Healing Sophie

23

"It won't turn on!"

"You've got to turn the knob."

"I just told you, it's not working." Victor and Chase were deep in an argument over the grill outside, trying to get the turkey smoking. Theo had somehow been given BBQ tongs and was clacking them at everyone like a dad. Sophie and Jess watched in amusement as they prepped the table inside. The dining room table was a brilliant cornucopia of appetizers and drinks and décor. Sophie felt proud of herself. The entire house looked great. Victor and Chase had even fixed up the outside by mowing the overgrown lawn and cleaning up the pool and garden area. They were ready for the day. Sophie herself was a mess of nerves but she refused to let herself stop moving long enough to think about it.

The doorbell rang and Sophie froze. No one was supposed to be there yet.

Before she could move towards it, Theo traipsed past her. She heard the door open and a series of happy greetings. She froze at one of the voices and made her way to the foyer. She stopped in her tracks at the familiar face.

"Katherine!", she said with wide eyes.

Katherine looked towards her and matched her face of surprise. "Sophie!"

Theo looked between the two of them as if trying to do the world's most difficult math problem. He turned to Sophie. "You know my mom?"

His mom. Sophie blinked at the boy in shock. "She's my boss."

Katherine shook her own surprise away and a huge smile lit up her face. She embraced Sophie in a big hug. "I should've known when my son wouldn't stop talking about his beautiful new friend that it was you."

Sophie smiled and hugged her back. "I'm happy you're here." She turned to the red-headed man beside Katherine and held out a hand. "Hi, I'm Sophie."

The man had gentle, kind eyes akin to his son's. He gave a warm smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Sophie. I'm David. What can we do to help?"

Sophie blinked at his kindness. She wasn't used to having such present parental figures around. "Maybe you could help Victor and Theo with the grill? They've been arguing for almost an hour trying to get it to work."

David smiled. "You've got it." He walked past them and disappeared to the back patio.

Katherine grabbed Sophie's hand. "What do you need from me? We're here to help."

Sophie guided Katherine to the kitchen where she introduced her to Jess and had her help finish up some sides. Whenever Theo tried to leave, Katherine would yank him back in the kitchen to help them, saying, "No woman will marry you if you can't cook."

Sophie watched in delight as Katherine dumped almost a whole bag of marshmallows on the yams and stuck them in the oven. When they were finally finished prepping food, the four of them sat outside, watching David kindly teach Victor and Chase how to grill.

Katherine and Theo chatted for a while about his classes while Sophie chatted with Jess. Darius had to go back to Alabama for Thanksgiving and Jess's mom was working, so she happily accepted Sophie's invite.

Katherine turned to Sophie and gave her a mischievous smile so similar to her son's. Sophie had no idea how she never pinpointed it. "So, Sophie. Theo talks about you all the time."

Theo flushed. "Mom."

Sophie giggled. "Well, I'm very fond of him, too."

Before either of them could be embarrassed further, Sophie's phone pinged. She looked at it and grinned. "Ah! I'll be right back."