This is the Result of One Question?

29. Cooking in the Kitchen

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“It looks like something’s wrong. Tell me.”

“I already told you, nothing’s wrong.”

“Come on.”

“Eli, I’m serious!”

I couldn’t help but laugh as Eli kept insisting that something was wrong with me. It was Wednesday, after school, and Eli and I were sitting on the couch watching The Avengers on Netflix. Eli was sitting with his feet on the floor, looking straight at the TV, whereas my back was leaning on his side with my legs facing the side. I looked up at Eli and smiled.

“I swear, nothing’s wrong.” He furrows his eyebrows down at me, and I take the opportunity to do to him what he’s been doing to me. “Don’t make wrinkles in your forehead, Eli.” I raise my hand and smooth out the wrinkles, and he just laughs at me.

“You’re going to go to class with me tomorrow, Cass,” Eli tells me, watching the screen. I pouted, and opened my mouth to protest, but he put a hand over my mouth before I could. “No ifs, ands, or buts about it. All you’ve been doing is wasting your time in the library.”

“That’s not a waste of time! Only you would say that because you don’t read. Which you should, you would be very entertained.” Eli shakes his head, flicking my nose.

“I’m already too entertained with you by my side to engross myself in a fifty year old book. I would get obsessed and read until I was done, and then I would look up and you would be injured or something, getting yourself into trouble.” I narrow my eyes at him.

“I wouldn’t be injured! I can take care of myself you know.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“Yeah, sure you can. You know, you’re probably the clumsiest girl I’ve ever met.” I knew I should feel offended by that, but it was kind of true. Instead of saying something back, I look up from the couch, and see Mrs. Anderson working in the kitchen. I look at Eli, an expectant look on my face, and he looks at me with a face that says what? I roll my eyes at him before getting up and walking over. I hear Eli sigh as he does the same, except he walks out of the room.

“Hi, Mrs. Anderson. Do you need any help with anything?” The woman looks at me with a smile in her eyes, and then she shakes her head. I smile, walking more into the kitchen. “Are you sure? I know how to cook and bake well, and I could help you with anything really.”

“Well, I could use some help making the Praline Pull-Apart Bread,” Mrs. Anderson said thoughtfully. That’s all I needed to get started. I was kind of excited because I got to know Eli’s mom better, and I had never made this kind of bread before. “So,” Mrs. Anderson started as I got some stuff out of the cabinets. “You’ve been getting to know my son pretty the last couple of weeks, haven’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say, stretching to get the salt. Once I wrapped my fingers around it, I smiled. “We’ve been hanging out a bit here and there.”

“And you’ve come to know that he is… Something.” I laughed. That was obviously the nicest way to put it.

“Yeah, he’s very dorky and firm in what he believes.” I shake my head. “But he’s nice, real sweet. Even though he gets into stuff and pokes his nose into everything. You wouldn’t know how many times he’s popped up at my house, and ended up having to babysit with me.” We both laughed at that.

“So, that’s where he would go. I would always see this fast figure and try to ask him where he was going, but I would never get a clear answer. But, then again, I wouldn’t expect anything less; he’s been doing it since he was little.” I raised my eyebrows at Mrs. Anderson as I gave her the whisk.

“Really?”

“Oh, yes, honey.” Mrs. Anderson nods her head, and then laughs as she remembered something. “He was always excited when it came to his friends, or meeting someone. One time, when he was in third grade, we had a trampoline in the backyard of our house in Texas. I came home and saw a good fifteen kids all around the trampoline, with Eli and three other kids jumping. Once Sofie had realized I was home, she immediately came and told me that it was all Eli’s idea.”

I laughed as I could see Eli doing that. Mrs. Anderson and I laughed a lot as she would tell me stories of the younger Eli. Apparently, when he was a toddler, he would bite people extremely hard, and it wasn’t until he bit his mother that she knew how hard his bite really was. And then she told me a story about Eli and Sofie’s tea cup set.

“One day I was out and I decided to leave Eli in his father’s care. Eli was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given Sofie a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift – because she had been really sick for the past two weeks – and it was one of her favorite toys. Andrew was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when Eli supposedly brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was, obviously, just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such good tasting tea, I came home. Andrew had made me wait in the living room to watch Eli bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' I waited patiently, thinking how could Eli reach the sink? And then Andrew drinks another cup of this water/ tea, and I burst out laughing after Eli comes back from the bathroom. I looked at my husband and asked did it ever occur to you that the only place he can reach to get water is the toilet?” I watched entertained as Mrs. Anderson laughed at the memory. It was then that Eli looked a lot like his mother, all happy and free of worries.

“You’re really good for my son, Cassie,” Mrs. Anderson admitted to me as I rolled and kneaded the dough. “And I’m not regretfully admitting this to you, like those other moms who just can’t let go of their sons. I’m admitting this to you as a thankful mother.” I looked at her curiously.

“Why thankful? I haven’t done anything.” Mrs. Anderson shook her head quickly at my denial.

“Oh, but you have, honey. You’ve given Eli a reason to smile and laugh with his eyes instead of his mouth. I knew that Eli was happy, but he always looked like he was missing something.” Mrs. Anderson looks me in the eyes. “Thank you, Cassie.” I blush.

“There’s no need to thank me, Mrs. Anderson, I never did anything,” I said, looking at the ground as I chewed on my cheek. I hear Mrs. Anderson chuckle, and I look up confused as she points her pointer finger at me.

“You, Cassie May, are definitely perfect for my son.”

A/N: Isn't that just adorable! So, Eli had always been a handful, haha!

I really liked this chapter, even though it was uber short, because you got a good feel for Eli's mom, and got to know how he was when he was a baby. 

Anyways! I'm gonna go. So, comment, vote, and share if you want! :D Byeeee