It was a little bit odd

It was a little bit odd, the way they met. Emily was a cashier at the Safeway, and David was a regular customer. She could tell that he was a bachelor by the food that he bought: honey roasted peanuts, bacon, milk, eggs, and a few fruits and vegetables. Not enough for two people to exist on, much less a whole family. She was surprised he hadn’t settled down; judging by his salt-and-peppered hair he’d had plenty of time to look for a mate.

Since the first day she had served him Emily put more effort into her look. She now fixed her hair with a few sparkly pins, and made sure to wear ALL of her makeup – not just lipstick and mascara. She wasn’t exactly a spring chicken, but she was still young enough to turn a few heads.

Gradually, a connection between the two was made. It’s hard to make conversation with someone you don’t know when you only have a few minutes. Luckily, the attraction between Emily and David was mutual, and when two people work together towards an end, it’s really not so hard after all.

After three weeks David finally asked her out.

“I don’t eat out much, but I heard of a good place down the street.”

“Really? What’s it called?”

“O’Malley’s Pizzeria, an Italian restaurant… any chance you’d like to go with me after work?”

And it was simple as that. David and Emily soon became a pair, and they regaled their coupled friends with their quaint story of meeting and subsequent flirtation.

One year later, David and Emily were shopping in the grocery store she used to work at. Because David was a lawyer, when Emily moved in with him there was no need for her to keep her job. She kept house instead. He came home every day to a nice hot meal and a kiss from his middle-aged girlfriend. Things were going well.

As they were shopping in her old grocery store, approaching the candy aisle, David turned to Emily and got down on one knee.

“Emmy, I wanted to do this the place that we met. Hon, you’re a helluva girl and I won’t let you get away from me. Would you do me the honour of being mine?”

Emily twittered with excitement, her thin blonde pony tail bouncing up and down as she acquiesced to his request. They were married just three months later.

Instead of a honeymoon, they re-did David’s kitchen. White “egg-shell” coloured walls, with a marble island and fantastic lighting, new knives, new appliances, a great place to cook. Well worth the money. A great way to start their new life together.

Shortly after their marriage, Emily was musing about how lucky she was to have snatched up David, and why on earth hadn’t anyone else have been so clever? David got a strange look in his eye, and took Emily’s hand.

“Em, I didn’t want to tell you this straight-aways, but I’m actually a widower. I was married 8 years ago, and Lil passed on… oh, 6 years ago. I didn’t want our life together to be about her and my past, I wanted it to be about us. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner!”

Emily was a little shocked to have this information revealed to her so late in the game, but attempted to take it in stride. It was obviously a tough subject for David to talk about, she really couldn’t blame him for not wanting to bring it up.

Things went on as usual, “Em and Dave” as they were known to their friends, were a loving couple with lots of money. Things were good. Being only 34 and 36 respectively, the idea of children came up from time to time. Emily was desperate to be a mother, and David was only a little reluctant to become a dad.

After a careful look at their assets, and a check-up of their overall health, they decided that they would become parents after all. This happy decision prompted another surprise for Emily.

One night at dinner David brought up the subject of children. Emily’s face glowed as she prattled on about how many they would have, names, the colour of their rooms – David smiled and listened patiently until he interjected with a story:

“Em, you know I love you. But I also cared a great deal for Lily. Her and I, like you and I, had big plans for children. We wanted a boy, Thomas, and a girl, Samantha. Unfortunately, it was found that Lil wasn’t as fertile as we might’ve hoped. We tried in vitro a few times, and it hadn’t really worked out. When she got sick with the cancer, she told me that she hoped that some day I would still have her children – we had many of her eggs frozen, you see. So Em, I’m hoping that you’d consider being implanted with her eggs.”

Emily was shocked. Her husband was a lawyer, a tennis player, a fairly regular guy. What he was suggesting to her was ridiculous! For a few moments, she was struck dumb with speechlessness. David calmly gave her time to mull it over.

“David… you can’t be serious…”

He steadfastly assured her that he was very serious, and had already spoken to the appropriate doctors about the procedure. Emily stood there, and with her eyes wide she saw herself becoming nothing but a vessel for a woman she had never met. A container for the offspring he had always wanted.