"I want to. Thanks," Rico said and gave him a smile.
With the groceries put away, Mitch was texting Lara to get an easy, foolproof, no fail cupcake recipe. Sammy was busy with the kittens, and Rico was getting together the mixer, some bowls and hopefully a cupcake pan. Eventually he had to give up and give Mitch the bad news.
"I can't find a cupcake pan," he yelled from inside one of the kitchen cabinets while he made a racket as he put back all the pans he had pulled out so he could do a thorough search. Getting up, he came over to Mitch who was still texting. "There are other baking pans but not one for cupcakes. I can run over to my grandmother's," Rico offered.
"You don't need to," Mitch told him. "I just told Lara about it, and she's on her way. She'll bring one of hers."
"Oh, OK," Rico said and tried not to get jealous that she was so helpful to Mitch.
A few minutes later, Lara showed up looking especially good with both Gloria and her sister in tow, though Gloria soon disappeared going in search of Sammy and the kittens. All of them were dressed for going out. Though Stella could have toned it down a little and still looked stunning.
Those two sisters were a nightmare to Rico, but only Stella had that predatory vibe. Lara only looked the part but didn't bat her eyelashes at Mitch once, just handed him the cupcake pan.
"Thanks a lot for bringing it. I could have come to get it though," Mitch said.
"It's no trouble. We're on our way to take Gloria over to her dad's then doing some shopping," she said. "Text if you need any pointers and good luck."
"I'll need lots of luck. I'd hate to disappoint the kids," Mitch told her.
"You know, I could stay and help you," Stella offered. "I'm not too bad in the kitchen."
Lara and Rico both gaped at the nerve of her.
"This is a kids' party, and you were whining at me to take you shopping," Lara reminded her.
"I'm sure we'll manage," Mitch told Stella but not as harshly as Rico would have liked. He couldn't help but wonder if Mitch might have said yes to her if she and Lara weren't on their way somewhere.
The two sisters retrieved Gloria from the back where she had gotten stuck playing with Sammy and the kittens, then they were off. As he followed Mitch inside so they could get cooking, Rico tried to put Stella out of his mind. She was gone, but Rico kept wondering who Mitch thought he should be with.
At least for now, he had Mitch to himself, more or less. Sammy was there too to supervise them and lick frosting off the beaters. She gave the frosting her thumbs up, but Mitch was still uneasy about his baking skills. He was so diligent following the recipe to the letter that Rico had to tease him about it.
"And they say cooking is supposed to be fun. What do they know?" Rico said as he licked some frosting too.
Mitch acted like he wasn't supposed to watch him doing that. Then he cleared his throat and asked, "How is it?"
"Really good," Rico told him after a pause.
"So maybe following the recipe was worth it," Mitch said.
"Maybe," Rico said grudgingly then he grinned at him and had a little more.
"Don't eat all the frosting, Rico," Sammy scolded him.
As she ran off to see what the kittens were doing, Rico reassured Mitch. "Frosting is half the battle." He nudged Mitch with his elbow and got him to smile.
"I get anxious if I feel I'm out of my element," Mitch admitted, surprising Rico. "I was always afraid I couldn't do right by Sammy, just like her grandmother claimed. I felt like I had to prove myself and win the right to be her father."
"You're an amazing dad. But if you want to take it to the next level, write Sammy's name on one of those cupcakes," Rico challenged him with a grin.
"Her full name?" Mitch asked, upping the ante. "That would be Samantha Tabitha McEvers."
"Wait. That name...?" Rico narrowed his eyes with suspicion, got out his phone and did a quick search. He knew there was something funny about it, and his research confirmed it. "Seriously? This is the name you gave your daughter? You?" he said as he looked up from his phone screen and stared at Mitch with amazement.
Mitch shrugged and smiled. "Not me exactly. Ellie wanted to name Sammy after the mother and daughter onBewitched. She was obsessed with the reruns of that show when she was a little girl. I agreed to name her that as long as we stuck McEvers at the end of it. I wanted my kid to have my name. After Ellie was gone, I was glad to give Sammy the name her mom wanted her to have." Mitch's voice cracked as he finished speaking, and Rico reached over and rubbed his back. Though he meant it only as a comforting gesture, Rico wondered if he might tense up under his touch, but he didn't.
By the time DJ and Riley got dropped off, the cupcakes were already out of the oven and cooling. While Mitch and Rico started on making lunch, the kids ran around all over the porch, making a lot of noise.
To reassure himself that he didn't screw up, Mitch sent a picture of the cupcakes to Lara, and she said they looked good. Rico shook his head at Mitch's baking insecurity.
