The Piano Man

XXVIII. Fungi

"Rejection is an opportunity for your selection." Bernard Branson

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XXVIII.

"Okay, eat up everybody," instructed Joy as she dolloped a huge lump of macaroni and cheese on Noah's plate. "We've got a big day tomorrow. Tree trimming, volunteering, church!"

Joy had prepared a smorgasbord of food for dinner, and Noah was in heaven. He couldn't really fend for himself, and with Vanessa on a diet fifty-one weeks out of the year, his pantry at home was never really inspiring.

In the centre of the long, oak table were dishes of crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, sausage, as well as macaroni and cheese. Breakfast food was Joy's tradition on December twenty-third. Christmas Eve was always Chinese takeout before Church, and then Joy really put on a show for Christmas dinner on the day.

Noah was actually very proud of his mom. He could see that she was making a huge effort to control herself. If it were just Sophie, he knew she would have been ten times worse, but Noah had pre-warned her to control herself around Maddie. And she was. She was being the perfect hostess, even though Noah knew she itching to grill Sophie within an inch of her life.

"Do you like macaroni and cheese, Maddie?" Joy asked softly. She was making her way around the table with her large serving bowl and a spoon normally used for salad. She had just scooped an extra-large helping onto Vanessa's plate and she was now going to town.

Maddie had been very quiet. Noah had seen a glimpse of her normally when she had got her hands on his guitar, but he could still see that she was very unsure of these new people. Noah could subsequently see that Maddie's reservedness had Sophie on edge, as though she was waiting for Maddie to throw an epic tantrum before she bolted.

Noah honestly didn't know how to make it better. He wished he knew more about autism, wished he'd done more to research what it would be like for Maddie to come into a new environment like this. Feeling useless in that respect was awful, as all he wanted to do was to make this stay a stress free one for Sophie.

He hoped that she could see that his family adored her already. Noah knew that his sisters would welcome her with open arms. Joy, he could tell, wanted so desperately to love on her. She had a big mouth, but an even bigger heart, and loved to collect baby birds with broken wings.

His dad was much simpler. If Noah was happy, John was happy, and that was that. It had taken a long time for it to be that way, but Noah wouldn't have it any different.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs Bentley," said Sophie gratefully as she picked up Maddie's plate to hold it up to her.

"Just Joy, sweetheart," corrected Joy as she spooned a helping onto Maddie's plate. "And for you?"

"Yes, thank you, Joy." Sophie smiled and Joy dished some up for her as well.

Noah was seated opposite Sophie. He would have sat next to her had Joy not practically pulled the chair out from under him to sit their herself. He managed to catch Sophie's eye, and he mouthed, "Relax," when she saw him.

Sophie took a dramatic deep breath, before she smiled at him. She picked up her fork and began to eat her dinner.

Noah helped himself to eggs and bacon, loading his plate up with enough grease to take down a horse.

"So, Sophie, don't your parents mind us stealing you away for the holidays?" Joy asked nonchalantly as she took her seat, starting her questioning as casually as she could muster.

Noah paled as Sophie stiffened. Shit! Noah quickly went through the list of subjects he had told his mom to avoid and honestly couldn't remember if Sophie's parents were one of them.