Page 21 of Recipes for Life
"Two sandwiches, Mommy? That's a whole lot. Dad’s grilled cheeses arehuuuuuge."
I looked at my daughter. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and she was using both hands to show me how large she thought they were.
"I skipped lunch today, kiddo; twohugesandwiches sound perfect." I winked at her, and she giggled back at me.
"Why did you skip lunch today? Hard day?" Murphy inquired while sliding the first grilled cheese onto Lux' plate, then filled up her bowl with the homemade soup.
No, it wasn't a rough day. I was just anxious since I hadn't heard from you, so I had forgotten to eat.
"Not particularly, just one of those things." I hoped my answer would appease him so I didn't have to come up with some cockamamie excuse.
"Hmm." Was his only reply, if you could even count it as one. He plated my first grilled cheese with a large bowl of soup to accompany it.
"Thank you, this really does smell amazing." My stomach growled, and I couldn't help but take a rather large bite. I moaned in appreciation as the melty mix of cheeses hit my tongue. "Holy shit, this is so good."
Lux cackled beside me. "Bad word, Mommy."
"Sorry, kiddo, it's justthatgood," I replied. It had been a long time since I'd eaten a home-cooked meal prepared by someone else, and anamazingone at that.
"It's almost as good as yours, Mommy!"
Now that caused Murphy to partially choke on the grilled cheese he was eating while making another round of sandwiches for us.
Oh yeah, I used to be a terrible cook.
"Something wrong, Murph?" I couldn't help but ask the question, trying to conceal my smile.
"Oh, uh...no, not at all..." He turned around and gave me a sheepish look with a half-smile.
"Why don't you sit down, and I'll make the next round of sandwiches? It's the least I can do since you've taken off work and everything," I offered, knowing damn well he would turn me down not knowing that I couldactually cook.
"No, please, just sit and relax. You worked all day."
"But Daddy, Mommy makes the best sandwiches."
His face paled a little, and it was becoming harder to contain my laughter. The last time I had tried to cook for us was a few days before I had Lux—a few days before we moved into our house. I tried cooking a "farewell to the apartment" dinner, and to say it was inedible would be a kindness.
I once again let my eyes meet Murphy’s, and I had a sneaking suspicion we were both getting lost in the same memory.
The front door of the apartment clattered open, and I heard something fall and possibly break. I made my way to the front to see Murphy attempting to balance a moving box of plates in one hand, and a box of cups in the other.
"Whatcha doing, tough guy? Need some help?" I started toward him, intending to grab the box from his hands to prevent any more possible breakage.
"Absolutely not, Odette. No lifting. Period," he grumbled while fumbling with the boxes.
I sighed in resignation, knowing he would drop the boxes before he let me hold something he thought was too heavy. But before I could even try to argue, the fire alarm started blaring.
"Fuck," I whispered and darted off toward the kitchen.
Smoke billowed out of the oven and, not knowing any better, I opened it, only to be masked in an air of smoke and my lungs seized at the harshness. I started gasping for breath, all while trying to fan the smoke.
I felt Murphy's hands wrap around my middle as he urgently pulled me out of the kitchen and into the living room, far enough away from the kitchen and the smoke that seemed to be spreading.
"Oops..." I muttered.
"Stay, Odette," he commanded before he went into the kitchen to do some damage control.
He came back into the living room a bit later, and one look at his disheveled, sweaty appearance, and I couldn't help but burst out into a fit of laughter.
