The Delivery

“Babe, hurry up,” I yelled from the bedroom. “We’re going to be late!”

“I’m going as fast as I can, Kevin,” Darlene called back from the bathroom, though her urgency existed in her words alone.

“My parents will be landing in ten minutes, and you know how difficult they get when we’re late!”

“Well we wouldn’t have to worry about being late if they would give us more than an hour’s notice that they’re coming,” Darlene said, coming back into the bedroom still clasping one of her gold hoop earrings.

“I know, I know,” I said, “but what can I do? It’s my parents.”

“Tell them no for once, Kev.” Darlene answered coldly. “Grow a pair.”

Darlene went over to the dresser and put on her bracelets. “Okay, I’m ready,” she continued leaving the room, “you’re driving.”

Turning off the lights behind me, I followed my wife out of the bedroom and to the front door. She took the car keys off of the hook and tossed them to me.

“Come on babe, you know how much I hate driving in the airport.”

“Kevin,” she scoffed, “it’s your parents, it’s your fault I have to miss my hair appointment, and it’s your car. The least you can do is…”

She abruptly cut off the end of her sentence as she opened the front door.

In front of her was a huge black box. It looked like it must have weighed at least 250 lbs.

“What did you order?” Darlene demanded.

“What? I didn’t order anything,” I answered, “What did you order?”

“Nothing!”

I walked past Darlene and to the side of the big box.

“Okay fine, we don’t have time for this,” I said, “Just help me get it inside.”

I bent down to put my hands under the box, but when I tilted it to get my fingers under, it moved with far too much ease.

“Oh it’s a lot lighter than I thought,” I said, “I can get it. Will you just hold the door open for me?”

Darlene moved past me to hold the door open as I lifted the box to bring it inside. Just as I was crossing the threshold something inside making the box shutter.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, dropping the box on its side. “It moved!”

“What moved?” Darlene asked.

“The box! Something’s inside.”

“Well of course something’s inside, you don’t deliver an empty box, Kevin.”

I stood back and looked at the black box, now laying on its side in the middle of our living room. There was nothing exceptional about it. It just looked like a big, black, plywood box. How could it move? It was solid wood.

“You think it’ll be fine here until we get back?” I asked.

“What are you saying? Of course it won’t be fine here. It’s a weird box that neither of us ordered and you said it moved! You’re going to have to have your parents call a cab. We are not leaving until we figure out what this box is and where it came from.”

My phone started ringing as my mom’s face popped up on the screen. I let it go to voicemail.

Darlene stormed out of the living room and came back with a hammer. She went over to the box and went to work prying apart the boards.

When one side of the box finally came apart the first thing that I noticed was the smell. My nose started to tickle and my throat started to itch. I let out a big sneeze and my eyes started watering.

“Awwww!” Darlene squealed. “Look at you!” She reached inside and brought out a tabby cat, who immediately nuzzled into her and started purring.

“It’s a cat, Kevin! Let’s keep him.” She said, scratching the cat between its ears.

“We can’t keep it,” I said. “I’m deathly allergic.”

“So we will get you allergy pills,” she said. “It’s fate, baby. We have to keep him.”

I sneezed again.

“I’m sorry babe, but we can’t,” I said, quickly leaving the room.

From the other room I heard Darlene squeal again. “Oh my god it’s so cute!

“Look Kevin!” she said, following me into the kitchen, still holding the cat in her arm. “Little baby clothes.”

She held out two tiny onesies, one of them pink and the other blue.

“Yeah they’re adorable,” I said, it at all trying to hide my annoyance, “please take that cat out of here.”

I went to the sliding doors and walked outside on the back porch. Darlene put the cat down and followed behind me.

“What do you think it means?” She asked. “Is the universe telling us that it’s time to have kids?”

“Babe. We can’t. We have been over this, you know I can’t have kids.” I know I should have been hurt, but I was a lot more angry. She knew that I couldn’t have kids. We’ve seen so many doctors and I’m definitely infertile.

“Well there are options. You can try that pill Dr. Briar was telling us about.”

“Yeah and risk all of my hair falling out and bleeding out of my ass? Absolutely not.”

“Come on Kevin, at least consider it!”

“There’s nothing to consider! I’m not going to take a pill and make me super sick just so you can have what you want! For the baby or for the cat.”

She huffed, stood up, and went inside, slamming the sliding door behind her.

I stayed outside for a bit, trying to let my anger cool off.

It had to be at least twenty minutes before I went back in. I immediately heard Darlene crying in the other room.

I went into the living room to join her. She was sitting on the floor with the cat and baby clothes lying in front of her. She also had some pictures that were scattered around her and was clutching something in her hands.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.” She said.

I held my breath. “Do what anymore?”

“This. Us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Coming closer I saw that it wasn’t pictures on the floor around her, but blank postcards. Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forrest, all of the places she’s always wanted to visit.

“You hate traveling. You can’t have children. You can’t have pets. You want to live in a high rise studio apartment in New York and I want to live in a cabin in the mountains upstate. We fight all of the time, Kevin. I just. I can’t do this anymore.”

I didn’t speak.

“When I opened this box I was so confused,” she continued. “Who would ship a cat? And then the baby clothes and post cards? Like it was meant for me. It all seemed too coincidental. But it’s not coincidence. I don’t know how, because I’ve only ever told you, but somehow this was in there too.”

She opened her hands to reveal a long rusted bronze chain necklace. Sitting and the end was half of a charmed heart.

“Do you remember this?” She asked me.

“I do,” I said.

“It’s from camp,” she said. “When I was sixteen I met that girl at summer camp and fell for her. My parents would never have allowed me to be with a girl, but she was perfect.”

She reached out to her neck and grabbed another bronze chain necklace, pulling it out from underneath her shirt. The oposite half of the charmed heart hung there. She put the halves together. They fit perfect.

With tears in her eyes she looked up at me. “I’m so sorry Kevin. I can’t do this. I can’t be with you anymore. I have to go.”

She stood up, still clutching onto the heart necklace, and waited for my reaction.

“I know,” I said. “I’ve always known.”

She rushed forward, wrapped her arms around my chest, and sobbed into my shoulders.

“I love you,” I said into her hair. Pulling away, I took the car keys from my pocket. “Here.”

She sniffled, then took the keys from me and walked to the front door. With tears still lingering in her eyes she looked back. “Thank you,” she said.

My phone dinged as the door closed behind her. I looked down at the seven missed calls from my mom as a new notification popped up at the top of the screen: “your package has been delivered.”