Memories and Moment's
Both Randall and Audrey walked into work with smiles on their faces. Randall even had a light spring in his step whenever he walked, which surprised pretty much all of the monsters at work.
"What's up with Boggs?" Mike asked Sully quietly as they past them.
"Beats me, both him and Audrey look pretty happy, don't they?" Sully noticed.
"Yea...I wonder if-"
"Leave it alone, Mike."
At that moment, Needleman accidently bumped into Audrey, due to the fact he wasn't paying attention. The moment after he had bumped her, Randall pretty much exploded.
"Hey, watch where you're going! Did you stop to realise that somebody could have gotten hurt if you weren't paying attention!"
"I-I'm sorry man I-I-"
"Randall, I'm fine. Leave Needleman alone," Audrey hissed in his ear. Randall glared at Needleman one last time before they left for the scare floor. Mike and Sully stared at them in confusion. All Sully could say was,
"Whoa."
"What's his problem?" Mike turned to Sully, who shrugged before he too left for the scare floor. Mike reluctantly followed, just before the work bell rang.
'~*~'
Randall wasn't too particularly pleased when he heard that Mr. Waternoose needed to speak with him just as work ended. He strolled past Jeannine, Mr. Waternoose's secretary, and into his office. He was sitting in his chair, signing some papers.
"Randall, I'm glad you could make it!" he exclaimed in an excited tone, which Randall didn't believe.
"What would you like, boss?"
"The machine is almost complete, am I right?"
"Yes sir, it should be finished either tonight or tomorrow."
"Excellent. Now, I was looking over your list of kid's and I think I found the perfect one," he slapped a file on the desk and slid it towards Randall. It was one of the kid's that he always got a scare out of. He recognized her by her pigtails and pink dress.
"Why this one?"
"She always got scared whenever you paid her a visit."
"But doesn't this machine steal screams? Why do we necessarily need to get her? I have plenty of other kids that we could use."
"I want one who can produce the biggest screams possible, that way we have more energy."
"So what should I do?"
"Wait until after closing and get the girl. I've had the whole basement soundproofed so no one will hear her."
"But how do I get the card from Fungus? Scarers aren't allowed to handle door keys. I doubt he'll give me the key after hours, even if I do threaten him."
Jeannine rang in, "Mr. Waternoose, your five o'clock is here."
"Send him in," he told her pleasantly. "I've taken care of it," he told Randall.
Just then, Fungus came in and went straight to his desk.
"What's up boss? The machine done yet?"
"Almost, lad."
"Wait," Randall stopped them, "Fungus knows?"
"How else would we allow him to give you the pass key?"
"And you couldn't help me with the machine?" he asked Fungus.
"I was only told about all this last week."
Randall groaned.
"You still could have helped me, you imbecile!"
"Enough, Mr. Boggs, Fungus has agreed to help us with the final arrangements of our plan. Now, I must ask you, Fungus, to leave us alone for another minute or so."
Fungus nodded nervously before he backed away and out the door. Mr Waternoose turned to face Randall.
"How is Audrey doing lately?"
"...She's fine," Randall told him somewhat bitterly and with a confused tone.
"That's good my boy, that's good. Are you sure she's alright?"
"You promised you wouldn't hurt her if I agreed with you!"
"Trust me, it's nothing like that, you've done a splendid job, so there's no reason for me to do that. It's well...you did know that she applied for maternity leave... right?"
Randall snapped his head up, staring at him with disbelieve.
'Why in the hell would she do that this early?'
'You can apply for maternity leave here till about five months before you're expected to give birth. Audrey must have applied earlier so she'd be guaranteed.'
"I think she'll make a great mother. Give her my congratulations, will you?"
"...Yes...sir."
"Good man," he said as he turned his back to him and looked at his trophy case. Randall took it as a sign that he should go.
'Well at least he won't let you work on his-'
"Oh and Randall," Mr Waternoose called just as Randall was at the door, "Don't forget to work on the machine tonight."
'Damn.'
'~*~'
The sun had already begun to set as Audrey opened the door of her apartment. She immediately ran to the fridge, skimming through it until she found what she was looking for. Behind yesterday's leftover's, she found all the ingredients needed to make nacho's. Her upset stomach had subdued and her food craving's had developed, thanks to her pregnancy. All day she had been craving a plate of nachos, waiting eagerly until she could finally leave work. She spread the cheese all over the nacho chips and popped it in the microwave. She managed to find some salsa in the pantry just as the buzzer went off. When she took it out, she poured the salsa in a bowl and began to devourer the snack. It was at that moment that Randall came in.
"Honey, I'm...what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating my weight in nachos."
"That's...nice...so... how was your day," he tried to ask in a casual tone, which Audrey picked up on.
"Something's wrong, isn't there?"
"Did you apply for maternity leave?"
"Well, yes, I wanted to be prepared, you know, plan ahead. Is everything ok?" she asked as she had noticed he was upset.
"Does anyone else know? Have you told anyone?"
"Well...I sorda told Betsy...and my mom...and Constance...and Roz...and Paul-"
"Paul too!" Randall exclaimed as he collapsed on her couch.
"Will you please tell me what the matter is? It's because I told them isn't it? I know you wanted to keep her a secret, but this is big for me and I sorda...let it slip."
"No, its ok Audrey...I just didn't expect it to be this soon," he told her honestly ask he ran his fingers through his fronds. Audrey left her place in the kitchen and went to the couch, taking the seat beside him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and brought him into a hug.
"I am sorry Randall, I really am."
"It's not your fault; we had to tell them sometime, I just didn't expect it to be this soon."
"See, it's not as bad as it seems."
"I guess you're right."
"Good answer. Now I suggest you move out of here, because Constance could appear here at any moment, and knowing her, she's gonna be asking questions."
"When did you call her?"
"About five minutes ago. She wanted to talk with me in person."
"So...Hidden City Cafe?"
"Mhmm."
Randall got up from the couch and made his way to the door.
"How long do I have?"
"Till she gets here...about tee minus one minute."
"You sure you're not psychic?"
"Get going."
"I still think you're trying to kick me out," he called out as he shut the door. Audrey chuckled before she got back up to finish her plate of nachos. She had been rinsing the plate when Constance came in.
"Who, what, where, why, how, kid, you, Randall?"
"Calm down and I'll tell you everything."
Constance sat down on the couch and was bouncing in her seat. Audrey told her everything and answered all her questions.
"So Randall is the father?"
"Yes."
"How far along are you?"
"About three and a half month's"
"Boy or girl?"
"We're not quite sure yet, but I think it's a girl."
"You guy's plan on getting married?"
The question struck Audrey. She and Randall hadn't considered getting married yet, since it seemed all so sudden, having a child in all.
"I'm not sure. I mean, someday we might."
"I see...this reminds me of something..."
"What exactly?"
"You remember grade six?"
"How can I forget? It was the year that I learned I could blend into everything."
"Well...that and do you remember that one day in the old tree fort...the day I had my vision."
Audrey slowly remembered that day so many years ago. The memory seemed to come flashing before her eyes.
'~*~'
It was mid afternoon in the little town of Monster Hills. School had been let out for the summer and the citizen's of the town could already feel the warm weather rolling in from the south. Above the town was a series of hills, which were covered in rich and healthy forests. Not far from the tree line, was a tiny tree house that connected to several other trees. The tree house was two large forts that were joined together by a series of rope bridges. Inside, two small monsters were talking to each other about the recent school year.
"And did you see the way Sophie looked when I scared her? It was priceless!" Eleven year old Audrey exclaimed as she looked out the window, which showed a spectacular view of the town and the hills surrounding it.
"Or how Mariah's face looked when you accidently sneaked up on her in the girl's room?" replied Constance through her braces. She was adjusting her too big glasses and combing her short hair.
"That was funny too. I just can't believe school's over for the summer. It went by so fast!"
"I'm glad it did. It was painful, and I don't mean my braces. Everyone laughed at them."
"At least when you're older you'll have perfect teeth, unlike them."
"I guess. I can't wait till I'm older, than I can leave this place and go to someplace like... Monstropolis!"
"Why there?"
"It's so big that no one will now about me and my past."
"Now that sounds great. Maybe I'll join you when I get old enough."
"You should! Wait, I'm feeling funny again."
"Not another feeling. What is it this time?"
"Well...I see someone who is multicoloured and they are successful. They have a place to live, a great job and... a partner? I also see something else...it's tiny, very tiny... I see light, but then it gets dark, and confusing. It's followed by danger and sadness. Then there's light again and everything's better."
Audrey stared at her for a moment.
"How many herbal teas have you had?"
"Three, but that's not the point."
"What's this multicoloured, light business?"
"I think that someone who is multicoloured is having a healthy life, you know, there feelings are all figured out. When there is light, I assume that everything is well and when there's darkness, everything isn't."
"Jeez, your feelings are confusing."
"Nuh uh! Remember when I had a feeling about the old coffee shop getting turned into a sweet shop or when I knew you were going to inherit a great gift?"
"Whatever, those were even confusing back then. The lady who owns the sweet shop turned out to be mean and I only learned I could shift into my surroundings. Some gift."
"My feeling's always come true! Just not in the way you expect."
"I can't hear anymore of this. What time is it?"
"Almost four."
"We should start to head home. Mom hates it when I'm late for dinner."
The two girls got up from where they were and made their way to the door, only to almost get stuck.
"Either this place is shrinking or we're getting bigger," Constance commented when they finally got free.
"Well we are twelve now."
The girl's climbed down the ladder to the soft forest floor. They walked a little ways before Audrey looked back at the old tree fort. They were told it was built year's before, back when their parents were younger.
Constance yelled back at her to hurry up, and Audrey turned back to catch up with her, leaving the tree fort, along with all the memories from there, behind.
'~*~'
"I remember that day. That was the last day we ever went back to that old tree fort."
"Yea and I doubt anyone else has been there since then."
"Those were the days," Audrey sighed.
"But it's important because I think you were the person in the vision."
"I guess. But doesn't that mean that there will be some bad times ahead?"
"It seems like it."
"Great."
"Um, what time is it?"
"It is...seven thirty...why?" she told her as she looked back at the clock in the kitchen.
"Oh crap, Erik is going to be at my place in about half an hour!"
"Erik?"
"That guy from my writing class I was telling you about. I have to go; I still have to get ready before he arrives."
"Déjà vu much?"
"Whatever, so glad for you and Randall and all that, bye!" she said rather quickly as she rushed out the door, leaving Audrey by herself.
Audrey chuckled again as she stroked her belly. She was glad that Constance had found someone special for her. She hadn't exactly met Erik yet, but she somehow knew he was right for her. Audrey heard a click in the door, followed by the door opening.
"The coast clear?" Randall's voice came from the slightly opened door.
"She's gone, you can come in."
"Phew, so how was the visit?" he asked as he walked through the door and over to the couch.
"Fine, nothing too special. How's Coco?"
"Coco's fine. The cafe's as busy as ever."
"Well I'm glad business is good. Hey, you never did tell me how you ended up finding that place, care to share?"
"Oh... that...well when I was about sixteen, I decided to take a different route home from school. I was walking along and it started to rain hard, so I went to the nearest place, which was the cafe. It had just opened up and I was one of the first customers. Coco was nice enough to let me stay there until the rain ended. She offered me some coffee, and I loved it. That's what happened."
"Well that's-"
She gasped and grabbed her stomach, massaging it. When Randall reached for her, she explained quietly, "I think the baby just kicked."
Randall's face seemed to glow as a smile spread across his face. Audrey grabbed his hand, moving it toward her belly. Randall spoke,
"Can you hear me little one?"
A small, yet gentle kick was felt under his hand. Both Audrey and he beamed as they stroke her expanding stomach, provoking more kicks and movement from the baby. They spoke softly to it as the night wore on, enjoying the quiet of the apartment as the world outside sped past them.