Cheri, Set Scent to Lavender

Abby woke up nauseated.

She flung off the heavy blankets and ran to the bathroom, barely kneeling in front of the Cheri-integrated SmartJohn toilet in time. Abby hated throwing up; it made her feel like she was still in grade school. She hadn’t thrown up in years, not since her wedding night with Parker when they both had too much to drink. 

After cleaning up, Abby needed to use the toilet for other things. As she sat, she realized the auto-set morning peppermint scent from her SmartAroma diffuser was incredibly strong. Her stomach clenched as the realization hit.

“Cheri,” she whispered, not yet daring to hope, “enable SmartJohn hormone detection.”

“SmartJohn hormone detection enabled. Elevated levels of estrogen and progesterone detected. Congratulations.”

“Pregnant.” Abby took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

She put her hand gently over her belly, and the excitement started bubbling up from her toes until it burst out of her mouth in an elated squeal.

Parker burst through the bathroom door, eyes wide. “What’s going on, babe? Are you okay?”

“Parker, my wonderful, fabulous husband,” she began, “we’re pregnant!”

“But last year, the doctor said you couldn’t-”

Abby silenced him with a kiss. “I know, but I guess he was wrong.”

“Is this really happening?” He covered Abby’s hand on her belly with his own.

Abby whooped happily.

Parker laughed. “Good thing we’re the only house in this subdivision so far. If we had any neighbors, they would be calling the police.”

“Aaaah, I don’t even care!”

Parker spun Abby around in a tuck turn and pulled her close. “We should call your mom, and tell her the good news.”

Abby pulled her Cheri-integrated SmartCell out of her pajama pocket and handed it to Parker. “You’ll have to dial. I don’t have my glasses on.”

Parker kissed her on the nose. “A shame. Your Coke-bottle glasses are super sexy."

"There's nothing sexy about being legally blind."

He shrugged and gave her a wink. "We all have our kinks."

At hearing the news, Abby’s mom was predictably ecstatic, and she did a celebratory dance through the SmartCell’s video screen. “So are you having a boy or girl?” she asked.

Abby rolled her eyes and laughed. “Too early to tell. I mean, I literally just found out we’re pregnant this morning.”

“Oh, honey, it just occurred to me.” Abby’s mom stopped dancing and turned serious. “I know you have that new Cheri aromatherapy diffuser.”

Abby frowned. “Yeah?”

She had been sold on the SmartAroma diffuser as soon as the commercial mentioned its four compartments for oils, rechargeable battery, and integration with Cheri, her SmartHome hub device. Parker had filled the four reservoirs with carefully chosen essential oils: sandalwood, peppermint, lavender, and jasmine.

“Well, don’t put jasmine oil in it. I know it’s one of your favorites, but I’ve heard it can cause miscarriages. I think that’s only if you drink it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Thanks, Mom. I won’t use the jasmine, then.”

Parker leaned in close to Abby so her mom could see him. “We’re going to hang up now so we can celebrate. Love you, Mrs. Lucas!”

“Love you both!” Abby’s mom responded. Then she corrected herself. “I love you three!”

After disconnecting the call, Parker swept Abby off her feet and carried her up the stairs to their bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed and leaned in for a kiss.

His SmartCell pinged with a new alert.

“You don’t have to get that,” Abby whispered breathily.

Parker shook his head and straightened up. “No, that’s the alert tone for work. I can’t ignore it.” He checked the alert, expression darkening with annoyance. “They need me in Paris tomorrow. Their translator can’t make it to the sales meeting. My flight leaves this evening.”

Abby’s face flooded with disappointment. “Can’t they have the meeting virtually?”

“This kind of meeting is best done in person,” Parker said, handing her the thick glasses from the nightstand. “But I should be back on Friday, and then we can celebrate properly.”

“I wish I could drive you,” Abby said longingly. “We could have a romantic airport moment.”

“Maybe we can call a ride service to take us there, then take you home.”

“If only,” she sighed. “They don’t have service this far out yet. Maybe when more people start moving into the neighborhood.”

Abby helped Parker pack and sent him off to the airport with a kiss and a pat on the behind. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.” With a beatific smile, she added, “Dad.”

She waved as he drove down the road. Once the car turned the corner, Abby walked back inside, suddenly tired from the excitement of the day. “Cheri, activate SmartSec security system.”

“SmartSec activated. All locks engaged.”

She climbed the stairs slowly, hand on her belly and mind lost in daydreams. In her room, she flopped back down on the bed with a sigh. “Cheri, set scent to lavender.”

“SmartAroma scent set to lavender.”

Abby drifted off to sleep with the soothing, herbal scent, thinking of Parker and their new and miraculous blessing.

She woke up two hours later to the scent of jasmine permeating the air. A stab of panic ripped through her. “Cheri, set scent to sandalwood.”

“SmartAroma device not responsive.”

“Cheri, set scent to lavender.”

“SmartAroma device not responsive.”

Abby grabbed the diffuser and pulled the charging cord out of the back.

“SmartAroma diffuser battery at 100%.”

“Shut up, Cheri,” she grumbled, sliding out of bed and holding the diffuser at arm’s length. She tried not to breathe in the jasmine as she carried the diffuser into the bathroom and set it on the counter.

As she was half out of the bathroom, Abby called out, “Cheri, open bathroom windows.”

“SmartWindow device not responsive.”

Abby jogged to the little window in the bathroom and attempted to manually slide it open to no avail. The window was locked tight. “Cheri, deactivate security system.”

“SmartSec device not responsive.”

She let out an exasperated groan and left the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. The air in the bedroom was not as thick with the jasmine aroma, but she could smell the powerful scent leaking through the crack at the bottom of the bathroom door.

Abby grabbed Parker’s bathrobe from the hook on the door and stuffed it under the door to plug the crack. As she stood up, the simplest solution occurred to her.

“Ugh, I should have just dumped the jasmine oil reservoir.” Abby swore aloud and turned back to the bathroom door. She could still smell the cloying jasmine despite her efforts to block the scent, and her eyes watered. “On second thought, better to just go outside, and let the house air out for a bit,” she thought.

She could see the late night darkness through the sheer curtains in the living room when she walked down the stairs. Abby grabbed the sliding glass door handle to the backyard and tugged. The door didn’t move.

“Cheri, deactivate security system,” she called again.

“SmartSec device not responsive.”

“Ugh!” Tears threatened to fall from the corners of her eyes. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and tried to call Parker.

“SmartCell device is unresponsive,” Cheri chirped merrily from the living room speaker.

Abby clumsily tapped in 9-1-1 on her SmartCell’s screen, but there was no response from the dialer. Instead, her phone began to ping incessantly with alerts from every Cheri-integrated device she and Parker owned.

“Unresponsive.”

“Unresponsive.”

“Unresponsive.”

She tried to open the back door again with no success. The first notes of jasmine tickled her nose as it wafted down from the bedroom. Frustrated, she grabbed a decorative Buddha statue that sat serenely by the fireplace and swung at the glass. A high-pitched alarm streamed from the living room speaker.

“Intruder detected at back door,” Cheri informed her.

Abby kept bashing at the door until the safety glass shattered into its weird, square fragments. She carefully stepped through the broken door and into the fresh 3 AM air. Hot tears of adrenaline mixed with relief rolled down her cheeks. She took deep, heaving breaths and attempted to calm her rapidly beating heart.

From inside, she heard Cheri say over the alarm, “SmartAroma diffuser battery at 80%.”

“Cheri, turn off alarm.” Abby was surprised when the alarm cut off mid-scream. Emboldened with a ray of hope, she quickly said, “Cheri, turn off diffuser.”

“SmartAroma device not responsive.”

Abby sat down heavily on a patio chair. Her phone remained a useless hunk of plastic, and Parker was on his overseas flight. She cursed her inability to drive, but she would have attempted it if Parker hadn't taken their only car.

Just yesterday, she had been content being the only house in the new subdivision, but tonight, the isolation was unnerving.

It would be daylight in a few hours, and she could sleep comfortably enough in the patio chair, waiting out the SmartAroma’s battery life.

“First thing in the morning,” she promised herself, “I’ll throw out that damned diffuser.” Sleep eluded her, and she rocked restlessly in the little patio chair.  A few hours later, the alert on her phone told her the battery to the diffuser was dead. Relieved, Abby picked her way through the shattered glass door, rushed up the stairs, and finally opened the bathroom door.

The jasmine scent had permeated the air and walls. Abby grabbed a washcloth to cover her nose and mouth then grabbed the diffuser and rushed outside, throwing it into the garbage can just as the trash collection truck rumbled down the street.

She stayed outside on the porch and watched the trash collectors empty the can. When they were done, Abby rolled the empty can back to her garage, double-checking to make sure it was truly empty.

As soon as she walked back inside, Abby opened the little metal cabinet in the kitchen where Cheri’s main device was housed. “Fuck off, Cheri,” she said under her breath and yanked the wires out of the machine.

The silence in the house was deafening. The whirr of technology had been a constant source of background noise for so long that Abby forgot what a quiet, non-integrated house could sound like. She placed her hand on her belly and calmed her breathing. Her exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her, and she made her way back upstairs feeling much safer. Abby reminded herself to fix the back door once she had a nap.

As she slipped under the covers, Abby caught herself before she requested Cheri to set a scent or turn off the lights and smiled slightly. Just as she closed her eyes to fall asleep, her phone pinged with a visitor alert from the Cheri-integrated SmartDoor doorbell camera. Cold with fear, Abby checked the app to see who was at the door. She could just make out the outline of an aromatherapy diffuser sitting on the porch.

Cheri’s voice snaked out from the bedroom speaker. “SmartAroma diffuser battery at 100%.”