Steam Rolled

Pleasure leads to gloom for two special friends

 Daniel bought flowers for Brenda to soften the blow. He wanted so badly to give her good news, but the laws of nature were not on his side. Brenda laid down on the floor in front of the fireplace, clutched the flowers, folded her arms over her chest like a corpse, and whispered "Mash me with a steam roller Daniel."

He reminded her that he had not only been T Boned in the car accident, but hit with an emotional sledgehammer at 3 PM that day when Caitlin Mackenzie announced that she was, indeed, pregnant with his child. Not quite what he had planned for himself, and he certainly never intended to harm Brenda.

He said that he would have to marry Caitlin in a private civil ceremony, because he refused to be in a church with "strange people gawking" at him. He was in a brooding and Gothic mood. 

Brenda continued to lie on her back in front of the fireplace. Silence prevailed for several minutes until she got up from the floor, kissed Daniel, and put the flowers into a vase.

They ate supper with lumps in their throats, and anvils in their hearts. Daniel said he would have to find a place to rent. He asked Brenda for one big favor. Would she mind putting some of his hard earned savings into her bank account ? She said that she would not only do that, but she was leaving him everything in her will. 

He said that she shouldn't do that in case Caitlin ended up with everything if he died, too. Brenda said she would talk to her lawyer about a way around her in such a case. Daniel said to leave it to Griffin, but what if he died ? No matter how hard they tried to deny it, the Blundon house had become their child in a sense.

The "mother to be" would remain in Baltimore with her Grandma  Maureen util March. When Daniel found a suitable home to rent, she would be feathering her nest, and spending him broke trying to move up in society, and be like Brenda Grayson. Caitlin wanted what Brenda had.  And she started with Brenda's lover. 

They discussed what would happen to their relationship when he moved out. His belongings could stay, and they would still meet discreetly. Brenda told him to limit what he shared with Caitlin, including the seances, and personal things about herself. To all outward appearances, Daniel had married a hometown woman, was saving to buy "her" a nice house, welcome his first child in August, and be the "world's best detective." Brenda had to repeat that propaganda often, and hated doing so, but secrets were best left secret. 

During the wedding, and Daniel's quick trips on and off to Baltimore, she planned to begin the seances, and find out what the spirits wanted her to do. Their influence was a constant energy always running in the background. They never changed in essence, but a trance medium told her that the spirits bounce around from and to different ages. "Who says a 3 month old baby who died in 1678 is still 3 months old, Brenda ?"  

C J Marks