Shaking her head, she lifted the pot out to drain on the side. We’d offered to help her earlier, but she’d told us not to interfere with what she was doing, meaning we were stuck watching. Laughing silently, Jose started spooning the chicken and beef mixture on top of the mashed vegetables, adding the same amount to each one. I’d seen that baby eat, she gave not one shit if the measurements were exact throughout so long as it was going in her mouth, but apparently it mattered to her mother.
“Anyway,” Rose exhaled, changing the subject. Trust me, you go to school referring to your dick as an aardvark, or your vagina as a sugar cookie, and you end up scarred by the reaction, so her doing this was understandable to me. “What time will Tabby be back? Do you need me to feed Liv?” she looked around for Dad who’d sequestered himself in the living room with her because there were hot food and pans around the place.
My grandad was a war hero who’d suffered burns during Pearl Harbor. Because of that, he’d had a fear of anything hot, and when kids had been around that fear went into overdrive. My Dad, uncle, and aunts had never been allowed in the kitchen until they were old enough to jump out the way if anything happened. Dad had continued that panic and paranoia when he became a parent, so as soon as he’d seen the huge pot with the vegetables in it on the stove, he’d picked Liv up and walked through to the living room so she was far enough away not to get hurt. If Rose wanted to feed Liv, she was going to have a fight on her hands because my parents had been arguing about who got to do it while they were here, and that rock, paper, scissors game had been brutal. The fact that Liv’s first word had been my name still shocked me, but I’d be lying if I said that it hadn’t been an emotional moment for me. I felt bad that it hadn’t been ma or mama, but the expression on Jose’s face had eased that slightly because she’d looked genuinely happy about it all. I needed to touch base with her later to make sure, but until then I was going to carry it with me as the biggest gift life had ever given me.
“I’ll do it,” Mom said clapping her hands together. “Hogan, bring that baby through here, please. All the burners are off and the food is cooling in the containers,” she assured him, double checking she wasn’t lying, and then turning to where we were all standing still, waiting for the war that was about to happen. “Y’all go and sit down, you’ve had a lot happen recently. And Dave, you and Raoul must be exhausted with work. Go sit.”
Well, when she put it like that…________________
Seven hours later…All nine of us had gone out for a meal together, and I was pulling into the drive so that I could park in the garage next to Jose’s. Rose was taking my parents back to her house for the night and we were going to see them again tomorrow, and given how relaxed and fun tonight had been, I was looking forward to it. We’d all had a blast, and we hadn’t had even one ounce of drama, not even from Rose and Raoul – although both of them had jumped and glared at each other a couple of times, so they’d kept the war under the table. Instead, we’d all talked, laughed, and Liv had enjoyed the attention everyone gave her, but the second she was passed back to her mama, a contented sigh had come out of her and she’d snuggled in, holding onto her tightly. Looking at her was like looking at a tiny version of Jose, so when she snuggled in I’d had to take a picture. If I had to give it a title, it would have been ‘Pure Bliss’, because that’s what the expression on the little girl’s face was.
Yawning as we got out of the truck, I reached into the back, and unstrapped Liv from her car seat, giving her a gentle smile when her eyes blinked open. “Hey, princess, we’re home. Mommy’s going to put you to bed as soon as we get inside.” Rounding the front of the vehicle, Jose smiled sleepily at us both. “She’s been good tonight, but I think the cold is still making her feel yucky.”
Following her as she opened the door that led into the house from the garage, I’d only just flicked the lights on and locked it behind us when Liv sat up straight, her eyes wide as she looked at me. “Uh, Jose, is she ok?”