Cody learns to love

The one chapter where Bly has some very concerning flashbacks

  Everyone who ever met Cody asked the same question. How did Cody find time to tend to each of his many younger siblings while managing the household. The answer was quite simple, actually. Whatever there was that Cody didn't have the capacity to do was left to Bly.

  Now, Bly didn't blame Cody. It wasn't Cody's fault that Jango left him with siblings to take care of and barely any money. Bly was merely pointing out that Cody wasn't the image of a perfect parental figure everyone seemed to have him for.

  It has only been a few weeks since Bly moved in with Aayla. Bly felt better than he has in years already. He got a full night of sleep every day, didn't have to wake up at ass o'clock in the morning to prepare breakfast and lunch for everyone, could watch actual movies and shows that weren't kid shows, did laundry for only two people... All of that made a difference. He was well rested, more motivated, more happy. The last one might be thanks to Aayla, though. He loved her.

  "Aayla?"

  "Yes, darling?"

  "Cody needs me to watch the kids today. Is it okay if I leve for the evening?"

  "Yeah, sure."

  "I will cook you something for dinner and leave it in the fridge," Bly promised. He always did the cooking and with Aayla, he didn't mind. She wasn't picky like his siblings. And even if he did mind, there was no way he was going to let her eat instant noodles all the time, especially now.

  "I'm not that bad at cooking."

  It was true, Aayla wasn't Rex, capable of screwing up the simplest dishes like scrambled eggs. She just hated cooking. Bly didn't mind cooking, quite the opposite, he enjoyed it if he didn't have to cook the same ten meals again and again because his beloved little siblings refused to eat almost everything. "You would end up eating instant noodles."

  "I like noodles."

  Bly actually didn't like noodles, he hated them. It might've had something to do with the fact that Cody supposedly almost killed him trying to feed him noodles when Bly was barely four months old. In Cody's defence, he was a five years old child himself and he didn't know any better. Bly also remembered eating noodles for dinner often when he was a kid so maybe he developed his hatred of noodles later in life. Cody stopped buying them after Fox refused to eat them and Cody searched for possible reasons why a toddler might not want to eat noodles. The truth about the nutrition value of instant noodles hit him so hard he never let any of the kids near instant noodles again. "They're not healthy."

  "The best foods aren't," Aayla objected.

  "I will make you noodles, just better."

  "Deal."

  So Bly cooked a noodle soup that contained actual meat and vegetable. He made the recipe up but honestly, he thought he did a much better job than whoever produced the packs of instant soups that were later sold in supermarkets. He made a few extra portions to bring over to Cody's house, he could feed it to those who ate it and just make sandwiches for the rest. That was his plan.

  The kids were thrilled to see Bly. It was ridiculous, he wasn't gone for all that long and has been visiting to say hi or to just collect something that he forgot to pack. At the same time, he was glad that the kids at least somewhat missed him.

  "Bly! You need to see my new house for plushies!" Echo yelled the second Bly opened the door.

  "Echo convinced Kix and Emerie to help him build a cardboard house for his plush porg," Cody explained. "I think it turned out rather nicely."