‘Not yet but I can ask in town,’ she stated firmly.
The boys looked disappointed at her lack of twin connections and she felt a little sad for them.
‘Let’s make pasta,’ she said brightly.
The boys dropped their sticks with a clatter and turned their attention to her.
‘More carbs? Mom would die,’ Seth said. ‘She says carbs make her crazy.’
‘Lucky she’s not here then,’ said Christa, slightly annoyed that the children already had such a dim view of certain foods.
‘Do you have children?’ asked Ethan.
‘Nope. Go and wash your hands again at the sink behind me.’
The boys did so.
‘Why not?’ they asked, wiping their hands with the tea towel she handed them.
‘Because I work long hours and I would want to be with them instead of being at work.’
The boys looked at each other, as Christa tipped pasta flour in front of them in small mounds.
‘Make a volcano shape,’ she instructed and the boys followed her lead. ‘Now crack an egg into it.’
‘Can I film it?’ asked Ethan.
‘You can’t film and cook, so make your choice,’ she answered. ‘You don’t want flour all over your camera.’
Her egg yolk was orange it was so fresh and perfect, and she sighed with pleasure.
There was nothing she liked more than fresh, home-produced food.
The twins carefully broke their eggs into the well and she instructed them to drizzle over some olive oil and salt and then showed them how to whisk the eggs with a fork, eventually adding more of the flour as they went.
‘Don’t worry if the eggs spills out – move it back in with your hands. It’s all part of the work. And now let’s knead the dough, like we did with the bread. This will take a while so don’t give up. The more stretchy it is, the better,’ she encouraged.
She watched their faces as they worked, their young hands kneading the dough while she occasionally sprinkled more flour over the top.
She enjoyed showing people what she knew, and when children were engaged, she enjoyed teaching them.
She and Simon had decided against children during the last few years of their marriage because he had said they didn’t have time. She wasn’t sure she ever said an outright no but it became part of their narrative as a couple when asked and soon she repeated it until it became something she had believed. When she looked back on it now, she realised that Simon didn’t want her to have children because she would have taken time out from the restaurant.
A sadness gripped her and she wondered if she had missed out on something.
‘I’m pulling mine like we saw in that horror movie where they pulled the man’s skin,’ said Seth, interrupting her thoughts.
Ethan laughed and followed his lead. ‘This is his stomach as we pull the fat away.’
Christa made a face and turned away from them. Maybe she wasn’t missing anything if that’s what boys were like.
‘When you have finished cooking your horror show, we’re going to use the pasta maker to roll it really thin,’ she said pulling the pasta maker from the cupboard. Honestly, this house had everything she would ever need.
The boys looked at the contraption and nodded their approval.
‘I saw something like that in a video game. They put people’s hands in them to torture them and make them tell the truth.’
‘My God, does your dad know you watch that sort of stuff?’ she asked as she set up the pasta maker.
