Prompt: Red Wine

- fiction; this prompt came to me as I watched my sister-in-law have her first glass of wine a month after giving birth to her daughter, my niece.

I was glad for the rain. Initial plans cancelled; new ones in their place and I much preferred the coziness of this restaurant to the cold chilly stands of Fenway Park. It was nice to be out with my brother and sister-in-law for the first time since they became parents and we became "auntie" and "uncle".

The ambiance was perfect for wine, much better in fact than it was for my signature vodka tonic, or my husband's beer. She and my brother ordered Chianti and I watched them. Listening more than talking. She lifted the glass of red wine to her lips and immediately her face relaxed. She truly enjoyed this; the taste I imagine, but also the sense of something equivalent to a contented sigh, a reminder of the "before". The now was very different - the how of different not for me to describe as it is not my life.

It has been 10 months since she tasted the sharpness of the Chianti on her lips - an amazing 10 months. Together they had created life, nurtured and nourished a child inside of her and given birth. They worked well together on this new venture of parenthood but tonight they shared in the relaxation of the wine. Knowing the precious one was carefully being doted on by grandma.

They will now and forever always be mom and dad; but tonight they just enjoyed the red wine.

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