When Karen woke up she felt her tummy turn. She jumped up and ran to the toilet where she threw up then. Matt followed her and sat down next to her to pat her back.
“Are you sick again? This is the third morning, Karen. I think you should go see a doctor.“
“I don't need a doctor. It's just a food poisoning I got from the fish of this street truck.“
“Why did you have to eat it then? It already smelled spoiled.“
“I was hungry. And I wanted fish.“ She sighed and leaned against the wall. “I should have gotten pizza with you and Foggy.“
Matt smiled at patted her head. “You stay in bed for today. If it gets worse you call me and we'll bring you to a doctor.“
“No, no, no, you need me for Mr. Truman, he-“
“I think we know how to do our job, thank you, Karen, but you will stay in bed. You're sick, take a day off.“
After Matt left for work, Karen got out of her bed again. She didn't believe that it was a food poisoning. Well, the fish did smell spoiled, but she thought of something else that caused her to puke three mornings in a row.
She got dressed and left their apartment then. She walked down the street to the little drug store.
Two hours later, she sat at the kitchen table and hold the pregnancy test in her hands. She was still staring at it with the happiest smile she ever had when her phone rang.
“Matt, hey... Yeah, I'm fine, thank you... Yes, I ate something... No, no... Matt, you really don't need to. I will get you this evening and we go out?... Yes, Indian sounds great! See you.“
She hung off and placed her cell right next to the positive pregnancy test.
“I'm pregnant,“ she whispered to herself: “I'm having a baby.“
Suddenly, she jumped. She took her cell hastily and typed a text message.
'Hey Foggy, I really need to talk to you alone. I don't want Matt to know about this at the moment. Do you see a chance to talk to me privately?'
It only took a few seconds for Foggy to answer. 'Hey, what's up? Should I come? I can tell Matt I'm going to take coffee. I can actually get coffee :)'
'Okay, meet you at Vito's. I could need something hot myself.'
Ten minutes later, she waited in front of her favorite bistro for Foggy. When he finally arrived, he hugged her and handed her the newspaper.
“Have you heard about this new building they want to-“
“Foggy, sorry I don't want to interrupt you, but I'm freezing and I really need to tell you something.“
“Okay, okay, let's go in and you tell me.“
They went inside the bistro and took their typical seat. Foggy ordered a coffee and Karen a berry tea.
“No coffee today, Ms. Page?“ He smiled friendly, but her reluctant reaction made him frown. “You're alright?“
Suddenly she had to grin widely. Nervously, she put her hair behind her ears. “Yes,“ she spoke: “actually I'm very fine. But there's this thing I got to tell you...“ She opened her bag and searched for something. When she found it she placed it on the table in front of Foggy.
“Is this a...?“ Foggy eyed the pregnancy test in the plastic bag with big eyes. She nodded eagerly. “And is it...?“ She nodded again. “Karen, congratulations! Wow, I didn't expect this! Does Matt know about this?“
“No, but we tried it. He will be super happy!“ Suddey she turned serious again. “But I need your help... I want to tell him before he finds out. It's very early, there is no heartbeat yet he could here. But it's the third morning I threw up and if this keeps happening I can't make him think that it's a food poisoning anymore. So I need to tell him very fast... The best was if I told him today.“
Foggy nodded understanding. “So will you tell him when you go eating out tonight?“
“Yes. But I don't want to just tell him or hand him the test. I want to do something special. Do you have any ideas?“
Foggy raised his eyebrows. “I would love to tell you about the many times I told Marci I was pregnant, but I fear there were no times.“ He grinned and she had to, too.
“OK,“ he said then: “what if you buy baby socks and give it to him? Matt's smart, he'd find out probably.“
She shook her head. “I wanted to make it less obvious. Something like a quest... Something that makes him think...“
“You could buy different baby things that he definitely won't recognize... Baby thermometer and baby spoons maybe? Or you buy a little stuffed toy that holds a message.“
“Yeah... I found this in the internet before when I researched ideas, but all these ideas require sight...“
“But what if you just hand a baby toy a message? You could print it in braille.“
“This sounds like the best idea...“
“What we're the ideas you found in the web?“
“Writing it at the bottom of a cup, tiny notes at the fridge or on little papers hided, diapers or socks with messages... So many, but nothing for blind people.“
“You could hide messages, too. Print them in braille and hide them in your kitchen. On places he will actually touch. Coffee maker, beer, plates... Create a quest and hide it. It will be super entertaining to watch him finding out, I'm sure. Matt loves quests.“
“He will be super shocked finding braille notes anywhere that aren't from him.“ She giggled a little. “But this sounds good. I hope he finds the solution before the heart starts to beat.“
Foggy smiled. “Do you need help creating the quest?“
“Absolutely, thank you.“
When Matt and Karen got home from their dinner, Matt immediately walked into the kitchen to get himself a beer.
“Still can't understand why you didn't want us to drink wine there. You love wine!“
“I still felt not so fine and if you had wine, I would have drank your glass.“ She joked while she took off her coat and tried hard to calm her pulse down.
“Well, we have beer.“ She heard Matt saying this from the kitchen when she walked into the bathroom. She was so exited. She took off her clothes and put on her pyjama before she opened her braid and started wiping her makeup away. She heard him from the kitchen shouting.
“Karen, did you leave braille notes in the kitchen?“
She left the bathroom and walked to him. To ask him innocently: “What are you talking about? What notes?“
“Braille notes. Little papers with braille letters on them. Notes obviously meant for me, but they're not from me.“ He held the notes up for her to see them.
“What do they say?“ She asked, innocently again.
“First says: we will be tired, second says: we will spend a lot money and third says: we will have to mo- wait, are you pregnant?“
She blushed. “Yes.“
„Oh dear, Karen! Fantastic! Oh, wow, this is so great!“ He hugged her tightly and kissed her before she pushed him softly away.
“How did you know?“
“Well,“ he began: “first, the very obvious notes, second, your faked innocence and your high heart rate all night, third, your sudden absence from alcohol, fourth, you were throwing up for three mornings now and fifth, I couldn't smell the blood from your... you know... girl issues...“
“This is gross... But we're having a baby, Matt!“
She fell around his neck and they kissed.
“We're having a baby.“ He whispered to her lips.