Unboxing

When Gabe saw the drone hovering over a package at his door he knew it was for him.

He pulled into the driveway, killed the ignition and hopped out. He just reached the package when his front door opened. His wife, Michelle, pursed her lips.

“You’re late.” Again, she added, by the tone of her voice.

“The onboarding call took longer than expected,” Gabe answered. “The customer wanted to add features we didn’t offer and thought bargaining after hours was going to work…”

He knew Michelle wouldn’t buy a word of it, which made him wonder why he even bothered. Still, she didn’t say anything, letting him string his thoughts along until they dried out. She nodded at the package in his hands.

“I didn’t know we could choose drone service.”

“Some companies offer it,” Gabe said. “Like Amazon.”

“Well, that’s not an Amazon box,” Michelle countered. Gabe didn’t have to glance down at the logo-less box to confirm she was right. Michelle crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “So. What is it?”

At that moment their son, Josiah, pushed past her and onto the driveway.

“Woah!” he exclaimed as the drone hovered past the power lines before whirring away. “That’s so cool!” At eight years old almost anything was, and tech was at the top of his list.

“Sure is kiddo.” Gabe ruffled the boy’s brown curls, so much like Michelle’s. “We didn’t have this when we were your age.”

Josiah watched the drone for as long as he could before turning back to Gabe. The boy’s bright, brown eyes briefly met his grey ones before fastening onto the package.

“What is it?” he asked.

Gabe felt, more than saw, Michelle drum her fingers against her arm. It was part of her signature pose, the one that told him she was waiting for him to say something absolutely stupid.

“It’s for Christmas,” Gabe said. He ignored Michelle’s sniff and tucked the package under his arm. “Don’t you go looking for it.”

“Awww, c’mon!” Josiah let out an exaggerated sigh as Gabe ushered him back into the house. “Is it a Hoverball?”

Gabe grinned. “Maybe.” He made a mental note to look up what a Hoverball was. “You want one of those for your room?”

Michelle snicked the door locked behind them before moving into the kitchen. Josiah went straight into the living room and flopped onto the sofa. Papers and school books littered the coffee table in front of him.

“That’d be cool,” he said. His cheeks dimpled in a mischievous smile. “Imagine if I get two Hoverballs!”

“You seem real sure about that, kiddo,” Gabe laughed. The boy joined in and for a minute Gabe thought he saw a sheepish flush cross Josiah’s cheeks.

“Finish your homework,” came Michelle’s orders from the kitchen. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

Josiah ducked back into the papers leaving Gabe to chuckle alone. Then, seeing that Michelle had gone back to her cooking, he climbed the stairs to their room.

Piles of boxes surrounded the queen-size bed, making the bedroom smaller than it normally was. There would have been more space without the antique dresser against the far wall, but Michelle had insisted. It was a gift given to her by her ex-mother-in-law, a family heirloom which she then kept after her divorce.

Gabe remembered when he accompanied her and her lawyer to pick it up. Her ex-husband, Kenneth, was also there with his lawyer. He had claimed it was a necessary precaution against Michelle taking anything outside the court order. As Michelle took - vocal - offence, Gabe was forced to move the dresser into the U-Haul almost on his own.

Michelle had collected more things since then. Three diffusers sat on the top of the dresser. Two of them blew a mist that tickled his nose. Michelle said it was supposed to be calming, but Gabe felt anything but.

He surveyed the boxes around him. With Christmas coming up there were more packages in their room than normal. While Gabe could account for most of them there were charges on his card he could not recall placing. The thought gnawed at him. The last thing he needed was his identity stolen and a huge bill the bank would take ages to waive.

Gabe tried to shake those thoughts aside and considered the package in his hands. There was nothing identifying on the label save his name and address. The lab was discreet that way. He turned it over in his hands. Should he add it to all the other boxes in the room, or should he open it now? Either way he was going to have to find a place to hide the contents.

As he considered his options the bedroom door clicked shut.

“Oh, am I interrupting something?”

Gabe steeled himself and turned around. Michelle leaned against the door, her arms crossed over her chest. The lateness of the evening and her passive accusations grated his nerves.

“Yes, actually.” He gestured to the door. “Do you mind?”

It was a poor mimicry, but it was enough.

Michelle launched herself at him.

“I do mind, actually.” She stormed right up into his face. “Let me guess. Is it from Natalie?”

Gabe froze. “Excuse me?”

“Or maybe it’s from Robin.” Gabe had just enough presence of mind to keep a firm hold as Michelle snatched at the box.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gabe snapped, tearing the package away from her.

“Oh yeah? Then why did you stay with Susan after last week’s Holiday work party? Was it really to go over another onboarding or whatever you guys call it?”

Gabe knew he should respond, but the words caught in his throat. Michelle’s eyes gleamed.

“I knew it!” She shoved Gabe into the dresser. “I knew it! You men are all the same!”

Guilt threatened to creep into him. It wasn’t serious, just a kiss stolen here and there. But as he listened to Michelle’s vitriol, indignation rose within him.

“All what?” he growled.

“Cheating manwhores!” Michelle’s voice barely contained the shout. “And here I thought you were different.”

That surprised a bark of laughter from him. “That’s rich coming from you. Last I checked I was unattached when you came onto me!”

Michelle gaped. The colour rose in her cheeks. “How dare you.” She barely breathed the words. “That has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh does it?” Months of resentment bubbled to the surface and Gabe leaned forward. “Cheating didn’t seem like such a big deal to you then. What changed?”

This time Michelle did shout. “Kenneth has nothing to do with this!” she raged. “And no, it was a big deal. It was wrong of me, I get it. But that does not excuse you.” She jabbed her finger into Gabe’s chest. “You said you’d love me, and I believed you.”

“You said Josiah was my son.”

Michelle reeled back. Confusion warred with fury on her face. “Excuse me?”

A cold calm fell over Gabe. “You said he was my son-”

“Of course he is,” Michelle retorted. She stepped closer, her voice strained. “He loves you!”

Gabe remembered the way Kenneth had watched him when he muscled the antique dresser into the U-Haul. His eyes had been dark, baleful, and brown like burnt coffee.

“I love him too,” Gabe said. “So I wanted to check.”

Michelle blinked. Slowly, she shook her head. “What did you do?”

“At home paternity test.” Gabe watched the words hit her, sending her a half-step back. “Anyone can do them. These are the results.”

Michelle stared at the box in Gabe’s hands and she paled. “I didn’t give my consent,” she said.

Gabe’s lips twitched in a smirk. “I didn’t need it.”

Panic widened her eyes and in the second that followed Gabe saw an expression he never thought he’d see on her.

Guilt.

Vindication swept through him followed closely by an image of Josiah’s cheerful face. Gabe’s heart clenched.

Then all at once, Michelle began to scream.

“That means nothing!” With surprising strength she wrenched the box from Gabe’s hands. “Nothing!”

“Michelle!”

She flung it to the floor. Before Gabe could stop her she stomped on it, over and over again.

“How dare you do this to me!” Her shrieks echoed past the confines of the room. “How could you question if he’s your son! He’s your son! Josiah’s your son!”

As Michelle’s foot crashed into the package a white hot rage filled Gabe’s chest. With a howl he grabbed her shoulders and threw her onto the bed. She leapt back up in a whirl of sheets, screaming.

Gabe stared down at the mangled box. It was crushed in where Michelle had stomped and its seams had busted outwards. Another piece of cardboard poked out from one of the openings. Gabe found it oddly colourful. He tried to think past the roaring in his ears. Weren’t the results just on paper?

Gabe knelt down to examine the package. As he did he realized that there was another box inside. He tore it fully open.

The crushed package was bright blue and showed a smiling boy with a ball hovering over his hand. LED Flying Hoverball was written in bold text across the top.

Behind him Michelle gasped. Before Gabe could look up he heard the bedroom door slam shut. Small steps hurried down the stairs.

“Josiah.” Michelle untangled herself from the sheets and flew out of the room. Gabe felt the air rush out with her.

Quietly, he set the ruined packages aside and stood. As Michelle’s calls echoed throughout the house Gabe turned to lean against the antique dresser with its rows of misting diffusers.

Closing his eyes, Gabe bowed his head and breathed.