Page 35 of The Last Thing
Last night, while we were working on the contract, Decker said he’s trying to get Sophia to be open to new foods, so I’m going to try one of my favorite recipes and get her in the kitchen with me. Hopefully that will help.
“Do I get to cut something?” Soph asks, as I get all the ingredients out.
“Well, the only thing to cut is these vegetables, and I have to use a really sharp knife for that. But how about you wash the green beans for me. Then we can be like an assembly line.”
“Okay.”
She grabs a stool and takes it over to the sink.
“Wash your hands first.” I set an onion on the cutting board, then grab a colander for her to use to wash the beans. “All set?”
She smiles up at me. “Yep.”
“Okay, so you don’t need to use soap while washing these, just run them under the water and scrub off any dirty bits with your fingers. If you notice there’s a long stem on the end, you can break it off.” I pull one out and show her. “Like this.”
“Got it!”
She gets to work, and I head for the cutting board, swallowing back some nausea. I kept Sophia from seeing it so far, though I almost had to throw up in a bush while I was walking her to the daycare to catch the bus.
“So, how come you moved here?” Sophia asks.
“Most of my family and friends moved to other places, and I felt a bit lonely. Did your dad tell you that Miss Frannie is my sister?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I wanted to be closer to her. Have you gotten to know her much?”
“A little. Daddy says she’s a safe person. Someone I can go to in an emergency.”
“She is. And now I am too.”
“Was it fun growing up with a sister?”
I tilt my head back and forth. “Most of the time. I actually kind of grew up with two.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Want to hear something silly?”
“Mhm.” She gives a sharp nod.
“Before I was born, my aunt and my uncle got married. Then my aunt introduced her sister—my mom—to my uncle’s brother—my dad. Andtheygot married too. They had so much fun that they bought a house with two apartments in it. One on either side. And they lived there together. So I grew up with Frannie and my parents, but I also grew up with my aunt and uncle and their daughter, my cousin Kennedy. Since both sets of our parents are related, we’re super cousins. But she was always more like my oldest sister instead.”
Sophia’s smiling brightly at my story. “That must’ve been so cool.” Then her eyes drop back to the sink. “Sometimes I wish I had a sister. Or a cousin. Someone else.”
My hand instinctively drops to my stomach, then I rip it away again.
“Sometimes I feel really lonely.”
My heart breaks for her for so many reasons. I know how she feels, and here I am carrying her little sibling and I can’t even tell her. This is so fucked up.
“Are you crying?”
My gaze darts to her. “It’s the onions. They always hurt my eyes.”
She nods like she gets it, but the onions are nothing compared to my feelings right now.
“I know how it is to be lonely. That’s how I felt before I moved here.”
