[TM] 312: 36 - What is the most important value you can pass onto your child?
Humming to herself, Elle moves her hand along the counter. The smooth marble feels cold beneath her palm, before she plants her hand there, reaching up toward the top cabinets. If she was a bit younger, she might climb up onto the counter, instead she just presses up onto her tiptoes, trying to use a fork to pull the box of tea down.
As it fell to the counter, she smiled at herself, pleased that her efforts paid off. Setting the fork down, she set it perpendicular to the counter, adjusting it slightly. Her fingernails picked at the thin plastic wrapped around the box, feeling it split beneath her touch and crackle in the silent air. A piece of it stuck to her hand, the static in the air always a bit more familiar to her. Shaking her hand she let the slip of wrapper fall to the floor, positive it was going to be stuck to her leg if she'd just look.
She should look, but it was almost better to just think it was true, rather than get confirmation that she was right. Mostly because there was a chance she was wrong, and she really hated being wrong.
The tea was fragrant, the bag being lifted to beneath her nose so she could smell it. A light hint of lavender was going to help calm her down, let her sleep the night through. Ever since Angela and Noah had been to the house, she'd felt more anxious, and the news that she was pregnant hadn't exactly eased her mind. Setting the bag in the empty tea cup, she moved to fill the kettle with water.
As she set it on the stovetop she thought about the baby, how it was barely the size of anything at the moment. Tiny and not nearly as insignificant as something that small usually was. It was those small things though, the ones no one took the time to notice that were always the most important. A crack in a smooth finish, that could splinter into weakness. A single mistake, a word misspoken, or a glance caught unawares; all could strip something down in a single second and make the rest of a plan completely fruitless.
Elle knew that it was the small things that added up into the larger picture, and those text messages; no matter how irritating, the insistence of Bennet and Angela; no matter how unwanted, were pieces to something bigger. That bigger thing that had spun out of their own hands, and she knew that if anyone was going to be their salvation, it was going to be Adam. He'd show them the error of their ways, and make them understand how foolish they had been to put their trust into something that wasn't completely theirs.
It was the annoying piece of plastic, it was something she knew to be true, and yet she didn't want to be right about this. She didn't want their salvation to be her husband, the father of her child. It didn't seem fair, but above anything, Elle wanted assurance though, that the child, the small thing inside of her now, wasn't going to be raised into a world where there was risk of being caught, of being persecuted for who she was or wasn't. She wanted to let their child be whoever they were, and not worry that someone would find out and turn them in, or want them as part of some experiment. It was important to her, to know that the safety she felt now, was going to be there for as long as her child needed it.
As the kettle whistled, it pulled her out of her moment of thought, returning to fix herself the cup of tea. Taking a breath, she smiled at the smell of it, her fingers pulling at the string lightly. Grabbing a saucer, she set it over the top of the cup for a moment. As the tea steeped, she thought about the world she wanted her child to grow up in. Removing the saucer, she pulled the bag out, setting it in a spoon as she wound the string around the bag. Setting the spoon and bag on the saucer, she picked up the cup, bringing it to beneath her nose.
Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deep, the scent of the tea being far more appetizing than the actual taste. Exhaling, she set the cup down in the sink, knowing that she needed more than just tea to ease her mind at this point.
Elle knew she needed to know if the plastic was there or not, but she just didn't want to look.
As it fell to the counter, she smiled at herself, pleased that her efforts paid off. Setting the fork down, she set it perpendicular to the counter, adjusting it slightly. Her fingernails picked at the thin plastic wrapped around the box, feeling it split beneath her touch and crackle in the silent air. A piece of it stuck to her hand, the static in the air always a bit more familiar to her. Shaking her hand she let the slip of wrapper fall to the floor, positive it was going to be stuck to her leg if she'd just look.
She should look, but it was almost better to just think it was true, rather than get confirmation that she was right. Mostly because there was a chance she was wrong, and she really hated being wrong.
The tea was fragrant, the bag being lifted to beneath her nose so she could smell it. A light hint of lavender was going to help calm her down, let her sleep the night through. Ever since Angela and Noah had been to the house, she'd felt more anxious, and the news that she was pregnant hadn't exactly eased her mind. Setting the bag in the empty tea cup, she moved to fill the kettle with water.
As she set it on the stovetop she thought about the baby, how it was barely the size of anything at the moment. Tiny and not nearly as insignificant as something that small usually was. It was those small things though, the ones no one took the time to notice that were always the most important. A crack in a smooth finish, that could splinter into weakness. A single mistake, a word misspoken, or a glance caught unawares; all could strip something down in a single second and make the rest of a plan completely fruitless.
Elle knew that it was the small things that added up into the larger picture, and those text messages; no matter how irritating, the insistence of Bennet and Angela; no matter how unwanted, were pieces to something bigger. That bigger thing that had spun out of their own hands, and she knew that if anyone was going to be their salvation, it was going to be Adam. He'd show them the error of their ways, and make them understand how foolish they had been to put their trust into something that wasn't completely theirs.
It was the annoying piece of plastic, it was something she knew to be true, and yet she didn't want to be right about this. She didn't want their salvation to be her husband, the father of her child. It didn't seem fair, but above anything, Elle wanted assurance though, that the child, the small thing inside of her now, wasn't going to be raised into a world where there was risk of being caught, of being persecuted for who she was or wasn't. She wanted to let their child be whoever they were, and not worry that someone would find out and turn them in, or want them as part of some experiment. It was important to her, to know that the safety she felt now, was going to be there for as long as her child needed it.
As the kettle whistled, it pulled her out of her moment of thought, returning to fix herself the cup of tea. Taking a breath, she smiled at the smell of it, her fingers pulling at the string lightly. Grabbing a saucer, she set it over the top of the cup for a moment. As the tea steeped, she thought about the world she wanted her child to grow up in. Removing the saucer, she pulled the bag out, setting it in a spoon as she wound the string around the bag. Setting the spoon and bag on the saucer, she picked up the cup, bringing it to beneath her nose.
Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deep, the scent of the tea being far more appetizing than the actual taste. Exhaling, she set the cup down in the sink, knowing that she needed more than just tea to ease her mind at this point.
Elle knew she needed to know if the plastic was there or not, but she just didn't want to look.