She slaps my shoulder. “That wasn’t an invitation to look.”
“Sure seemed like it.”
She shakes her head as she walks to the kitchen.
“What do you have to cook?” I open the fridge, looking around. “Should we cook these steaks?” I pull them out, showing them to her.
“Sure. I need to get them cooked soon, anyway.” She walks over to the pantry. “I’ll make some rice.”
Her love for rice still hasn’t gone away. That was always her go-to meal for us when we were living in the apartment. Chicken and rice. We were broke, and that was one of the cheapest meals we both enjoyed.
"Amari, do you want to help cut up some zucchini and yellow squash with your mom while I cook the steaks?”
“Yeah,” she says, dragging a kitchen chair over to the counter to be higher up.
I reach over for the chair and help her set it next to the sink. “Wash the vegetables while your mom puts the rice on the stove.”
It took me a long time to start eating healthy and preparing my own meals. Before that, I depended on my mom, and when we moved out and I went to live with Kevin, we ate like shit. Everything we ate came out of a box or bag. When B and I moved in together, she cooked actual food that had to be prepared instead of warmed up in the microwave. When she left me, I went back to the same garbage as before. Kevin would BBQ for us occasionally. Those were the only times I would get a home-cooked meal.
One day I had enough. I finally stopped drinking, and my thoughts were clearer. Everything I used to eat before looked disgusting to me. That’s when I realized I ate like shit because of the alcohol. The alcohol ruined a lot of things for me. I still have a drink here and there, but it’s never like before—and it never will be. That part of my life is over. I used alcohol to numb my pain, and all it did was cause more pain. It was hard when I firststopped drinking. All the emotions from losing my dad came back up. They hit me as if I had lost him all over again.
I didn’t mourn my dad like I should have when he passed. On top of that, all the emotions of losing B and Amari came flooding in, too. I was so embarrassed by the way I acted toward B. She tried so hard when we were younger to get me to open up, and all I did was shut her out. I’m surprised she held on for as long as she did. Now all I want to do is give her the life I always promised her.
“So, should I make a steak for the doctor?” I saydoctorsarcastically.
She gives me a side-eye. “Yes, please.”
“When will he be home?” My plan is that he walks in on us cooking as a family. That wasn’t my plan at first, and it’s not my fault it might happen.
“He should be home soon.”
Forty-five minutes later, I ask the girls to sit at the table while I serve them their dinner.
“Here you ladies go,” placing the food in front of them with a smile on my face.
Blakely
I groan at the taste of the steak melting in my mouth. “This is good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Your cooking is a lot better than it used to be. I remember when you couldn’t even cook chicken.” I start laughing and Amari joins in.
“Dad couldn’t cook before?”
I shake my head. “This one time your dad put the temperature on high and when he placed the chicken on the pan, it sizzled a lot…” I pause as I try to contain my laughter. “He asked me if the chicken was supposed to make that sound, and I said anything you put on the stove makes a sound from the heat…” I laugh harder. “Then, a couple minutes later, the fire alarm went off, and we both went running into the kitchen.” Amari looks over at Kai, laughing. Kai is glaring at both of us. “Itook the chicken off the stove, put it in the sink, and ran water over it. After the chicken cooled down, I went to inspect it. One side was complete charcoal, and the other side was still a little raw.” All three of us laugh at the story. We’re laughing so hard, I didn’t even realize Liam had walked in.
His eyes widen in surprise, but the tightness of his lips show something else. “Hey, babe.” I’m trying to contain my laughter as I get up and give him a kiss. When I turn back around, I notice Kai staring down at his food, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
“What’s going on?” Liam asks.
“Mom was telling us a story about when Dad burned chicken.” Amari giggles.
“I see,” he says, glancing around the table, observing what’s going on.
“Kai made us dinner.” I walk over to the microwave, pull Liam’s plate out, and set it down next to mine—which puts him in between Kai and me. Kai side-eyes the plate next to him. Liam's jaw tenses, his stern expression growing more intense. I’ve never seen this side of Liam before. He’s always been very comfortable being around Kai. Is it because he didn’t know Kai was here? He walked in to find all of us laughing together. Is he upset because he thinks more of this than what it is?
“Are these the steaks I bought?” Liam asks as he sits down next to Kai.
