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*Putters around the kitchen, checking recipes and measuring ingredients. Reads the next line, measures out some flour, pauses, reads the line again. Why will nothing stay in his head this evening?*
*Blinks. Pours flour back in bag, wipes hands on "Kiss The Cook" apron.*
Hey, Ange? I... think I could use a little help in here...?
December 21 2005, 06:17:21 UTC 6 years ago
*a bit later, comes into the kitchen, looking not-particularly-happy, but brightens at the sight of Brad and obeys the injunction on the apron* What do you need?
December 21 2005, 06:29:11 UTC 6 years ago
I just... I dunno. I've got like six recipes I'm trying to get through, and I keep losing track of where I am. Could you just, maybe, I dunno, read the ingredients out to me so I don't hafta keep looking back and forth?
*pauses, grins*
Or, you know, just hang out with me while I do this. Are the kids in bed?
December 21 2005, 06:38:28 UTC 6 years ago
*picks up the cookbook and looks at it* I probably better just hang around. You know what happens when I get involved in one of your baking sprees.
December 21 2005, 06:45:27 UTC 6 years ago
You just can't resist the sight of me in the mitts, can you? *grins*
Pull up a stool. Can I offer you... *looks around at the enormous assortment of ingredients on the island* ...a pecan? Some chocolate chips? A raw egg? *takes cookbook back, looking much happier this time*
December 21 2005, 06:50:51 UTC 6 years ago
Matt says hello, by the way. That was who I was on the phone with.
December 21 2005, 06:55:46 UTC 6 years ago
*grins back, realizes he's lost his place again but doesn't mind this time*
Hey, how is our boy Matt? Are he and his speedo coming out this way anytime soon?
December 21 2005, 07:00:50 UTC 6 years ago
December 21 2005, 07:10:08 UTC 6 years ago
Yeah, that'd be cool. *measures flour into four different bowls* It'd be nice to see a friendly face after ---
*pauses, realizes what he's implying*
Well, you know, sometimes a vacation leaves you needing a vacation....
*corner of his mouth turns down as he cracks an egg a little too hard*
December 21 2005, 07:17:34 UTC 6 years ago
December 21 2005, 07:23:10 UTC 6 years ago
*gets as much shell-free egg into the first bowl as he can, then shakes gooey hand over the disposal*
Naw, not bad, just... I dunno.
*pause*
You know I've got relatives that voted for the chimp, right?
December 21 2005, 07:33:15 UTC 6 years ago
Look, I'm more worried about what they'll say to the kids. Zahara won't remember anything but Maddox is old enough to take away a vibe, even though I'm sure your folks won't say anything awful in front of him.
*picks up an old plastic cooking spoon with a Betty Crocker logo and fiddles with it* Me, I'm an actress. I can certain handle any questions they throw at me. What's the worst thing they can say? "How does Brad feel about your girlfriend?" "Don't you feel bad about stealing Brad from Jen?" "Are you wearing loose clothes to hide a baby bump?" "When are you and Brad going to get m- *loud noise as the plastic spoon cracks under her fingers, covering the rest of the word*
December 21 2005, 07:47:13 UTC 6 years ago
*looks at Ange with sympathy*
Right. Clearly, I need to triple these recipes. If we keep their mouths stuffed with cookies, they won't be able to ask stupid-ass questions, right?
*rinses egg off hand, comes to stand next to Ange, takes broken spoon from her, brushes hair tenderly back from her cheek*
Should I let you crack the rest of the eggs?
December 21 2005, 16:29:17 UTC 6 years ago
*very quietly* I'm all right. *more normally* I think I need centering more than I need breaking things. But what I really need is right here. *goes up on toes, kisses the end of Brad's nose*
OK, I'm done freaking out for the moment. Let's be practical. What do you want me to say to them? The answer to "how does Brad feel about anything?" is "Ask Brad". And the answer to any question about Jen is something noncommittal or "none of your business". Said nicely, of course.
I don't know what to say to some of the other ones.
December 21 2005, 16:55:05 UTC 6 years ago
*kisses Ange's forehead and then looks into her eyes* Well, most of my family lives according to the Southern Code. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because I can guarantee you the word "lesbian" will not come outta their mouths except whispered, behind closed doors, outside your presence. Well, unless we're talking about my cousin the trucker, but he lives by the Redneck Code, which is different. But anyway, you just count the number of times one of my older female relatives pulls me into a back room to "just get something down off this shelf, could you, hon?" 'Cause I guarantee every one of those times is gonna be an inappropriate question. But they won't do that to you.
Unfortunately -- here's the big bad -- it means that every one of them is gonna want to ask the "M" question, because that's what they do to convince bull-headed boys to do right by their girls.
*sighs* I should probably call my mom and give her The Talk before we go out there, shouldn't I?
December 21 2005, 18:33:33 UTC 6 years ago
And if anyone asks about this doing right stuff, I'll tell them the truth: you are doing right by me. And the kids. Just right. You know that.
December 21 2005, 23:15:52 UTC 6 years ago
*kisses Ange's forehead again* I love you, Angel. *smiles* Thank you.
And you're right: if I want everyone else in the family to get the message, I should call my great aunt. *smirks, gives Ange a bear-hug, goes back to the other side of the island to continue cracking eggs*
December 22 2005, 00:18:27 UTC 6 years ago
*pulls a stool over and perches on it, watching Brad* Looks like you have a good assortment in the works. We've got everything we need, right? I don't want any failed experiments. *joking* If the cookies aren't perfect, just the way they were for the last five years, I'll be the woman who turned your head all Hollywood and made you forget how to bake. And we can't have that.
December 22 2005, 01:04:22 UTC 6 years ago
*grin* Did I ever tell you about the time I let Juliette make the cookies?
December 22 2005, 01:37:20 UTC 6 years ago
December 22 2005, 02:11:40 UTC 6 years ago
Chocolate-marmalade-feta-tofu puffs happened. Which were awesome, by the way -- just... maybe not if you're from, you know, rural Oklahoma.
And everybody tried them, just to be polite. Mom was finding half-eaten puffs hidden in her potted plants for days afterward.
Anybody makes any cracks about my cookies, that's all you gotta say: Chocolate. Marmalade. Feta. Tofu. Puffs.
December 22 2005, 02:27:11 UTC 6 years ago
*sits back on the stool, not far enough to overbalance, definitely swaying with the belly laughter* So what you're telling me is that I have a low hurdle to overcome in the cookie department.
December 22 2005, 03:02:59 UTC 6 years ago
And, believe it or not, a successful precedent in the "not afraid to be your own woman" department. Most of my family really LIKED Juliette, even if they thought correctly that she was kind of a space alien.
*has now added two dozen eggs to various bowls, picks up a bowl of egg whites and begins whisking*
They mean well. They really do. *pauses, staring into egg whites as he whisks them*
You know the other thing they're gonna ask? *vein in his temple starts to pulse* If and when we're going to have "our own" children.
*makes "grrr" expression, whisks harder*
December 22 2005, 03:11:53 UTC 6 years ago