Page 29 of Together Is Where We Belong

“Can I have some more pasta, Mama?” Luke’s tiny voice asked.

“You can. Once you eat your salad,” Carolina responded, and Luke groaned.

I withheld a laugh because I hated vegetables at his age too.

Instead of fighting her, he reluctantly ate his salad. Once he was finished, Carolina gave him another small serving of pasta.

“What’d you do today at Grandma and Grandpa’s?” Carolina asked.

“We worked on the castle. It’s almost done. It’s huge. And I helped Grandma make cookies. But she only let Grandpa have one because he needs to watch what he eats. She let me have two,” he said as he cupped his hand to his mouth like he let out a secret he wasn’t supposed to tell his mother.

“Oh, she did, huh?” Carolina said with a grin.

“Only because I begged for one more,” he quickly added, I was sure to cover for his Grandma more than anything. That was what I did as a boy.

“What kind of cookies?” I asked, continuing the conversation. I never wanted this night to end.

“Chocolate chip. The best kind there is,” he said as he took his last bite of pasta.

“I have to agree with you.”

“You know how to make sure they're super gooey?” he asked as he kicked his feet back and forth.

“How’s that?” I honestly didn’t have a clue.

“You add extra chocolate chips, and you don’t cook them like the package suggests. You cook them a few minutes less and take them out ’cause they continue to cook once you put them on the rack to cool,” he said proudly.

“That’s interesting,” I said with a smile, loving how much he seemed to enjoy cooking.

“Can I be done now, Mama?”

“You can, but what do you need to do now?” Carolina asked as she leaned her head to the side to wait for his response.

“Put my dishes in the sink,” Luke said as he stood and grabbed his plate and cup and carried them over to the stainless-steel sink and dropped them inside.

“Thank you, buddy,” Carolina praised.

“Can we watch Rio now, Mama?” Luke asked with a yawn.

“We can, but you need to get a bath and put your pajamas on first,” Carolina said as she began to clear the table and put the dirty dishes in the sink.

Once the table was cleared except for the pots and bowls holding the contents of our dinner, she turned toward me.

“I’ll go get the water ready for his bath and get him ready for bed. We’ll be right back,” she said as she hurried off down the hallway.

I couldn’t just sit here as I waited for her to return. She looked tired and scared as she sat across from me. As quietly as I could, I searched her cabinets, which were sparse of dishes, before I found some containers to store the leftovers in.

After I’d put those in the fridge, I rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. After finding the detergent for the dishwasher, I put some in the dishwasher and set it to wash. I found some cleaning spray and wiped down the table and counters.

Just as I was finished and walking into the living room, I heard Luke running back in my direction with Carolina following closely behind.

“Are you ready to watch the best movie ever?” Luke asked as he ran around me and hopped on the couch. He pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and settled in as he waited for Carolina to get the movie set up.

“Leo has a gift for you, bud. Why don’t you open that first, and I’ll get the movie set up?” Carolina suggested.

I grabbed the bag off the love seat and sat on the floor. Luke uncovered himself and joined me, sitting across from me and waiting for the go-ahead to tear into the bag.

“You got me a present? What is it?” he asked with wide eyes.