High Tea

Photo by Rachel Cheng on Unsplash

Kent scowled at the price on the sign in front of the restaurant. Sienna ignored him, approaching the hostess.

“Reservation for Phillips.”

As the hostess smiled and led the couple into the tearoom, Sienna breathed in the atmosphere. The Empress Hotel was renowned for its high tea service. The hotel itself radiated luxury and the tearoom didn’t disappoint.

Kent always balked at the cost of anything Sienna wanted to do that didn’t fit into his rigid budget. He was fixated on paying off their mortgage early. “Then we can loosen up a bit,” he would say. Except Sienna was pretty sure he’d find other reasons to avoid spending money. Today she was going to put it to the test.

“Just relax,” she said. “I told you I have the money set aside for this.”

Kent’s shoulders dropped as he visibly tried to let go. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

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“I know. Your parents were awful with money, and you spent a few years homeless. But we’re not like that.” Sienna took his hand. “Try to enjoy this. I’ve always wanted to do high tea!”

Sienna waited as the server brought tea, followed by a tiered cake stand, filled with finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and a variety of baked goods. Kent started to enjoy their outing as she had known he would. He was capable of having a good time.

Halfway through the meal, Sienna removed a piece of paper from her purse and slid it across the table toward him.

“What’s that?” Kent asked, looking up at her in disapproval.

“It’s a lottery ticket.”

“I can see that. I thought we agreed we wouldn’t waste money on those.”

“We did. My dad picked it up and gave it to me.”

“Why?”

“Okay, I have two things to tell you.”

Kent set down his teacup. “Go ahead.”

“The first is that I’m pregnant. I know we were going to wait a few years, but it seems nature had other plans. The antibiotics the doctor gave me for the bladder infection interfered with my birth control pills.”

Kent’s shoulders went up and Sienna could see he was holding his breath, trying not to react. The panic in his eyes showed he was losing the battle.

“The second thing,” Sienna said, pushing on, “is that the lottery ticket Dad bought us is the winning ticket from last week’s draw. We won ten million dollars.”

Kent’s breath escaped in a whoosh. “We what?”

“We won. We’re going to be parents. And you’re going to have to learn to loosen up.”

Kent’s only response was to reach for Sienna’s hand. “We’re having a baby!”

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So much of how we are as adults is predicated upon childhood experiences. I’d like to think that Kent learns to relax a bit about money, but he’ll probably always feel a little insecure.