Chapter Ten

Almost Perfect

 

 

Throughout the following year William and Jessica slowly adjusted to the demands of parenthood. As Sydney grew into a toddler they enjoyed teaching her new things and watching her explore the world around her. William was especially proud of his little princess when she uttered her first word "dada" followed closely by "mama". Soon though her favorite word was "no", which she used to voice her displeasure from being taken from her swing or being put to bed.

 Sydney was soon speaking in sentences and enjoying being able to communicate like a big girl. Although she still reserved the right to scream and cry for things she really dislike for things she wanted and couldn't have. She especially disliked being left alone on the floor. She wanted to be in constant motion. Her swing was her favorite toy; although she occasionally played with an absolutely ugly doll her grandparents sent her. She much preferred her swing or one of her other stuffed animals to that ... thing.

One day, Jessica decided it was time for Sydney to learn how to walk. For sometime Jessica noticed that Sydney had been crawling and pulling herself up on things and taking a step or two before falling down.   

"Come to Mama" Jessica said holding out her hands towards Sydney.

"That's right, honey First your right then your left. You've got" Jessica encouraged Sydney over and over all afternoon. Sydney was becoming more confidant and soon she was able to walk without assistance. 

"Look Mama I did it. I did it!" Sydney triumphantly announced as she danced excitedly around the room.

When William came home she proudly met him at the door.

"Look Dada look what I can do!" She ran to give her daddy a hug. William picked her up and hugged and tickled her. He had tears stinging his eyes as he realized his little princess was growing up.

"Your getting to be such a big girl, princess. Daddy loves you"

"I love you too. Down please." As soon as William put her down, she went to play with her toys.

William laughed as he watched his daughter leave. Turning to Jessica, he said "She's getting so big. Maybe it's time we have another."

"Can we afford it?" Jessica asked concerned with how difficult it was for William to provide for them financially as they had decided she would stay home and take care of Sydney.

William shrugged his shoulders and said "probably not but if we wait until we can afford it, we'll never have another. Something's always going to come up where we could use the money somewhere else. So why not now?"

Jessica smiled and agreed that now was perfect, she had always wanted a large family.

A few weeks later William came home from work early.

"Jessica I finally did it, I'm a Five Star Chef and they want to send me to France to learn French Cuisine. It's only for three days and it's all expenses paid. I can even have someone come with me, if we pay their way. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come with me."

"I, I'd love to but we can't afford it" Jessica said dampening Williams excitement.

"Why not? We have some money saved up and I just got a promotion and we can use that ..."

"William we can't afford it and what would we do with Sydney? Who would take care of her?" Jessica tried to be the voice of reason even though she knew she was hurting Williams feelings by doing so.

"We can Jessica. Just listen to me for a moment." William pleaded with her. "We have money in savings and your parents have been wanting to have Sydney stay with them. She's old enough now. This is the perfect opportunity."

"But, but I thought the money was for us to have another baby." Jessica said barely loud enough for William to hear. She was disappointed believing that William had changed his mind.

"Who said we can't have both?" William smiled mischievously as he continued "I thought while we were there we'd have some fun trying making our French memento."

So they packed up Sydney and took her to Jessica's parents. Although Jessica's parents have never forgiven Jessica for not staying in college, they have tried to be good grandparents. They doted on Sydney and couldn't wait to have her stay with them for a few days.

Then Jessica and William caught their flight to France. They could hardly contain their excitement to be in the City of Love. Although William had to spend each morning with the French Chef, he had his afternoons free to explore.

They explored one tomb where they found an old tent that someone had left behind.

With a wicked gleam in his eye, William seductively approached Jessica saying "There's no better time then the present. We have all the privacy we could want. Let's try to make our next memento."

Jessica giggled at how corny William sounded but she leaned into him for a kiss. He kissed her until she was weak in the knees and he picked her up and carried her into the tent. It wasn't the most romantic setting but it didn't matter.

On their last day in France they toured the winery. They enjoyed tasting various wines, being careful not to over indulge as neither one wanted to be ill on the long flight back to Aura Skies.

William became interested in the art of wine making. He even took a turn at squishing the grapes. He found it relaxing to feel the grapes ooze between his toes and squish beneath his feet. He tried to convince Jessica to give it a try but she didn't want her feet to be died purple from the grape juice.

All too soon their trip was over. They happily boarded the plane hand-in-hand, ready to go home and see their daughter.

A couple months later, Jessica was excitedly waiting for William to come home. She was pregnant. She had known for a while but had wanted to wait to tell William. So far the pregnancy had been pretty uneventful. She hadn't been sick or lightheaded the way she had been with Sydney. She was almost sure this one was going to be a boy.

She knew exactly when she had conceived him, the night they had spent in the tomb in France. Although she didn't regret going to France, she still worried over the money they spent.

That night William was in the process of cleaning up the living room, putting away books when Jessica approached him.

"Honey, I have something to tell you" Jessica began waiting for William to focus his attention on her. "I'm, I'm pregnant" she finally blurted out.

 
Pausing for a moment to be sure he heard correctly, William smiled broadly and reached out to touch Jessica's stomach.

"I hope it's a boy this time" Jessica said looking at William as he continued to hold her stomach. "What would you like?"

"It doesn't matter but if I had to choose I would like another girl."

William began to get really excited for this new baby. He would talk to Jessica's baby bump whenever he could. He was proud of his growing family. He felt like he was king of the world or at least his little corner of it.

William felt his life was looking pretty good. He had everything he could ever ask for, a beautiful wife, an amazing daughter, a new baby on the way, he was becoming a successful chef, he couldn't imagine how his life could get any better.

However in the skies above a ship was speeding towards Aura Skies.   On board were two  alien scientists determined to finish a certain experiment they had started and they could have cared less for the damage they were about to wreck on their subjects life.