"WHAT?" he nearly yelled, bringing his voice down before drawing forth attention to the chocotastrophe.
"B-but Roxanne, sweetie you said chocolate, and I'm standing in the chocolate isle trying to get you CHOCOLATE," although trying is a far stretch, "-and I think I should at least get a few to keep as back-up, you know?" so I don't get dragged in the mud for this.
"Well, they seem to come and go, but right now I'm not real- *beep-beep, beep-beep* -olate because ther-"
"Hold that thought, Roxanne, I have another call," Megamind spoke into the earpiece, wading ankle deep through the sea of sweets to try and find a space cleared enough to stand.
He gave the headphone a quick tap as he started to throw a few bars into the cart, trying his best to separate them by brand and flavor as they went in.
"Hey, Blue! How's my fav'rite kid doin'?" the rough disembodied voice spoke into his ear, catching him off guard. He straightened out before his shoulders relaxed with his arms carrying a load of cacao.
"Which one?" he grinned as he continued stocking out the chocolate into the cart.
"Ah ha-ha, that's my boy. Say, I'll be comin' inta town in a few weeks af'er I'm done here in Monaco, thought I'd let ya know so we c'n plan some outtin', y'know, shoot the shit while shootin' shit-"
"That sounds great, Rosc, but just give me a tiny bit moment," his voice had high pitched while excusing himself from his Uncle.
Giving another quick tap to his earpiece, he came back to Roxanne mumbling into her microphone.
"I love it when you talk dirty to me," he said with a deep chuckle.
"Oh shut up." He could practically feel her smile through the earpiece. "You know what, scratch the cheese sticks go ahead and get the chocolate, I don't think she really knows what she wants," she said to his relief as he continued to stack the bars in the cart.
"Just what I had in mind," he replied.
"And while you're there, could you swing by the gift card isle, pick me up a few puzzlebooks?" she asked.
Not slowing his speed in loading the cart, he answered, "Sure, yeah."
"The hardest levels you can find."
"No problem, hold on for a moment, Rosc is on the other line-" he excused himself as he heard her say a quick "tell him I said hi!"
He switched calls and continued clearing out the floor, the cart nearly half filled of colorful foils.
"Roxanne says hi. So what is this about shooting defecation?" Megamind asked through a smirk and wasn't prepared for the howling laugh that came through his earpiece.
"Oh you little shit! Ha, love it, anyway I'll be headin' out t' d'airstrip in a few hours, was gonna ask ya if'n you wanted some'n brought back."
"You know, Minion would absolutely go ape if you brought him some white truffles," Megamind replied, earning him another howl through the call.
"Ah, ya killin' me smalls, killin' me. How's about for my lil' lady?"
"Well, food, really. All she would want is some food. And maybe something, I don't know, space related?"
"I know just da thing. And fer you?" the gruff voice asked.
"Uh. Bring me back a lighter," he said as he got a hold of the cart with both hands and rushed to the hallmark isle to look for the puzzlebooks Roxanne asked for.
"... A lighter?" the voice questioned. "Blue, do you even smoke?"
"No. But I do light a lot of shit on fire," he responded.
Through the laughter he excused himself once more, "Hey, let me let go of Roxanne so I can get back to you."
Tapping his earpiece quickly while holding a multitude of booklets in his hands, he started tossing them into the cart a handful at a time as he spoke. "Hey honey, gotta let you go. Rosc is probably gonna need another few minutes before I can get back to running, I'll be home in a bit. Love you," he finished, giving his earpiece a prolonged tap to end the current call and turning to head towards the registers.
"Sorry about that Rosc, you know how they get. 'I want this, go do that'. Got me running around disco kro-" the sound of a throat clearing stopped him dead in the middle of the isle. He recognized that cough anywhere, since it was the sound he usually heard when in trouble.
"H-honey, hey. You, you know how Rosc likes to joke-" he tried to redeem himself when she cut him off.
"Mhmm. Save it, Megaman. Get me extra chocolate. And make it quick," she said sternly, the click of the call being disconnected. He gripped the handle of the art with both hands, realizing with a frown I called Rosc honey.
Pulling up to the self checkout, the night clerk gave him a raised eyebrow as he slouched over the filled grocery cart with a look of contemplation.
"You, want me to put it back?" the clerk asked, popping a wad of gum with an overworked chew.
"No," the blue man replied soberly. "-I'm, gonna need it all."
"Megs. Megamind, honey," the gentle voice whispered into the dimmed room.
The sound of a deep breath and the ruffle of blankets were the only signs of someone waking up.
"Wha-," what time is it? "-what is it? Sweet? Salty? Fruit?" he said through a loud and prolonged yawn, throwing the blanket off of him as he extended his legs over the edge of the bed, already reaching down for the boots he kept underneath on automatic.
"Research behind interstellar hyperspace travel and the superstring theory?" she responded with a winced smile.
He woke up a little more after that, stopping his movements and turning to eye her over his shoulder through sleepy eyes.
"What?"
In a nearby bookstore, approximately eleven books were missing from their spots, all under the category of "Science-Non-Fiction". Ray Kurzweil, Brian Greene and Richard Yonck all had books missing, as well as three under the name Michio Kaku, but mostly the row holding Stephen Hawking was raided.
On the desk next to the cash register, was a post-it note that read, "sorry, foot me the bill", with the list of books quickly scribbled under it and signed by Megamind himself.
"It's just, ngh. Roxanne, love, it's hard to understand how you've been home all day and yet you're still getting ready. I just need for us to be able to get there on time tonight, can you at least do that much for me?" Megamind asked hurriedly as he yanked on his tie to tighten around his neck a snug too tightly.
Roxanne stood next to him, violently brushing her eyelashes with mascara as she told him "Well anytime you want to share in carrying around this extra weight you're more than welcome to."
"No, honey I didn't mean it like that-"
"I just, I'm trying to look as presentable as I can for everyone there and it's hard looking good in this tent..."
"Roxanne your dress is not a tent-"
"...And I'll be surrounded by all of these beautiful skinny women, chatting it up and laughing their tinkly bell laughs while I look like a whale," she continued, on the verge of crying as she walked out of the bathroom.
"That's because they're all banal harlots, sweetheart," he tried to comfort her, pulling the tie loose again while chasing her into the bedroom.
Roxanne at that point had already started crying into her hands as she sat on the edge of their bed. "But I want to be a banal harlot!"
"Shh," he tried to hush her while holding her head on his shoulder, trying to soothe her with one hand stroking her back as the other combed through the tussled locks of her hair. "Honey, you're too eccentric to be banal."
He pulled her up to look into her eyes as he wiped away the tears running down her cheek. "Hey now, you look fantastic. You're going to run all this hard work down your face," he tried to calm her.
Through sniffles, she told him "It's waterproof," and they both laughed for a moment through the quiet.
"Hey," he whispered, reaching into his pocket to pull out a velvet cloth. "I made this for you. For the both of you. So you don't have to worry about people," he continued in a soft tone, unfolding the cloth in hand to reveal something akin to his disguise watch set inside a tungsten inlay pendant, a glow of blue and silver seeming to be pulsating from the metalwork itself.
She eyed the necklace through slits, her face reserved, knowing what was coming next and hating herself for not being able to contain it.
"Oh, so now you're trying to disguise us?" god damn stupid hormones, ugh...
Megamind knew it wasn't her speaking, and he calmly replied, "No, it's to keep the camera men away from hovering over you and not giving you a peaceful night. Besides, I told management to reserve a room specifically for the news crew separated from the rest of the gala so you can have a breather."
She looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes and a faint smile, her fingertips patting the edges to dry them without rubbing her makeup.
"And it has it's own buffet table," he added with an affectionate smile, Roxanne throwing her arms around him in an embrace.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" she said into his ear.
"I can tell every time you look at me," he replied.
Megamind was still curled in bed the morning of Christmas eve when he was startled awake by screaming.
His first instinct was to shoot out his hand over Roxanne in bed next to him in a protective embrace, who he soon realized wasn't there after feeling around the warm sheets. The second was to pull out the De-Gun from it's locked holster hidden underneath his bedside table, making sure to have the chamber set on "Destroy" before stepping away from the bed.
He could hear quiet panting over the ventilation fan coming from their adjoining bathroom, the dim toilet light visible through the cracks between the door and frame.
He was trained to never show weakness in life or death situations, but that still didn't stop the crippling fear from pounding his chest and locking his arm mere centimeters away from pushing the door open.
His mind was brought back to the moment when he could hear her soft whimpering coming through the particle board. He placed his back to the door with his free arm extended to the doorknob, gripping it with such force his knuckles started to pale out from the pressure.
The gun raised to eye level, he held his breath and let his heart beat in his ears a few scores in the span of a tenth of a second before throwing the door open and scanning the room with the gun. He did a wide sweep, coming around the corner of the deep soaking tub with the drawn weapon leading the way when it fell to his side at the sight of his wife sitting on the floor, huddled against the toilet with droplets of blood over her lips.
Without thinking he threw himself towards her and hoisted her in both arms before screaming at Minion to get the doctor, De-gun forgotten on the floor beside the red-tainted ceramic bowl.
"It's not as bad as it seems," the greying haired doctor spoke without raising his eyes from the chart in hand.
"Not as bad? Not as bad? ! She spat out blood, how, mph-ch, how is that not bad?" Megamind stressed looking into their basement patient room where Roxanne slept on a hospital bed, an IV and heart monitor over one side of her head displaying her resting heart rate.
"It wasn't blood," Dr. Glenn stated factually, letting the papers he had lifted from the clipboard drop as a neat stack before lowering his hand and raising his eyes to meet the worried father-to-be.
"But, I saw..," Megamind trailed off, looking back through the glass into the room where the love of his life slept soundly.
"Tell me Blue, what was the last meal Roxanne had before going to bed?" the doctor questioned while pulling out a pen from his breast pocket and flicking the end.
With his mind running at what seemed to be the speed of light, Megamind had to brace himself against the window frame to focus his thinking. And breathing.
"We.., we decided earlier yesterday to give eastern Europe a try, so we settled on Polish fare; Mizeria, Golabki, Kopytka, cwikla-"
"Megamind?" Dr. Glenn interrupted. "-English, if you may?"
"S-sorry. Cucumber salad, stuffed cabbage rolls, potato dumplings, minced bee-" and Megamind stopped, his eyes widening with realization.
"Oh. Oh, I'm stupid."
They both looked at the sleeping figure on the bed being tended by Minion. The hulking figure turned to the two on the outside, a small toothy smile making the robotic arm wave only to have Megamind rest his forehead on the cool tempered glass.
Dr. Glenn absentmindedly nodded his head as he said "Beet juice looks a lot like blood when processed through internal organs, it's a perfectly normal reaction for that to be your first thought after seeing it suddenly. Seeing as beets are natural detoxifiers, Roxanne's body must've reacted with what she consumed and took it as a false trigger to purge. To purge what, however..." The older man trailed off and reabsorbed himself into his note taking.
Minion appeared back in the room to deliver a meal he carried in on a tray, Roxanne waking to the smell of the food. Still reading over the papers the doctor asked without looking up again, "Well, her body seems to be responding to the designed prenatal vitamins quite well, and I haven't seen any adverse reactions to her system rejecting the immunizers. She doesn't seem to be showing any prolonged signs of HG but I gave her a dose of pyridoxine/doxylamine. Checking the monitors her vitals are all where they should be and her weight is on point to what we predicted. She seems to be developing faster that a human fetus, given her measurements meet that of a thirteen week old being she's only, nine? How long did you presume her pregnancy will last?"
Megamind mimicked the doctor by not lifting his head off the glass. "Well we've been running our own embryology tests on her, and we clocked her growing at a rate at 133%. I've been calculating delivery at 32 weeks, although I've noticed how it keeps getting pulled sooner with each report that comes through."
In the room Roxanne was leaning over the plates, taking in the scents with hunger when her nose stopped cold over the bowl on the far left corner. The angle was weird from where Megamind was standing, but he could still clearly see what the dish itself was after lifting his head from the glass.
From the distance they could easily see her face instantly pale before she threw her head over the side hidden from them, hopefully into the wastebasket they had left her during the night.
"Blue?" the doctor asked directly behind him, "-what's that dish?"
"From what I can make out it seems to be either Kibbutz or Shirazi, only difference being Minion adds sumac to the Kibbutz. But she's added sumac to her food before, so it can't be it. Other than that they have the same dressing, olive oil and lemon juice, and the same ingredients; onion, tomato, sweet peppers, cu-" he cut himself off, pausing momentarily to look at the doctor with a sideways glance. "-cumber."
"Ah," is all Dr. Glenn responded with, a nod of his head as he flicked the pen and looked back down to scratch some more notes.
"Looks like we have a picky eater."
"Speaking of which," Megamind spoke up, "Her, uhm, diet. Is it, normal, to eat an enlarged amount of sweets for a pregnancy?" he asked.
"Well, sure, most women develop strong cravings during the first and second trimester. It would be linked through the typical cravings one would have when stressed, and her body is going through a lot of stress right now. How 'enlarged' are we talking about here?"
Megamind looked up to the doctor from his lowered head. "We, had to get a Costco card."
Dr. Glenn widened his eyes.
Clearing out his throat, the doctor spoke, "Well, try and curb her intake for the moment, see if there's any way you can limit it."
Megamind let out a snort. "Easier said than done. Have you ever taken food from a lion, while it's still eating it?"
"Oh, come now," the doctor chided, "It can't be that bad."
"MEGAMIND, WHERE'S THE CHOCOLATE," she demanded more than asked, the sounds of another piece of furniture being dehydrated as she stalked around the living room.
Shoved into a cabinet in the mudroom, Megamind curled into a tighter ball around Minion's sphere on his lap who was detached from his suit.
"I told you it was a bad idea to hide the chocolate from her," Minion whispered up to his ward.
"Don't blame me! Doc told me to do it!" Megamind said as harshly as he could in the lowest tone of voice possible.
The doors flung open as they screamed to reveal Roxanne staring up at them shoved into a suspended cabinet, a raised eyebrow on her un-amused face while her index finger tapped on the De-Gun she held in crossed arms. She held out a crumpled up piece of paper that had a scrawl on it.
this is for your own good-it read.
"I can explain," Megamind squeaked.
A wastebasket full of colorful wrappers and wrinkled gift wrap to her right and a stack of used up puzzle books on the end table on her left, Roxanne was nestled in yet another bundle of blankets and pillows on the edge of the couch nursing on a mug of Valrhona, a Hidato book on it's last pages in her opposite hand.
"Megs? Mega-mind," she sing-songed, putting down the pocket book on her stomach.
He rushed into the room, a canvas tote bag swinging from his shoulder. "Y-yes? Which is it this time, almond? Mint?" he asked as he stuck his hand in the bag, the sounds of ruffling plastic with each movement of his arm.
She let out a laugh while shaking her head.
"No. Actually,... Uh, could you, ask Minion to make me something? It's, a little different than usual."
He pulled out his arm from the bag with a modest smile, letting the fabric go slack with the weight of what was inside.
"Anything! You know he's at your disposal at any moment. Minion!" he screamed over his shoulder, the sound of stomping feet rushing down the hall from the dressing room emerging as soon as the name left his lips.
Minion appeared around the corner with thread and fabric still clinging to his joints, stepping into the middle of the room while tying his apron around his mechanical waist with a half witted grin.
With a shy smile, she asked "Do we have any spam?"
Both aliens looked at Roxanne flabbergasted, eyeing each other with the same look of confusion.
"Uh, Roxanne dear, canned meat?" Megamind asked perplexed.
She slowly gave a quiet nod and Minion spoke up. "You know, Sir, if Miss Ritchie so wishes for a spam dish, I would be more than happy to-"
"No no Minion, it's okay, I'm sure there is a more suitable replacement in our kitchen."
Megamind turned back to face Roxanne with earnest eyes. "Anything you can think of, anything you could want, we should have readily available. Suppelapskaus? Maybe a bisque? Xia long bao?"
"Spam and eggs," she said with a smirk, knowing denying Megamind of giving her anything exotic and lavish would annoy the living hell out of him.
He let his head hang with a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyebrows with his index and thumb. "B-but, I don't think I've ever seen you eat spam before, what makes you want it all of a sudden?"
She gave a half shrug, not entirely sure herself where the sudden craving came from. "I don't know. I've actually never eaten canned meat in my life. Not that I can recall. I know it's not the best use of Minions talent," she looked over to Minion with a solemn gaze, "-but if it makes it any easier you can probably just serve some herring over dutch chocolate ice cre-"
"MINION, GET THE EGGS GOING WHILE I LOOK FOR SPAM," Megamind loudly declared as he rushed into the kitchen, nearly knocking Minion over along the way.
The fish-like helper turned to Roxanne and gave her a knowing smile with a wink before following his boss, and Roxanne couldn't help but laugh with a smug grin around the rim of her drink, a dot of whipped cream on her nose.
After having an extended breakfast together, Megamind walked his Uncle Rosc through the kitchen doorway where Minion was still fawning over the box of vacuum packed truffles, into the living area where Roxanne sat on the couch eyeing a hand rolled paperweight he had gifted her; marbleized glitter glass spun in a way it looked like the milky way was held in it's center.
"Ah, before I forget," the large Uncle said quickly as he reached into his coat pocket and slapped the item into the smaller mans hands.
Megamind eyed the lighter he held in his hand, an awed expression heavy on his face.
"Rosc, is this..." he trailed off as he stared at the golden box in front of him.
"Yep," he replied, "The Ligne 2 Champagne by Dupont, won it at a card game at Carlo. I have no use for it, 'cus I'm not constantly lightin' shit on fire," the heavy set man said with a laugh.
"This, wow. You really didn't have to," Megamind said, sticking his hands out towards his uncle to hand the lighter back.
"Nah, nah blue, you take it, it's yours. What you wanna do with it fine by me. Keep it, trade it, sell it off for college expenses," Rosc said as he looked over his head towards Roxanne, still eyeing the galaxy paperweight through the sunlight.
"Trust me, that wont be a problem. But thank you," the smaller man said sincerely, a modest smile spreading on his face as he pocketed the item.
"And, 'Love ya too, hon-eee" Rosc teased with a wide smile, the scar over his right eye wrinkling with humor. Megamind rolled his eyes and helped shove the large man closer towards the exit.
"But seriously Blue," Rosc stopped in his steps and turned back to face the modest alien, "-you know if you eva need me, I'm here for ya," Rosc said as he walked out through the front door.
"Sweetie," Roxanne laughed with Megamind's hands covering her eyes, "You're gonna make me fall!"
"No, you're fine, we just need to get on this platform, aaand," he said as he kicked at a switch with his foot. The platform raised into a wide open room, from the absence of sound that she felt.
"Alright, here, take a few steps forward," he told her as he centered her. Taking his hands off her eyes, he warned, "No! Don't you dare! Keep them closed!"
"Megamind! How much longer? You know I hate the suspense," she laughed. She could hear him take a few shuffling steps, the sound of tapping on a keyboard? she thought she heard off to one side.
"Alright. Open."
Her eyes opened to a room she found eerily familiar at first, and it didn't strike her where she was until she took a slow spin to view the entire room.
The observatory.
He had torn down the woodwork and duct tape shackled set up to re-build her an actual working observatory what in the world-
She finished her circle to face him standing next to the telescope, his arm resting on the monitor attached on the side. She took a few steps toward him with a look of disbelief.
"I, Megamind, when..." she lost her voice, gazing through the opening in the dome to view the night sky in it's full glory, a few stray fireworks popping here and there for the new years celebration. On the projected screen she could see a single star being illuminated in a sea of darkness.
"That's, my home planet," he said with reservation.
She felt the air being sucked out of her lungs and for a moment the world stood still.
"But, I thought you said-"
"No. It's gone. It's just, that's a ghost of it. The light travelling from over there won't fade out for another couple hundred years. It's kind of, Ironic," he told her, his head hanging low, his fingers working restlessly on tearing an invisible piece of paper.
She stared at the phantom of what used to be her beloved's home planet, the light dimming and brightening with the passage of distant satellites between the planet and earth's view.
Watching him from where he stood across the dome, she came up to him and held him in her arms while the quiet stretched between them as a few pops and crackles of burning minerals lingered outside.
Extending her arms, she gazed into his eyes and gave him a small smile, her thumb running over his cheekbone as he raised the corner of his lips.
"You. I could have anyone in the galaxy, and I have you," she said, punctuating the last you with a kiss. They stayed in their silent embrace with the sound of the new year coming in as ambiance.
"Any place in the sky, just name it. The computer is programmed to find it," he said quietly, his right hand slowly running up and down his left arm as if to comfort himself.
She gave him a soft smile and a reassuring squeeze as she stepped up to the keyboard, a pensive look crossing her face before she extended her fingers on the board and typed away.
The telescope moved in small calculated jerks before centering off on it's coordinates. On the large projector screen a constellation was displayed, the far away stars twinkling in real time.
They both stepped up to the illuminated screen, Megamind not helping to grin at the display overhead.
"Andromeda?"
"Couldn't resist, she was my favorite growing up," Roxanne replied.
"Uh huh. It couldn't be that her mythology is heavily based in Greek uranography?" he asked her through the side of his mouth.
"Mmmmaybe," she smirked.
They stared at the projection, both taking side steps towards each other as they eventually overlapped and interlocked their hands, Roxanne resting her head on his shoulder with her other hand supporting her small bump.
"You know why she's my favorite?" she asked with a sly smile, he fingers absentmindedly rubbing circles into her stomach.
"Mmm?"
She leaned into his ear just as the first of the fireworks went out in the distance, marking the end of the year and the beginning of a new one.
"Because she was chained to a hard place before her hero came to save her," she whispered, the blush in his cheeks burning up faster than the fire in the sky.