Eternal Sunshine ✓

28. The Naughty To Her Nice

"Please pass me the salad, Nelson."

"Here you go, Mrs. Morrison." Nelson passed the large wooden bowl to the small blonde woman seated next to him.

"Hold on, Grace. Before we begin eating, we should bless the meal," George Morrison, Steven's father, announced. A small, serene smile was on his lips.

George did not see it, but his wife rolled her eyes at his words. He never ate before a prayer was uttered for the meal, it was an old habit he'd gained as a kid that had yet to die. As this was a Christmas dinner, Grace should have been expecting her husband to repeat that same phrase.

Truth was, there was a lot that the two were not aware of about the other.

He pondered for a bit as he glanced around the table. The large rectangular dining table was filled with all kinds of delicious meals prepared by the Morrison's cook for the special occasion. With twelve people seated around the table, his eyes focused on his son, who was too busy annoying Tasha to notice that everyone had stopped talking.

They were waiting for George to bless the food so they could finally dive into the dinner, but instead, Mr. Morrison just stared at Tasha and Steven who were lost in their world full of innocent touches and hushed whispers.

It took a few seconds for Tasha to finally realize everyone had quieted down and were staring at them. Her eyes quickly landed on her best friend's smirking face, then to Steven's mom's eye roll, and finally to her sister who was laughing silently.

Steven, on the other hand, was still very much unaware of the crowd they had garnered. "Let's go somewhere more private and I can show you how I use my tongu-"

"Steven!" She whisper-yelled, glaring at him with a look that could kill. "Everyone is staring at us."

He turned his head to look around for the first time since he sat down and chuckled. "Have y'all been waiting on us? Damn, my bad. I was a bit distracted."

His mom so badly wanted to say something snarky about how obnoxious Steven was being, with Tasha's chair pulled so close to his and his hand gently rubbing her exposed skin. But when Tasha noticed her eyes on Steven's hand, the young girl wisely decided to quickly push him away.

With a small smile, George Morrison cleared his throat, commanding the attention away from Steven and Tasha.

"Before we eat, I think it is important we thank God for the delicious meal in front of us." He raised his chin to Malik and asked, "Would you be so kind to lead us in this prayer, Malik?"

Caught off guard, the young man almost choked on air. "Me?!"

"Yes, Malik. You." Everyone bur Mrs. Morrison chuckled at Malik's incredulous face.

"Oh... Well, ok, I got you. I got you."

Mr. Morrison nodded. "Great, go ahead, son."

"Alright, y'all. May we all bow our heads in...umm.. m... bow our heads in...umm-"

"Prayer?" Kennedy aided, trying not to laugh at his struggle.

"Yeah, yeah-prayer. Thanks, Kennedy. May we all bow our heads in prayer, please. Quickly y'all, cause a brother is hungry."

Laughing quietly, everyone obliged to Malik's command and bowed their heads.

"Heavenly Father, we thank you," he began, trying to think back at the way he'd heard folks pray in church. "We thank you for this delicious meal in front of us, and we thank you for the ability to eat. God, you know I love food and with your superpowers, I get to enjoy food."