Days 65-66. Experiment E Arrives

Einstein found himself at the tattoo parlor again.  He already wanted another tattoo, this time on his right forearm.  With Ophelia pregnant again, three teens in the house, and his little girl going to school, Einstein was feeling a little overwhelmed.  He’d known when he married Ophelia that she came with kids and a lot of responsibilities….but he was beginning to feel, well….old.  An old and stale house husband.  And he really wasn’t that old.  He was still in his early twenties, but with everything going on around him, he felt much older.  Getting a tattoo made him feel younger, and more rebellious.

He liked his new tattoo, but he found that it didn’t soothe the restless feeling that had driven him to get it in the first place.

“Mendel…I need something.  Something of my own.” he said.  He took the little spin Mendel did to mean that he agreed.  So he looked in the newspaper for ideas of something to do, and when he saw the call for firefighters, he impulsively contacted the fire chief and landed a job.

They didn’t need the money, what with Ophelia’s garden…but he needed something for himself.  Something he could feel good about.  Even though he spent most of his time maintaining and upgrading equipment around the fire department, Einstein felt like he was doing something really important.

While her daddy was seeking purpose, Delores was seeking friendship.  She jumped at the chance to go home with Susana Rider after school, and she was excited–she was around her family so much that a little escape every now and then was something she craved.

But a total escape just wasn’t in the cards.  To her surprise, Bianca was there visiting Susana’s older brother, Sam.  Bianca didn’t even notice they’d come in, she was so immersed in her conversation with Sam.  Delores rolled her eyes and said to Susana, “I bet they kiss and stuff.  She talks about him all the time.”  Susana agreed, and they both decided that was just icky.

In point of fact, Bianca hadn’t been kissed by anyone…..yet.

With so many people in the house, mostly doing their own thing, Ophelia found that it was rare to have family dinners.  The likelihood of all of them being hungry at the same time was pretty slim, but every now and then it happened and Ophelia would cook.  On this night, she made hamburgers, and everyone sat around and talked over the meal.  Now that Arthur Jr. was out of the house, she could make meat dishes for dinner without having to worry about him feeling left out.

After dinner, Bianca helped clear the table, and she cornered Ophelia for some mother-daughter time.  She wanted to get to know her mother better, especially since she had so many questions about well…boys, and stuff.  She and Ophelia had “the talk”, and Bianca felt better for having the information, even if her mother did go into a little too much detail.

While Ophelia was enlightening Bianca, the rest of the Oftpreg clan were gathered around the television.  Even hardcore inventors like Beatrice needed downtime, and Einstein liked to listen to their chatter as he worked out nearby.

The next day, Ophelia was home alone when Rory Redd’s baby decided to come into the world.  She briefly considered going to the hospital, but she wasn’t sure the baby would wait through a cab or bicycle ride.  She called Einstein to tell him that she was going into labor, but not to worry and certainly not to come home–she just wanted him to know.

Einstein would have come home against her protestations, but at the moment he’d received her phone call, he was called to his first fire!  He extinguished the flames in good time for a beginner, and managed to save the house.

While her husband was putting out fires, Ophelia gave birth to a fiery little baby.  She was so pleased with the baby’s skin–it was definitely a blend of her own skintone and that of Rory’s.  She excitedly documented the details in her notebook, and waited anxiously for Einstein to get home.

When Einstein got home, he stared at the baby in the crib.  He was taken aback at the baby’s skin color–nothing like his, nor much like Ophelia’s.

“What did you name him?” Einstein asked when Ophelia came into the nursery.

“I named him Ember.  It’s in celebration of the day you fought your first fire.” Ophelia said, hoping that would distract him from thinking about how unlike him the baby looked.

“Honey…does he have a skin condition or something?  His skin is so…reddish.” Einstein said.

“Well, I think he’s pretty healthy.  But I guess early in the pregnancy, I must have been exposed to something that caused the skin color to develop in this way–genetics aren’t the only things that determine how a baby looks, you know.  Environment can have an effect on the baby as well…” Ophelia said, launching into a long-winded, highly technical discussion of the multitude of things that influence a baby’s development.  It had the desired effect–Einstein’s eyes glazed over, and he looked thoroughly bored.

“So, like…the weather did it?” he asked.

“Yes, dear.  The weather did it.” Ophelia said finally.  She didn’t bother to correct him, because as long as he bought the story, she really didn’t care if his information was scientifically inaccurate.

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