Of Shields & Trees [BxB]

06 | Almost Happy | Soft-Core

There were a few serving platters lined at the middle of the table, each dish looking yummier and more flavoursome than the next. Shopska salad, stuffed cabbage rolls, bean salad, some potato dish with melted cheese on top...

My eyes stayed on the potatoes, my mouth filling with saliva. Would it be ok if I have a taste? Just one little tiny potato piece! But with Adam's eyes trained on me I felt kinda uncomfortable reaching for the food. This was plain torture! My eyes kept drifting between the tasty potato dish and Adam's amused eyes. Until he felt sorry for me and hollered, "Mom, I'm hungry!"

"The bell peppers are still in the oven!" She replied, loud enough to be heard from the kitchen but still in a softer tone than her ill-mannered son.

Their parrot flew to us, landing on the top rail of an empty chair and started making kissing sounds. Which wasn't cute at all. Only mildly frustrating.

Ms. Buchvarova placed a round loaf of freshly baked bread on the table and took the seat on my right. She wasn't dressed as sharply as her sons. Only wearing a plain Christmas sweater over her dark denim jeans.

"If you're that hungry, we may start without the last dish," she told her son with a tired smile.

"Noah!" Adam hollered again, not bothering to move from his seat to fetch his brother. "Lunch is ready!"

"Coming!" Noah barked back.

A few seconds later we were joined by Noah and Stoyan.

"What took you so long?" Adam asked his brother.

"Honey boy here doesn't know how to put on a tie," Noah answered.

"Did you tell him about the video?" Adam questioned and went on explaining their idea.

After he was done, Ms. Buchvarova interlaced her fingers for a prayer. We didn't say grace at home before each meal but I've seen plenty of movies where this was a common occurrence, thanks to my couch potato of a mother, so I followed her lead.

"O Christ God," she muttered, "bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

"Amen," her boys said in perfect unison.

"Amen," I mumbled shortly after.

I was just about to have a portion of that yummy potato dish I was eyeing for the last half hour when Adam screamed, "Wait! We need to shoot the table before we serve ourselves!" And just like that, I retracted my hand back to its original position.

The next few minutes Ms. Buchvarova was holding her son's expensive phone while the boys greeted their followers. At this point I didn't know what was pissing me off more: that the meeting between me and Mr. Steamy Cheesy Potato was postponed once again or how their parrot was jumping up and down on the chair, whistling for absolutely no reason at all. But once the cheesy goodness reached my tongue, it was pure Heaven! All the bad in the world forgotten in the blink of an eye.

I had some potatoes, then the stuffed bell peppers Ms. Buchvarova got out of the oven, afterwards two cabbage rolls with a side of Shopska salad... It was the first time in forever since I ate that much!

The homemade bread had a coin hidden inside, which was found by my awesome self. And I almost chipped a tooth on it!

It was a tradition I wasn't familiar with. And apparently it meant I was going to have good luck and lots of money over the incoming year.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

I feel like my luck has turned already. What more could I want, right? Maybe a nice foster family I could feel at ease with?

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV, something I was already familiar with. Minus the rich lunch-turned-dinner this was how my Christmas holidays usually went. Only this time I had Noah's stupid comments to entertain me. He liked to remark on everything wrong or funny he saw in a movie. Sometimes Adam joining in his efforts.

For a single day, I felt like I was really a part of their family. It was a bittersweet notion. But here and now I was almost happy.

~°•♤•°~

A/N: What was present in the hard-core version and not here is that Noah and Stoyan might or might not have been making out before they all sat for lunch but the way it was written, it didn't become clear if it was consensual or not, so I cut it out from this version of the chapter.