Not for a Single Second - [Elizabeth Olsen]

Chapter 96: Something's Cooking in the Oven

With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart,
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,
It touches my foolish heart.

The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra

Y/N's POV

November 28th, 2024

"May I get everyone's attention, please? Alright, dinner is ready. All the dishes are spread out across the kitchen island. You can go ahead and grab your plate and cutlery over here and then make a line to go around and plate your food. There's also a beverages table, all non-alcoholic drinks. The strong stuff is inside the cellar on the back so, if you wish to get some of that, you can head over there. There are some glasses there for you as well. Awesome. Please, go ahead everyone. Enjoy the feast!", Jarnie finishes announcing as all the guests at her house start heading over to the kitchen to enjoy the delicious Thanksgiving feast that she and my Princess spent the last two days preparing.

"Okay Casserole, what do you want on your plate?", I ask my daughter while looking around the wide variety of dishes.

"I jus' want Mac n' Cheese, Mama", Cassie declares while pointing at the cheesy pasta.

"Little love, you can't just eat Mac n' Cheese. We've got to put some protein and veggies in your little tummy. So, how about we add some turkey and a scoop of the carrots, peas, and corn to accompany that Mac n' Cheese, huh?", I suggest to my toddler, but as I'm about to plate the food, Cassie whines in my arms and pushes the spoon with healthy options away. "Baby, come on"

"What's going on here? Why is my sweet girl pouting?", Lizzie asks our daughter in a soft voice while rubbing her back soothingly.

"Miss Ballerina over here said she only wants to eat Mac n' Cheese for dinner, but I told her she needs to accompany the macaroni with some protein and veggies. As an athlete, she needs good nutrients, but she's refusing to have a well-balanced meal", I explain to my wife while she nods and hums in understanding.

"But I don't want to eat tuwkey, Mommy. I don't like it. And the veggies taste weiwd", Cassie explains to Lizzie, which causes her to chuckle fondly at our daughter's grumpy defense.

"Well sunshine, Mama is right. You do need to eat some protein and veggies with your Mac n' Cheese"

"But Mama doesn't eat veggies eithew. It's not faiw I have to eat veggies and she doesn't. She's an adult", Cassie throws her first rebuttal, targeting me directly and discrediting my parental duties.

"Hey! I do eat veggies. I eat them every day, you don't. So, I get to have a cheat day every once in a while, especially on holidays", I shoot back at my daughter's previous attack, thinking that I would win the battle, but my wife just had to intervene.

"But Honey, Cassie does have a point. If you want to set an example for our daughter about eating her vegetables, you could do the adult thing and serve yourself some veggies as well", Lizzie points out to me, to which I look back at her in shock of her betrayal while Cassie giggles in victory in my arms.

"What?! What side are you on?!", I question my wife, a little more whiny than I intended, but Lizzie just chuckles in amusement before wrapping her arms around our daughter and me.

"I'm on the side of keeping the peace between my family because we shouldn't be having any silly arguments during such a special occasion. So, how about we compromise? Sunshine, you can have as much Mac n' Cheese as you want ONLY if you eat some veggies and protein as well. It doesn't have to be the carrots, peas, and corn option, or the turkey. We also have some pickled radishes, grilled asparagus, and there is rotisserie chicken or ham if you prefer either of those over the turkey. And Mama will have some asparagus with her food. Does that sound fair?", Lizzie offers to our daughter, forcing me in the process to comply with her conditions. "Angel? Your answer?"