mentanoia - ben gross

chapter four;

Chapter four;

He hadn't felt this nervous in months. Making sure he was sat up perfectly straight he held his hands in his lap as he quietly watched the two young boys going crazy with broken pieces of crayon. Ben smiled, perhaps it was an uncomfortable smile, but it still was a genuine one. No matter how out of place he felt in this scene, something about it felt quite nice.

"What do you want on your pancakes?"

His face snapped to look over his shoulder, a nervous chuckle left his lips. Noticing how sweaty the palms of his hands felt, he started rubbing them against his jeans.

"I don't have too many options, just apple, bananas, maple syrup and sugar."

Ben smiled to himself, recognizing his housekeepers voice in this much younger girl. "Just maple syrup would be great."

It was odd, he thought, how he would've never guessed this family had lost their 5-year-old brother or son only days prior. With the young boys sketching and Jane cooking, it felt like more than a houseful to Ben.

"Well then," Jane rolled the last pancake from the pan, "Boys, take your plates." Before she'd even finished her sentence, Kevin and Max stood next to Jane to get their food. Jane held a second plate out to Max, "Give this one to Ben, okay?"

It felt like he'd found himself in a movie. Though it didn't show, he could feel himself frowning most of the time, just taken back by the way this household worked.

"Why the candlelight?" Ben didn't know how else to break the tension he felt inside of his stomach.

Max sat down on his knees on the chair next to Ben. "Just another power outrage." He shrugged his tiny shoulders and started chewing on his food, "But I always find this much nicer."

Ben didn't know what the kitchen would normally look like, but he still agreed.

"Now, what did we learn today?" Jane sat down at the round table. "Oh- Ben, do you pray before dinner?"

All eyes were now suddenly on Ben. He felt the nerves screaming in his stomach again. He shook his face abruptly, "No, well yes. Normally I would, but it's fine. You don't have to-"

"I've always wanted to learn how to say a prayer." Max cut him off, "You should teach us."

Ben's eyes glanced quickly at Jane's, just to see her respond with an encouraging nod. "Okay, yeah, sure. I usually do it in my head, but I can um, do it."

Kevin straightened his back and let his pancake drop from his hand.

"So it goes, Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam borei minei mezonot." Ben paused, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to find smiles on the kids their faces, "And that was it, really."

Max, who'd had his eyes closed during the two second prayer, opened his eyes excitedly and nodded visibly. "Amen." He called out, before instantly diving into the pancakes.

Kevin seemed stunned by the words that had left Ben's lips. "Was that Spanish?" He whispered in disbelieve, the thought of the meal in front of him had completely left his mind.

A genuine laugh escaped Ben's lips. He gave Jane a look and saw her smile back at him, "It's actually called Hebrew, which comes from the country of Israel."

Kevin nodded, taking in this new information. He then started eating.

Once more, Ben looked around the circular table, observing everyone'd dived into their meal. A relieved sigh left his lips, before he too started eating.