Part 1: The Strangeness of Fredrick Street - Chapter Three

In Chapter Three, we meet Mark and Kim. Do you notice the change, that not even they notice?

3

The crackle of fat in the pan, accompanied by the smell of French toast and bacon wafting up the stairs, woke Mark Fleming from his sleep that Wednesday morning as it tended to most mornings when his wife Kim rose before he did. A quick swipe out with his left arm confirmed that she had indeed stepped out of bed before him this morning and was the conductor of the breakfast band playing downstairs. Mark lay there for a few minutes, letting the warm rays shoot through the slats of the blinds, giving him a few gentle slaps into the land of the living. Turning over, he opened his eyes and smiled as he looked at the alarm clock, which read 7:59. If there was anything he loved more than waking up to the smell of bacon or the sound of his wife singing downstairs it was beating the sound of his alarm. It had been his sworn enemy throughout his teenage years and now, approaching 40 as Mark was, he took a real pleasure in beating the little wake-up box to the punch and not giving the snooze button the satisfaction of that early morning control over him. It was the small things Mark lived for. 

Waiting till the digits turned to 8.00 and turning the alarm off before it had the chance to bleat, Mark rose out of bed, his feet hitting cold on the wooden flooring (sometimes he wished they were carpeted, particularly this current moment) and threw on his dressing gown. Stretching, he opened the blinds and squinted outside at the rest of the houses in Fredrick Street. It was quiet, always had been but recently it had been more so. The only other families he had seen was Sarah Barr's across the street, Albert Molineaux and his wife Betty and the Young's, although he only ever spoke to the youngest Jessica, purely because she was interested in following in Mark's footsteps for a career in medicine. He was just a surgeon at the small hospital in the city but he had promised he'd do his best to give her all the advice and help he could, and his best was what he was going to do. As for the rest of Fredrick Street, he hadn't seen The Guthries, The Hendricks, The Murphy's or any of the other residents for a while, not since Albert's 70th a few months ago and even then, some he hadn't seen since they all moved in precisely a year ago. 

He was still looking out onto the street when he saw Albert come out of his house to pick up the paper from his grass and looked up. Mark gave him a little wave, which Albert returned with a wave of the paper before returning into the house. He watched Albert go, thinking of how he'd quite like to be as happy, agile and nimble as Albert was when he himself reached 70. And he'd love a good head of hair like the man himself with all his mental faculties in tact. 

Moving away from the window, Mark made his way into the bathroom for a quick shower. Catching his reflection in the mirror, he couldn't help but give himself a little smile. He'd been a fat kid, from what he remembered, with a bad case of bacne but now, he had skin fit to feature in an advert for L'Oreal and a slender physique that wouldn't go a miss on the cover of Men's Health. The first flecks of grey were starting to threaten the deep black that currently crowned his head but he wasn't bothered. I'll just let this bit of stubble grow into a bushel and that'll distract the world from the grey. Not that anyone was as bothered about his hair as he was; even Kim wasn't bothered – she was looking forward to him becoming a silver fox. And by the looks of it, he was on track to being just that. Still smiling, he jumped in for a quick shower and started to get ready for the day.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, and picking up a small one to dry his hair, Mark headed back into the bedroom. As he finished drying himself off, and threw on his work shirt, suit and tie, he stopped. Looking around, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right; something was different. Pulling on his socks, he sat on the edge of the bed and listened as Kim entered the room with a plate. 

"Don't get used to this honey. It won't happen every day. You want any sauce?" Kim said.

"Hmm?" Mark was distracted, he still wasn't sure what it was that was bothering him so much. It felt like something in the room had changed in the time it took him to go for a shower. "Have you been tidying?"

Kim raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm you're cook and you're cleaner?"

Mark shook his head. "No, no. It's....nothing."

"What's the matter?" said Kim. "I know that look and that is not a good look."

Shaking off the feeling, Mark smiled at Kim and took the plate. "It's nothing, there's no look."

Kim yanked the plate out of his reach. "There is, there is a look. It's a something's wrong, look. It's an I'm thinking look. That's always dangerous for you."

Mark laughed. "Kim, I'm a surgeon, thinking is part of my job. I can't just pick up the scalpel and go to town."

"Yeah, work thinking is fine. Any other thinking is just bad for you. Fess up, what's on your mind? Why were you giving me the my spider sense is tingling look?"

"I wish I never told you about those comics."

"Well too late, ya did. I can swing with Spidey, I like him. What I don't like is when you come over all Peter Parker on me."

Mark stood up and gave Kim a kiss. "It's fine. I just had this weird feeling is all. Like something had changed but I don't know what it was. Maybe I stood up too fast from picking up my socks, I don't know. It's nothing, trust me."

"Hmmm. OK then."

She gave Mark a little smile and a nose wrinkle that he just loved. She was a bona-fide movie star and she was happy to stay at home every weekend with him when she could be out on the town. Mark took the plate and sat down with Kim as she started to look out her clothes. 

"How come you were up so early this morning?" Mark asked.

"I wanted to catch Sarah before work to find out about tonight." Kim said.

Mark thought for a moment then remembered. "The BBQ?"

"Yeah. Poor soul's worried nobody's going to turn up."

"I'd be too, I haven't seen half the street in a few months." He finished his breakfast and put the plate on Kim's dressing table before she gave him a "Get that the fuck off of there" look and he moved it back onto the bed. 

"Good boy. And I know. Sarah and I were saying how we hadn't seen anyone in a while."

"Think we should go over and check on them?"

"I've a free day, just a scan and I was going to go round the doors and make sure everyone's coming tonight."

Mark smiled. The scan. They'd been trying ever since they had gotten married but as soon as they moved in but it had taken just 1 week before they found out and now they were expecting their first. "What times the scan at?" asked Mark. "I'll make sure I'm there."

"12. I'll give you a text when I arrive at the hospital."

"Make sure you do. I can't wait to add another picture of baby Skywalker to the fridge." 

Grinning Mark looked up as Kim stood shaking her head, with her eyebrow raised. "Yeah keeping dream Jake. But we are not naming our child Skywalker."

"Just you wait. I'll change your mind."

"Oh yeah? How you gonna do that?"

"I convinced you to marry me didn't I?"

Kim laughed, a real hearty one but the one where Mark knew it meant she had the upper hand. "That you did Marky, but you had a secret weapon then. Lots of wine. No dice here baby." She patted her tummy.

They looked at each other and laughed. Mark got up and gave her a kiss. He then held her and they had a little a slow dance. "Yeah, I'll think of something."

Kim glanced at the clock behind Mark and gave his bum a little squeeze and his lips a little peck. "Move and get to work or you'll be late."

Mark straightened his back, brought his feet together and threw his hand into a sharp salute. "Yes ma'am."

Kim raised an eyebrow at Mark. "You know I'm glad this baby isn't yours because then at least he won't think he's funny like you do."

Laughing Mark gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You know you think that's funny now but in about two days time I'm going to come bitching to you about how mean that was."

"I know. Now move."

"OK." Giving the room a quick survey, Mark turned back to Kim. "Have you seen my shoes anywhere?"

"By the front door. I don't want you ruining our nice new carpet now do I?"

"I wouldn't dream of it" said Mark, not realizing his question from a few moments ago had just been answered. "See you later." 

"See you later. Oh, and this came for you. I nearly forgot."

She handed him a small envelope from her back pocket, and Mark took it without looking at his name and address handwritten on the front of the envelope. 

"Who's writing to you then?"

It was Mark's turn to haze. "Oh it'll probably from one of my many other lovers, you know how old fashioned they get."

"Oh you're gonna pay for that one later too."

"I call it even. Don't you?"

She laughed and nodded. "OK. Even. Have a good day, you son of a bitch."

And with that he gave her tummy a quick pat, a kiss and he whirled out of the bedroom door and made his way to work, smiling, thinking of how lucky he was.