As soon as I walked through the door, I grabbed Bennett and headed towards the kitchen.
“What are we doing?” he asked me.
“We are making dinner for my family. They are hungry and we need to make it good. Why don’t we make soup? Everybody can eat that.”
“Sounds good,” he replied and we got straight to cooking. Bennett and I were masters at cooking, and together we made a great team.
“I need onions! I need the corn… NOW!” we would scream ingredients at each other. It was fun, and I bet my family thought we were nuts.
“We are all done!” Bennett told me.
“No, no, no young man. Not yet. You haven’t even tasted it.” I grabbed a spoon from the drawer, placed it in the pot and Bennett tasted it.
“Perfect! Let’s show the family.” he said in a joyful tone as he walked out of the kitchen.
“Keiner family to the dining room table immediately. No exceptions.” I watched as my family nervously moved into the dining room and sat around the table. I carefully poured a small serving of the chicken noodle soup into 14 different bowls, and brought them into the dining room.
“Food!” Lenny said excitedly, and I gave him a small smile while placing the bowls in front of the hungry children. I watched them dig into the soup. Benn-ett sat at the end of the table next to Laura, eating as well. I soon felt awkward just standing there looking at the table, so I took a seat and ate too. The soup was just perfect.
I better get used to this. I thought to myself. Because of Mother not being there to cook, I had to take over the job; also the jobs of cleaning the house, cooking, and teaching. Teaching. How was I supposed to teach 12 other students? Bennett and I were almost done with school, so we could teach them, but still… I couldn’t think of this now. I was so happy that my family had something to eat, and I was worrying about teaching. Wait until tomorrow to think about this, Bridget. I said to myself. Just tomorrow.
* * * * *
I woke up the next day with my hand laid on Bennett’s bare stomach, his hands unable to let my fingers free. I was stuck.
“Bennett. It’s school time.” I whispered in his ear, my mouth barely touching his face. He groaned, but turned his head so he was facing me.
“Good morning, Bridget,” he said as he leaned in and gently put his lips against mine. I jerked away; astonished that he kissed me so quickly. I saw in his eyes that he was worried.
“Oh, it’s nothing, Bennett. Just a little surprised,” I said as I got up from bed and got dressed.
“Bridget? Bennett? Can I come in?”
“Yes, Fern, you can,” I said even though Bennett was still shirtless. As soon as she walked in, she saw Bennett and her eyes grew very large.
“Where. Is. Your. Shirt!” she shrieked like she had never seen him shirtless before.
“Geez, Fern. I don’t sleep with a shirt on,” he replied and he quickly pulled on a striped button up shirt. “Better?” he asked, and Fern nodded back.
“We need somebody to teach. We have nobody. And because you guys are the oldest, we kinda vote you for you to be our teacher.” Fern said.
“You must be joking. I can’t teach like 12 children!”
“Mom did,” Fern replied. “You’re just like mom. You’ve always had that motherly thing in you. Like for instance, you’re good at keeping the little ones quiet. Only you and mom could do that.”
YOU ARE READING
My Guardian Angel
Historical FictionBridget May Keiner had loved every minute of her life. Living in farm town Attica, Kansas, she had learned that the best thing in life was family. She had tons of pets, a great big family, and a best friend. Everything seemed to be going well until...
