Twice Over

Chapter One Hundred - Celebrate

celebrate
verb
1. acknowledge a significant day or event, with a social gathering or enjoyable activity
2. perform a religious ceremony
3. honour or praise publicly

The end of the week finally arrived. After everything that had been going on, it felt like I'd been waiting years for my house warming party to arrive. I spent Friday after class in the supermarket with Patricia buying groceries for tonight's dinner meal at the new apartment.

"Do you think we should go with the shitake mushrooms, or the button ones?" I asked my assistant. I was making a mushroom sauce to go over top of small porterhouse beef steak, green salad, seared peppers and tomatoes with a balsamic dressing. For dessert I had an Italian affogato with a few different liqueurs for the different tastes people had. The vanilla gelato I had made this morning in an ice cream maker that I had Grant set up for me before classes.

"Shitake." Patricia replied, a woman of few words. I turned towards her, a packet of each mushroom in each hand, carefully balancing on one leg. I was still ordered to keep off my knee. Raising my eyebrow, I waited to see if she was going to qualify her opinion. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Tastes better." She then moved out of the way so I could hop back to the trolley and place my shitake mushrooms in.

"Shitake it is."

We were finished shopping at up in the new apartment within half an hour. By this stage I was getting really tired, so when I arrived to find Grant with his mother in the kitchen getting things ready for cooking the house warming meal, I nearly cried.

"OK, OK. Get yourself seated and your knee up, Missy." Mrs H took one look at me and took over the directing the whole evening. Grant outlined the meal, Patricia carried in the groceries, Mrs H started on the entree that I hadn't even remembered to include, and I sat on my arse. With a large glass of Gin and Tonic. Bliss.

My step father, Jac-Jac and Steppy Eyva arrived with a cacophony of sound.

"Yay, Big Sis, Big Sis. I got to pwess the lifts bowttons." Jac-Jac ran towards where I was sitting as soon as he saw me. He slowed down at the last minute and climbed up on the lounger I was sitting on, slowly and carefully. It was so sweet to see how much he was being careful of my sore and healing knee.

"How many trips did you make them take?" I asked my adorable little brother. I looked up to find Eyva approaching me. Her new hair style was still a bit of a shock to me as I was so used to her prim and proper style of Eyva 0.1. She kissed my cheek as she neared and sat down on the other side of Jac-Jac.

"I ownlys took one ride. Dadda wouldn't let me puwsh any mowre bowttons."

"That's because it is impolite to arrive late as guests to a formal function." Wallace scooped Jac-Jac up in his arms and sat down in his place.

"How's settling in been going for you, Lily?" Wallace's voice was warm and soothing, rumbling through the new lounge space.

"Wallace, this place is amazing. Thank you again for the gift." I replied and bumped my shoulder into his.

"You're welcome,"

"What abowt me?" Jac-Jac asked.

"What about you, Squidlet?" Wallace asked.

"I wanna lives hewe too." He complained.

"But what about mummy? Or daddy? They would miss you if you lived here instead of at home with them." When Jac-Jac realised that if he wanted to live with his big sister in the new apartment, he would have to forgo living with his mummy and daddy, get got upset. You could see the emotions on his face changing until his little eyes crunched up and he began to cry.