The Christmas Elf (Jenlisa)

Chapter 5

~~ Arlington, Virginia, December ~~

"Is this okay, Mommy?"

Ella was kneeling on a chair at the tiny kitchen table, carefully stirring the contents of the bowl in front of her. Jennie took the two steps from the counter to where her four-year-old was laboring with her wooden spoon.

Jennie had chopped up a bag of cranberries, an apple and an orange in her mini food processor, then dumped everything in a mixing bowl with a cup of sugar. She saw that Ella had pretty thoroughly mixed the sugar in by that point, and she patted her head, giving her a big smile.

"That's perfect, baby, good job!" Jennie turned back to her apartment's little stove and said, "Now we just need to mix in the Jell-O." She had all four of the tiny burners going, as well as the oven, which was roasting the world's tiniest turkey breast, which had been all she could manage to afford, and the kitchen was uncomfortably warm.

She picked up the smallest pot off the stove and carefully walked it over to the table.

"You keep stirring while I pour this in, okay? Be careful not to splash."

"Okay!"

Jennie slowly poured the steaming liquid strawberry Jell-O into the bowl as Ella kept stirring the mixture carefully, but with the enthusiasm of a four-year old helping with a 'very important job'.

"Alright, now we need to put this in the freezer for thirty minutes, then it will be just like you like it, okay?" she said, taking the bowl.

"What can I do next, Mommy?"

Jennie looked at her daughter and smiled again. Ella was almost giddy with excitement at the thought of having a guest for their 'Christmas party'. She had flour all over her clothes from the biscuits she'd rather enthusiastically helped make.

"I think we're almost ready. Can you go change into your pretty Christmas dress for the party?"

"Yay!" she yelled, as she ran out of the kitchen to their shared bedroom.

Jennie watched her go, rubbing her hand across her stomach. She was as nervous as Ella was excited. Perhaps more so.

Her daughter's excitement was based on the fact that other than a few playdates with kids from the daycare, they rarely had guests over to their apartment, much less for a meal, much less for something like the fancy Christmas dinner that she'd been working on all morning.

Jennie's nervousness was grounded in the fact that today would be the first time she'd seen Lisa since Christmas Day, and it was their first 'official' date.

They'd spent most of Christmas Day together, and Lisa had made love to her twice after their morning wake-up session. Jennie had reveled in the attention, in the feeling of being wanted, and in the sensuality that Lisa had shown her. However, once Lisa had gone home that night, the doubts about what they'd done together began to creep in.

The next day, she'd met her daughter's grandmother, Soomin, in the Target parking lot on Route 50, the usual rendezvous spot for her to pick Ella up from a visit to grandma's. Jongin, Ella's dad, was along for the ride this time. As usual, he'd made some awkward conversation, not-so-subtly hinting that they should get together socially sometime soon.