A beautiful photographer

Chapter 17 - Snowballs and homeworks

*Charlotte pov*

After picking up the kids from school, as promised Tom and I brought them to the park to play in the snow.
We've been here for almost two hours and it's starting to get dark.
"Kids...I think it's time to go" I say to the pair
"Five more minutes mommy please" Ellie says looking at me with puppy dog eyes
"Fine..."
I sit back on the bench and take a few more pictures of the kids.

I see Tom coming to me and then a snow ball hits him on the back. He stops and closes his eyes, then he opens them slowly
"Who of you kids just threw a snow ball at me?" He says
"Not me!" Alex says
"Uh uh me neither" Ellie says
"Ahahah...ops, my fault mate!" A man says
Tom turns picks up some snow and throws it at the man
"Now we are even!" He says
I look at the two of them hug and coming towards me
"Ben this is Charlotte, Charlotte this is Ben, my other best friend"
"Of course...Benedict Cumberbatch, so nice to meet you!" I say standing up and shaking his hand
"My pleasure, so you are the girl that stole Tommy's heart!"
"Yep!" I say smiling and Tom pulls me in for a warm hug
"And those are my kids, Ellie and Alex" I say pointing to them "kids! Come meet Tom's friend" I shout
They come over quickly and shake hands with Benedict.
Ben, Tom and I talk a bit as the kids walk in front of us going back to our car.

Ten minutes later we say goodbye to Ben promising to have dinner with him soon and head to Tom's house.

"Alright" he says "go in and warm up a bit, I'll make some hot chocolate"
"Yes!" Alex says
The three of us sit on his couch, the kids looking over at his place from their seated positions
"Tom you have a really cool house!" Ellie says
"Oh thank you darling" he says handing over the mugs

We drink our hot cocoa in silence, appreciating its warmth.
After a break I tell the kids to do their homeworks
"I need help!" Alex says
Tom goes over to him "what are you doing?"
"Math" Alex answers
"Ugh...I've never liked it or been good at it...Charlotte?"
"I'll help him, go and see if Ellie needs help" I say going over to the boys and pecking Tom's lips before he goes in the other room where Ellie is studying.

*Tom's pov*

I walk in my studio and see the little lamp on the desk on and Ellie sitting looking over a book
"Need some help?"
"Maybe..."
"What do we have here?" I say bringing over a chair to sit next to her
"English literature, Shakespeare and other stuff" she says taking her eyes off the book to look at me for a moment
"Uuuhh...in that case I can help you! I'm a pro at Shakespeare...let's see"
I move her book a bit so I can see what's written on it and start to explain it to her in the easiest way possible, English literature is not very easy...
"So you basically need to know when and where Shakespeare was born" I say
"Yes...and even what he has written" she says
I push the book in front of her again and start my lesson suggesting to her to take notes
"William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 and died in the same place April 23 1616. He was an English playwright, poet and actor. His works, including collaborations, consist in 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 3 long narrative poems and a few other verses. His plays have been translated in lots of languages and are performed more often that those of any other playwright"
"So he was like the greatest poet of all times?"
"Basically yes"
"While his first plays were primarily comedies and histories, the others are mostly tragedies like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Coriolanus and Machbeth"
"What were the comedies he wrote?"
"Uhm like The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream, amongst others"
"And what about the historical ones?" She asks
"Oh those are Henry VI part one, two and three, then Richard III, Richard II, Henry V, Henry IV part one and two, Henry VIII and last but not least King John"
"Wow...you really do know a lot of things about Shakespeare, those aren't even on my book"
"Eeheheh, I really do like him!"
"Thanks for explaining it to me, Tom!"
"Sure thing darling, you'll do good on your exam"
"I hope so"
"I know so! Now put away the books and come in the kitchen, we'll make dinner"

I walk back in the kitchen where I see Charlotte and Alex closing his books
"How did it go?" She asks
"Wonderfully, she had to study Shakespeare"
"Then she's definitely gonna get a good grade, she has the best English literature teacher" she says smiling at me
"Now, my love, go on the sofa and relax. Me and the kids will cook dinner"
"Oh...alright"

I've got all the ingredients and the pots out, so we can start cooking
"Ellie would you mind pour some oil in that pot over there?"
"Sure, how much?"
"A bit more than a spoonful"
She nods and I help Alex put the water in the other pot.
We are making pasta with fresh tomato sauce.
"Put some onions it there too darling, here you go" I say to Ellie passing to her the already cut onions
"Alex we should put some salt in the water and wait until it boils"
"Okay!" He says and grabs the salt form the counter
Ellie helps Alex to weigh the pasta as I cut the tomatoes
"Can I put them in the pot?" Ellie asks after I finished
"Sure, make sure to stir them every once in a while so that they won't burn"
The water boils and I put the pasta in and look over at the clock, 11 minutes from now and the pasta should be cooked
"How's the sauce coming?" I ask Ellie
"Good...I think"
"Should we taste it?"
"Yes" she says
I grab a spoon and give it to her
"Careful it's hot"
She waits a bit and blows on it to let it cool, then tastes it
"Delicious!"
"Perfect! Set the table for me please? I'll assemble the dinner"
She goes over the table and starts to put plates and cutlery on it
"Alex, go to mummy and say to her that dinner is ready" I say to him handing him a Rose to give to her.
The two of them get in the kitchen and sit at the table, Ellie does too and I bring over the food
"Fancy!" Charlotte says

We eat, we talk, we laugh and soon it's time to bring them back to their house and kiss them goodnight.