Page 45 of The Grizzly Situation
The two boys exchanged looks. “You’ll come right back. You promise?”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can find all the ingredients and put together your food. Sleep for a while, okay?”
They nodded, and I put them down on the enormous couch, then covered them with blankets we’d brought from their room because they were cold. I turned to leave, but Eddie whispered something to me.
“What did you say?”
“We love you, Momma,” he repeated, then he yawned and a few seconds later, he was out.
I stood there, looking down at the boys and feeling warmth blossom in my chest. I’d never given thought to having a family, but hearing these kids call me ‘Momma’? It did something to me and I found I liked hearing it, though a male version would be better.
While they slept, I hurried to the kitchen. A few people were moving around, trying to put some food together. Probably for dinner.
“Um, hi?”
They turned to look at me. “Welcome to the kitchen, sir,” a large woman said. Her cheeks were chubby and begged to be pinched. “I’m Amelia, the chef. Is there something I can do for you?”
“Eddie and Jack are feeling a little hungry, and they were looking to have some soup.”
“Oh, of course. We can help with that.”
“Um…. I don’t mean to be a pain, but they want me to make it.”
She smiled and I liked her immediately. “Then let’s work on it together, how about that? I’m going to assume it’s their mother’s chicken noodle soup.”
“Yeah. They even asked for vegetables. What kid eats veggies?”
“Ours is an odd family. The kids love to eat, and they’re not overly picky about most things, though there are some exceptions. Plus, their mom’s soup was a comfort food for them, and I’m thinking that’s what they’re looking for now. Not necessarily the vegetables, just the emotions that the soup brings with it. Now, let me show you how to make it.”
She reached up and grabbed a large pot from the overhead rack. She added eight cups of water to it before she turned the burner to high. Afterward, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out some cooked off chicken breasts and diced them up, along with some amazing smelling herbs, then slipped them into the concoction.
“There are frozen vegetables on the left side of the unit,” she said. “Pick what you think would work best for what they want.”
I did as she asked, and pulled out some mixed vegetables, corn, mushrooms, and onions.
“Into the pot,” she directed me as she went back to the refrigerator, opened the door, and took out a jar of soup base. Then, after adding a few heaping teaspoons she put a bit of liquid aminos in.
“The things on these shelves are the boy’s food,” she told me, gesturing to a few well stocked items. “For Mr. Lockhart everything is fresh, but the kids have very varied tastes, so we keep a lot of food on hand that can be used quickly. It was their mother’s idea.”
“She sounds like a good woman.”
“She was. She insisted on cooking for her family, even if it was just ordering a pizza. She used to tell me that she neverwanted them to doubt they were loved.” She sighed. “It took Mr. Lockhart a few years to get back into a good headspace. He did it for his boys, though. Never, in all my years, have I met someone as dedicated to his kids as he is.”
And I knew this. Just watching him, the way he smiled at them, the way they acted when he was around, told me there was a great deal of love between them.
After about twenty minutes Amelia took the lid off, inhaled deeply, and smiled. “Okay, this should be just about done. The bowls are in the cabinet to your left. Make sure you grab one for yourself. And after you eat, maybe you should take a nap too? You’re looking a little pale.”
One of the side effects of the pills usually had me taking a nap at some point during the day. I had been able to stave it off until the time I’d normally get home, then crash before getting up, eating, and going back to bed.
“Can’t. Need to watch the boys.”
She gave me a kind smile. “After they eat, they’ll go back to sleep. Just put them in their room and take the one next door. As long as they know you’re nearby they’ll be fine.”
Sleep sounded good. I hadn’t done much of it the night before, because I was too stressed about this whole Momma thing.
“Maybe a nap will do me good,” I said.
“I promise you, it will. Now, go eat. When you’re done just leave the dishes on the table and we’ll collect them.”
