Standing By

Listen To Me

(Avi)

I could not be happier. My heart was full, back in my parents' house, with my parents in the library reading books, my brother and brother-in-law watching TV in the living room, my sister in the back yard jabbering on her phone, and my girl and I in the kitchen, preparing to make dinner together. Things felt so right, so natural with her by my side, and I loved how welcoming my family has been of her, opening their house to her and letting us use their kitchen. We'd already decided on spaghetti, one of everyone's favorites. She had the water for noodles up to a good rolling boil and I had the ground beef nicely browned. Now I just needed to drain it. Note to self: next time, have all the utensils and supplies ready to go. I could not find that dang strainer. Finally, I moved the skillet off the burner before I overcooked it and went diving under the counter where Mom had sworn to me she kept the strainer. I pulled out a big stainless steel pot, the Dutch oven, two cast iron skillets, and a pot that was so small it was practically useless.

"Hello?" I heard Jessica say as I tossed the teeny pot aside and wriggled my way into the cabinet after a shiny something in the back. "Yes, this is. Avi is, um, halfway in the cabinet."

Halfway? More like most of the way. I wiggled my backside, hand still reaching for the shiny utensil.

"Me," she said. "He's in the cabinet."

My fingers wrapped around the handle and I pulled it into my line of sight. Crap. Cheese grater. That wouldn't strain a damn thing. "Mo-om, we can't find the big strainer!"

"Second cabinet to the right of the stove, dear!" she called out from the lobby.

Second cabinet. I was in the first. I moved to the right and opened the door, sending two mixing bowls tumbling out.

"Since two days ago," Jessica said brightly. Wonder who she's talking to. Another sister? She's got a lot of them. Dwarfs my little family for sure. I looked up on the cabinet shelf and saw the strainer sitting in a roasting pan. I reached up and grabbed it, not realizing its clawed feet were hooked into a roasting rack. When I pulled the strainer out, the rack, a pan, and a rice cooker flew out, making a huge racket. Oops. I grabbed the strainer and put it on my head as Mom stuck her head in. I gave her toothy grin, making her laugh.

"Found it!" I announced.

Jessica giggled. "You're so silly."

"No, I'm noodle-y and hole-y," I reminded her, tapping the strainer over my temple. "See?"

"You're a big cute noodle," she flirted, making my insides go to mush.

"You're a cuter noodle," I countered, wrapping my arms around her, ignoring the phone pressed to her ear. I nuzzled into her neck and gave it a soft kiss. I could just make out someone saying her name over the phone and looked up at it. It looked like my cell. "Is that my phone?"

Jessica's eyes fell to the floor embarrassedly. "Yeah... hope you don't mind. It was ringing and ringing and ringing."

I tilted that pretty face back up to look at me. "It's OK, sweetie." I didn't want her to feel bad when she was just doing something to help me. Her lips started to curl up in a smile and I couldn't help myself. I bent my face to hers and kissed her gently to let her know it was OK and that I love her. "Who is it?"

She glanced at the phone self-consciously. "Sss...Scott," she murmured apologetically.

Ugh. Scott. Mood-killer. "Oh." Yeah. I didn't even want to think about him right now.. My heart was happy; I was at peace with myself. I didn't want to think of the pain he'd inflicted on me, however unintentional.