By the time I had finished the sixth batch of six pancakes, and used up all the batter, the rest of the family had joined us. I figured three pancakes per head, if John would join us when picking up his wife and daughter, would be enough for everyone. The kitchen was soon filled with happily chatting people appreciating the readily waiting breakfast.
“You made soufflé pancakes!? How did you get them to stay so fluffy?” Claire asked.
“Tablespoon of egg white powder. Adds protein as structure to hold it up, but doesn’t change the taste.”
“Ha! How did you get those silly faces on them?” Granny asked amused, to which I just held up the pan, showing her the different emojis in the separated slots.
“They’re a little sweet for me, but still good!” Aaron commented as I was cleaning up the kitchen while they ate.
“Yeah, well, keep in mind that I normally spend two or three hours each day in the gym. Though ... eating those while sitting around for weeks, waiting for my bones to mend, would probably be a bad idea.” I mused.
“When did you get so good at cooking? I never saw you in here!” Claire asked, causing Maggie and Danielle to exchange looks while Ava lowered her head.
“After I get home. So, either when you’re all out together or in bed.” I explained, biting my tongue when I wanted to finish that statement by actually saying ‘
“Then why did I never have to clean the kitchen in the mornings?” she followed up.
I pointed my thumb over my shoulder, drawing her attention to the already cleaned counter and stove.
“You might’ve noticed that you almost never had to clean the kitchen in the mornings. Even when you didn’t clean it yourself after you cooked. Who’d you think did that?”
“But we would’ve smelled it!” Aaron added.
I didn’t answer immediately. When I realized why that was, I sighed.
While it was true that they never noticed when I did cook in their house, I didn’t exclusively cook in their house. The majority of my learning process, that regularly left the easily noticeable smell of burned food and ill-advised seasonings behind, was done somewhere else.
“Well ... Tess and I enjoyed cooking together whenever we spent the evening at her place.” I supplied, while drying off the last bowl and then stored it away.
When I got back up and looked over the counter, I noticed two things. First, the mood had, once again, turned quite subdued from my comment. I realized this was the first time I had ever told them anything about my life with Tess. They were not expecting it, and probably didn’t know what to say now.
The other thing I noticed was that there were only two pancakes left, and Grandpa was just taking one of those, which caused my own mood to drop. I contemplated if I should say anything about it, but was saved by the doorbell.
“Oh, Morning!” I greeted John after opening the door for him. “Sorry again for waking you last night.”
“And I already told you not to worry about it!” He gave me a reassuring smile.
“Well, help yourself to breakfast in the kitchen! There’s only one pancake left, but I think it came out well.”
Instead of accompanying him to the kitchen and watching him eat as well, I turned to the stairway. Arriving upstairs I heard John’s voice again.
“
I felt a sad smile stretch my lips, thinking about Tess again as I packed my bag.
About forty-five minutes later, I was just pulling up my pants after my morning shower, I heard Danielle call me downstairs. I went to investigate, not bothering to find a shirt first.
“What’s up?” I asked, stepping into the kitchen where the family was still assembled. To my surprise, they had already cleaned the table themselves.
“Ava just walked by your room and saw you’re packing. Are you leaving already!?” Claire asked.
“Yeah. Staples are out, so no need for you to look after me anymore. And you should all be safe now, so no need for me to look after you anymore, either.”
“Are you sure? I mean ... do you ... can’t you stay?” Ava asked, sounding somewhat embarrassed and insecure.
“I don’t have to leave, but why wouldn’t I?”
“ ... I’m worried.” she admitted after a few seconds.
“We all are, actually.” Aaron added, while the others gave me sullen looks.
“No need to be. Just to be sure, I’ll come by next week and install a surveillance system. But they’re gone and won’t show up ag...”
“We’re not worried about those guys.” Danielle interrupted me quickly. “We’re worried about you.”
“Why? I’m perfectly fine.” I said, earning me quite a few raised eyebrows.
“You sure about that?” Grandpa asked in a taunting voice, pointing at the still red cuts on my stomach and chest, my now dark blue and violet right side, the slightly less colorful forearms, the shiners under my eyes, the split lip, and the cut eyebrow.
“I already told you, It looks worse than it is!” I replied, starting to get annoyed.
