Sphere 1

Sphere 1

July 25th, 1998

Was it a bit cliche to hope she had her father’s eyes? I was fine if she didn’t, I could settle for her having my blond hair, but there was just something about your child sharing your eye color that spoke to me. It was a minor detail, all things considered, but that minor detail was important to me. It told me that there was some part of myself in this girl, it reassured me that 50% of her DNA came from me, solidified the overwhelming amount of adoration I was directing towards my child.

She slept peacefully in Catherine’s arms. It was the only place she ever seemed to be calm in. I’d tried holding little Lori, but she didn’t settle comfortably in my arms like she did Catherine’s. My wife was the one who seemed to have the magic touch for Lori, and I was mostly okay with that. A small part of me, a part buried deep inside of me, was hurt by the fact that my child wasn’t comfortable in my arms. Was I not good enough to hold her? Would this be a sign that she would resent me?

I pushed those doubts away. They weren’t important now. All that was important was the peaceful tranquility we between the three of us. It was a silence none of us wanted to break. Not even the birds sang to disrupt this moment.

Catherine’s body was illuminated by the shaft of light coming through the window. She was short, a slim woman, yet she seemed to have an odd height to her that took you by surprise. She had a perpetual slouch about her, and it made her seem smaller then she was. Her brown hair was simple, mousy even, and Catherine generally had a fully unassuming appearance. She could easily blend into the crowd, her face forgettable to everyone but me.

And cradled in her arms was Lori. Our child. She was so small, she looked delicate even. She cried too much, she was a handful even for a newborn, she woke us up in the middle of the night and refused to let me care for her. She was the light of my life, second only to Catherine. The name had been my idea. Catherine has proposed Alice, but I’d worn her down and we had gone with Lori. It wasn’t the most modern name, my grandmother had been named Lori, but it made sure she would stick out. Lori wasn’t a name you forgot easily. Especially not if the name belonged to someone as delightful to be around as my child.

We had admittedly underestimated how much Lori would cost.

She was a third mouth to feed, and she required special care, clothes, a crib, the whole nine yards. It wasn’t too much of a strain on the budget. We weren’t exactly rolling in money, but we managed to get by and budget for the most part. Lori wouldn’t change that, my job was high paying enough that everything was fine. Even if Catherine didn’t work for the PRT we would have had enough money to get by. Barely, but we would have managed. The secondary income from her job was appreciated, and I wasn’t about to turn down the extra income.

A small part of me burst with adoration as Lori let out a small snore. She was adorable. The fact that the peaceful silence was broken didn’t bother me one bit, because it was Lori that had broken it. A small smile crept across my face. This was heaven, this was all I ever wanted. A happy family, a well paying job; it couldn’t get much better. Eudaemonia. I admittedly only found out that that the word existed because it was in one of the driest, purplest, most flowery reports to ever cross my desk. It looked like the writer had used half the words in a thesaurus to write it. I hadn’t even known what half of them meant until I grabbed a dictionary. But it fit perfectly with what I was feeling; happiness beyond bliss.

I wish this moment would never end

My stomach rumbled and I shifted in the straight backed wooden chair. A groan escaped my lips, my body shifting and bones creaking as I moved for the first time in what felt like hours. I wasn’t that old, only 37, yet sometimes I felt older then I had any right to be, a morning weariness that lasted throughout the day.

I stared at the fridge, furrowing my brows as I stretched a hand out. The fridge was on the other side of the room, withholding it’s delicious contents from me. I clenched my hand repeatedly, fingernails digging into my palm as I stared intently at the fridge. It didn’t move. I didn’t expect it to. An easy grin crossed my face. “Welp, guess I can’t open the fridge from here. Looks like we’re ordering in tonight.”

Catherine rolled her eyes, shaking her head at my antics. A hint of amusement filled her voice, “If you keep doing that, someone’s going to take you seriously one day. And I’ll have front row tickets when that day comes.” Her voice was practically a whisper, both to keep from waking Lori and because she was naturally quiet and soft spoken.

I shrugged, “It’ll be a sold out show when that happens.” I stood, taking a few steps back from the table, my voice dramatically raising as I spoke, “The magnificent Dr. Alan Gramme and his amazing power of manual telekinesis!”

Catherine coughed, raising an eyebrow.

“And his lovely assistant, Catherine.” I added, taking the hint.

She coughed again.

“Fine, I’ll raise you to second in command, but don’t expect half of the pay. Happy?”

A small, light laugh bubbled up from Catherine, “You’re the worst.”

I bowed, tipping my nonexistent top hat to the crowd that also didn’t exist. “And yet you married me.”

Catherine shrugged, tossing her head back to adjust her hair without disrupting Lori. “I plead the fifth.”

I couldn’t pass the opportunity up, “You mean insanity?”

Catherine’s eyes hardened at that moment, narrowing into slits. Her whole demeanor seemed to shift, her posture straightening. The expression didn’t seem right on her face, as if it didn’t come naturally. Ice laced her voice, and I resisted the urge to wince, “Watch it.”

I raised my hands up, internally cursing myself. “Alright, alright.” A pause filled the space longer then it had to as I scrambled for a new topic. “So. Dinner. What do you want?”

Catherine focused on Lori, not even looking up. “Just order something. Anything works.”

I sighed. Catherine could get like this sometimes. It was one of her worst traits, but as long as I kept out of her way, everything would stay peaceful. “Pizza it is then.”

Silence held for a few long seconds. The loud, incessant ringing of my cellphone on the counter shatter it. Catherine’s eyes narrowed, staring at it with an intensity I was glad she hadn’t directed at me. Lori started shifting around in her arms, whines escaping her mouth. My wife sighed, “Take it outside.”

I nodded. It wasn’t like I was about to argue anyways, much less quip when Catherine was in a foul mood. Plucking the phone off the table, I headed out into the bright sunny afternoon to take the call.

I flipped it open, “Hello?”

The voice of my boss,, William Catstooth, was nearly unrecognizable. He wasn’t a man for anxiety or nervousness, but the tremble in his voice was obvious. “Alan, you have to come into work immediately, the whole company’s under inspection.”

Any witty retort died on my tongue at William’s tone, “The whole company? Why? What’s going on Will?”

“We weren’t as careful as we thought we were. I’ll tell you more in person. How soon can you get here?”

“I’m on my way, sir. I’ll try to get there in 20 minutes.”

“See if you can get here faster. It’s a full blown legal nightmare over here, Gramme. We’re all pretending we don’t know anything, but the lawyers are relentless. They’re interrogating every major figure in the company. Stay smart, Alan.” William hung up.