The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

Dinner Plans

After a while in the pool, I was left supervising the kids so the master builders could go back to researching and planning things. Even Rachel went into the session. Between Helen, Rachel, Angel, and Morgan I am sure they all are doing their individual and collective best to get everything locked down for the new 'rox'. I am also quite sure Janie and Mike are seeing what it is like to connect with masters of what they do. Helen on property. Angel, Rachel, and Morgan on research on any topic Helen needs them to get her data for.

Deeds. What's for sale where and from whom and at what price. Building codes here and there. Local laws. Proximity to other places like subdivisions and schools. The general character of law enforcement in a given area. The secret development plans back in Houston around 'rox'. You name it. Helen requests it, and they feed it to her. The outlines of what is possible and where growing before Mike and Janie's likely astonished eyes.

I extracted the kids from the pool when I needed to go in and start dinner. Ben and Catori were ready. The rest? Not so much. Kids are like that: They will play until they drop.

Once I had everyone settled inside, the big kids with a board game, Laura with a book again, and the toddlers down for a nap, I studied the food options.

We expanded the dining area to accommodate the entire family, and the kitchen came in for some upgrades to feed the crowd. Normally, I do not have to do food prep alone. Morgan or Nakoma, or even Jessica or Helen. Lori sometimes. Danny, if we are doing some outdoor grilling. My current conundrum is not a question or a well-stocked pantry or fridge. It is a question of choice.

I thought it over. Janie likes food, and her scent tells me she eats a wide variety of things. Omnivores smell different from vegetarians, vegans, or heavy carnivores. Janie is an omnivore.

Mike is a little different. He will want a diet that favors protein. Standard Vampire fare will suit him.

Paul is a kid, but his scent tells me he is more like his mother in terms of food choices. Of course, he also likely eats at school, and schools being under-funded tend to feed as close to healthy as they can afford, but go pretty carb-heavy.

Dinner time at their house must be fun. Three people, two-and-a-half diets.

Vera and Angel are still breastfeeding part time, with Catori and Ben on a mixed diet of breast milk and solid table food, plus some Jessica invented supplements. All that changes for Vera is that she will eat more, but that means Angel needs a higher protein setup than her normal fare. Not counting the vitamins Jessica has them both on.

Then I have all my kids, Danny, Lori, and my parents to consider. Marvin and Skye can't come since we could not explain their apparent age.

Oh. Vera will be coming home early and hungry from her desk workout. Hungry for food. I hope we have sated part of her hunger for a while. I'm starving from that desk workout and the swimming. Mostly the desk. I try to not cheat Vera when she is in that mood, but it takes a mighty effort. The swim was a nice cool down after that. I kept waiting for Morgan or someone to call me out and tease me on my mid-day activities, but no one said a word. Too focused on their problems I suppose.

Yeah. I need to make this easy. I called Danny.

"Hey, dude." Danny answered.

"Hey back. We have house guests. Both of them are old lovers of Morgan from Houston. I'm not sure if she has talked about them when you are around. Janie and Mike are their names. Janie is an exotic dancer and Mike is a gym rat and bartender at the club Janie dances at. They brought their little boy Paul too. Good kid. He and ours are getting along great. I have been thinking about it and there are too many diet options going on here. Which is to say, it's a lot like our family on any given night, but with guests. I am thinking it's a burger and hotdog night. You willing to grill? I could use a hand."

"Sure, man! Love to! I'll stop on the way home and grab some fresh bread from your favorite bakery, fresh whole grain buns, and extra wood chips for smoking." Danny then was curious. "Lovers, huh?"

"Yeah. Her first lady love, Janie. Nice lady: I can see why Morgan and she got together. They are going to again in fact. It's back on. Janie's significant other and a former lover of Morgan is Mike. Can't see that one as much, but Morgan tells me Mike is OK, so I believe her. I think he is struggling a little with re-entering Morgan's world and finding all of us in it. Also struggling with it not being back on with him too. Morgan beelined for Janie once she saw Janie was still into her. They came here for help, got hit in the face with wide-open Poly. Not everyone is you and Lori."

"Wow. That's kinda cool, man! Love it! OK. I'll take off a little early then. I gotta meet these folks!"

"Thanks, man. You rock. Love ya."

"I love you more. See you soon." Danny hung up.

One nice thing about our current life is that Danny and I can say things like that, and no one thinks a damn thing about it. We have been lifelong friends and huggy, but now we are verbal about it too. There are some interesting parallels to Rachel for me. Coming at love and affection from a different direction. In both cases, gender mattered, and barriers had to erode over time.

In my family, no one would have said anything about two men saying they loved each other. We just never did. As Het as I am, it was not me that was the barrier. Danny has gotten a lot more comfortable about some things than in the before-times. I knew Danny was not comfortable going beyond, even in as simple a way as a verbal expression, where we were. Being a Vampire changes a lot. Long-life leads to alternate love lifestyles leads to being able to say something that was always there.

Cheered after that short conversation, I looked in on the kids. Diana is winning, but in her ever so social way, not gloating about it. Rachel in the same position would be being an ass, and I would have to tell her to not be a bad winner.

I pulled out the patty form I use when making mass quantities of burgers. It is faster than patting them all out to uniform size. Easier to grill them if they all cook at about the same rate, or at the very least if the reason they are not cooking at the same rate is the grill, not the size of the patty. Danny is the griller of the family, so I can help him by handing him a uniform product to cook.

I called the bakery and placed an order for all the things Danny will need to pick up so that it will be ready. I texted Danny it would be ready when he got there and included a list of what all the things are.

Then I started thinking about side dishes.

I wondered if Morgan would want anything special for Janie. Something they could eat off of each later, perhaps. Avocado is a family favorite for sex-snacking, but I am not sure how Janie would feel about that. She is a Texas girl, but avocado can be an acquired taste. Especially since for love it has few spices in it. Guacamole can be irritating in sensitive skin locations. The onion and garlic and acidity of the lemon and tomatoes. Tried it once, and Helen said it made her nipples tingle. Did not try it elsewhere.

Whipped cream is a classic. Custards or puddings can be fun.

Hmm. I need this to be right for Morgan and Janie. This needs to be special.

I reviewed Janie's scent in my mind for clues. I decided I am overthinking it and that for a first-time renewal of sexual love they are unlikely to get that exploratory. I will keep a can of whipped cream on standby.

I have some brand new chocolate whipped cream. Just bought it to replace what we used the last time there was an impromptu food-and-love event. Vera and Helen. They were hungry. Chocolate whipped cream had met the need.

Janie likes chocolate. I can tell.

I sauteed some almonds as I went over that in my mind. I'll use these in the spinach and the green beans...