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“What are you making?” I ask my mom as I come into the kitchen. I left my wet coat and boots by the door but my jeans are still wet from the snow.
“Chicken noodle soup,” my mom says, adding dried herbs to the pot. “Nova said she likes it and I know it’s one of your favorites, too.”
“Nova’s awake?”
“She’s downstairs, watching TV.”
I go down there and see her snuggled up on the couch with blankets piled on her.
“You look comfy.” I sit beside her, leaning over to kiss her cheek. I know I shouldn’t keep kissing her if we’re not dating, but I can’t help myself. And it’s just innocent kisses, more like a friend kiss, not like the kind of kiss I want to give her.
“Here.” She lifts up the blanket. “Come join me.”
“I can’t. My jeans are wet from the snow. I have to go up and change. I’m probably getting the couch wet just sitting here.”
“You were out in the snow?”
“I had to clear the driveway. Usually, my dad does it, but since he’s not here, I did it so my mom could get her car out if she needed to.”
Nova smiles. “You’re a good son.”
“Not always, but I try. My mom’s making you soup.”
“She told me. And it’s not from a can,” she says, sounding both shocked and excited. “She’s actually making it.”
“Yeah, she always does. She doesn’t like buying anything processed. I mean, a few things, like crackers or cereal, she’ll buy, but most everything else is homemade.”
“I’ve never had homemade soup. Ted and I always ate the canned stuff.”
“Liz used to make homemade chili. You ate that.”
“That’s right. I forgot about that.” She laughs. “You couldn’t eat it because it was too spicy. You’re such a wimp.”
“Hey! I wasn’t used to spicy food. It took me a while to build up a tolerance.”
“You were so sweet.” She looks up at me, smiling. “You were the sweetest kid I’d ever met.”
“That’s not really a compliment.”
“Why not?”
“Sweet? No guy wants to be called sweet, even as a kid.”
“How do you want me to describe you?”
“I don’t know, but not sweet.”
“Okay, I won’t say it, but I’ll still think it.” She rests her head on my shoulder as she gazes at the TV. “You guys have a lot of channels.”
“We don’t watch any of them. We stream everything now.”
“Then why do you have cable?”
“Because we’re too lazy to get rid of it? I don’t know. I think my dad watches the financial channels.”
“Have you talked to him since he left?”
“No. I talked to him last night before the game.”
