German-Jewish

Chapter 17

                "Hey, buddy!" Robert cried as he walked out and I was hugging Daniels. They greeted each other and hugged.

"Guys, this is my girl, Hazel," he said and motioned to her, taking their child. "Hazel, that's Marta and Robert, I'll still probably call 'im Zussman, though."

"Hi, it's so nice to meet you!" I said and gave her a hug.

"Thank you so much for letting us stay here while we visit," she smiled. I could tell she was from Texas. Her accent was fairly strong and I noticed that Daniels' had gotten stronger, too.

"This is Joseph," he said and nodded to the child he was currently bouncing. "Joseph, can you say hi to them?"

The child waved a small hand and buried his head into his father's shoulder. "He's a bit tired," Hazel reassured quickly.

"That's okay," I said and ushered them in. "You must be hungry after your trip, do you want anything to eat?"

"That'd be amazing, thank you," Daniels replied as they sat down at the table.

While I made the food, we all chatted. We updated each other on our lives and almost anything else. It was so nice to see Daniels, and Hazel is very nice. She seems shy, though.

I served the food and everyone dug in. "I think I made too much," I sighed as I started to eat.

"That's okay," Daniels commented, "I'll eat whatever you guys don't want. This is really good, what is it?"

"Meatballs and Sauerkraut," I replied. "Like I said, come with me and Stiles to Germany one day, you guys won't regret it."

"Wish I could," he promised.

Me and Hazel got along really well. We'd bonded over the fact that the boys at one point were arm wrestling to see if Robert had regained his muscle mass from before. She also let me hold and play with Joseph. He's so cute and he's quite well-behaved for a child. I'd also learned she greatly enjoyed the same music as me.

Robert's hand slammed onto the kitchen table and he groaned while Daniels cheered. At that moment I noticed that the leftover food wasn't put away. Quietly, I excused myself and searched for something to store it in.

"You okay?" Daniels asked as he saw me rummaging around. Robert had gone off to tlak to Hazel.

I nodded. "I'm just looking for something to put the food in."

"Marta," He said to get my attention, "what's wrong?"

He said it more like a statement.

"Nothing, I just don't want—"

"If it's nothing then why are your hands shaking?"

I held my hands, which were in front of me, behind my back and glared at him. "Its fine, I just need to put this away so it won't go bad."

"It's okay, you don't have to put it away right this second. It won't go bad in an hour."

"No!" I said quietly but strictly and impulsively moved my hands in front of me, "I have to, you don't understand."

He looked at me confused, but trying to understand. I continued searching and trying to make sure my breathing stayed under control. I didn't understand why this was causing me so much worry, I should be thankful that it was able to slip my mind.