33. Emmy
THIRTY-THREE
Emmy
It’s Thanksgiving morning and I spent the day before prepping everything with Bells at her house.
I was up early, needing to head over to Bells house again to get everything in the oven.
We were tag teaming the day with help from Hattie, Tilly, and Lina, and it was mostly on Bells and I.
But it’s only six in the morning which is why I’m surprised to hear someone in the kitchen.
I’m thinking about making a quick coffee when I spot Hattie sitting at the island in her robe with a hot cup steaming in her hands.
“You’re up early.” I notice. She doesn’t look like herself; her eyebrows are furrowed together and there are bags under her eyes.
“Yeah, Christopher called and I’ve just had a stressful morning.” She sighs.
I walk over, looking around first before giving her a quick good morning kiss. She relaxes a bit under my touch and I smile. I know today is a hard day for her, it’s her first Thanksgiving without Benny and it’s obviously not easy.
“What happened that he’s calling this early?” I ask.
“It’s complicated, don’t you have to get to Bells?” She frowns.
“I do, which means you should talk to me so I can get over there. I’m not leaving until you do,” I say firmly.
Hattie sighs and goes on to tell me what’s been going on with her and Christopher.
As she explains how much of an ass Christopher has been to her, I immediately want to kick his ass.
But I don’t, for Ollie’s sake. And because I don’t trust his police background.
I just don’t understand how you could talk to the mother of your child like that.
Especially with someone who has practically raised him since birth—without you.
Hattie tries to brush it off, but I don’t let her.
I don’t want him to talk to her like that and I especially don’t like that he tries to act like a good guy in front of Ollie and me.
“He really confronted you in the bar?” I ask, angrily.
“Yeah, he’s upset I won’t just let Ollie go to him without supervision. Especially because it’s Thanksgiving, but he’s been gone for five years. I’m well within my rights to be a little hesitant,” Hattie says.
“You definitely are. Ugh, if I had known this I wouldn’t have been so nice to him,” I grumble.
“No, it’s good you were. I don’t want there to be any issues, I just wanted to be honest about it. Because as of now, he’s not moving toward being able to have him alone. It might never happen, but definitely not when he’s accusing me of being a bad parent,” Hattie explains.
“That’s okay with me.”
“It means we might not get much alone time, or date nights. I can’t always ask my friends because they have lives too.” She sighs.
“First off, do not worry about that with me. You saw what happened on our first date—we just pivot. I can plan family dates or things for when he goes to bed. I just want to spend time with you. But second off, your friends definitely don’t mind watching Ollie.
I’ve seen the way they talk about him when you’re not around.
He’s family to them, babe, so don’t worry about asking for help,” I reassure her.
“You really aren’t going to be pissed if we can never have a night out or can’t do things on whim because of Ollie? I don’t want you to eventually resent him.” She sighs.
“Look, will it sometimes suck? Of course. But that’s just life with a kid where they come first and sometimes things don’t go the way you plan.
I might have feelings sometimes but I’ll never resent him for it.
Or you. I don’t want you to compromise or change your feelings about his father just because of us.
Ollie will always come first, and I respect that,” I explain.
“God, it’s so amazing that you just get it.” Hattie smiles.
“I couldn’t imagine leaving Ollie out of things when I see how happy he makes you. And honestly, he makes me just as happy. I see a lot of myself in him,” I admit.
“Oh you mean how that he’s a reader and can’t go anywhere lately without a book?” Hattie teases.
“Hey, I think there are worse role models to have.” I feign a gasp.
“Very true.” She nods. “I’m just glad he has you. He cares about you a lot, and it’s nice to see him connecting with someone else.”
“He brought a lot of light into my life when I was struggling. I probably wouldn’t have taken this job, heck I probably wouldn’t have even come in that day if he hadn’t convinced me too. He’s such a great kid and I’m glad you gave me the chance to know him.” I smile.
Hattie’s on the verge of tears, so I hand her a tissue.
I know she’s going to be extra emotional today so I will have to be on alert for her today.
Watching as she wipes her eyes, I squeeze her thigh gently.
As if to let her know that it’s okay. We don’t talk for a long while after that, but we’re just as content in silence together. I relax, just taking the moment in.
“You better get going, we’ll see you there later, okay?” Hattie says.
“Are you sure? We don’t have to do this if you’re not up for it,” I say.
“I’m sure. It’ll be good for all of us,” she insists.
I kiss her quickly, grabbing my stuff and head over to Bells.
Tilly opens the front door before I have a chance to knock.
She yawns and invites me inside wordlessly.
Bells hands me a mug of black coffee and starts rattling on about what we have to do.
She gives Tilly and me tasks as I lighten my coffee and take a sip.
It tastes a bit like pumpkins, which makes me wonder if this is homemade or Lina stopped by.
I wash my hands, grabbing the recipe card from the box Bells found and grab everything I need.
Apparently Benny’s recipes were hiding in the back of a cabinet and Bells hadn’t known to look for them until I asked about Thanksgiving.
She had Tilly do all the shopping and the turkey was put in the oven just before I got there to ensure a slow roast. Bells is writing another list for Tilly, going through the last two recipes.
Bells and I almost didn’t make all the recipes, Bells had thought it was going to be too much until Tilly had spoken up yesterday.
I’m relieved that Tilly did, because I knew Hattie would want everything to be here.
Not that she would say it out loud. I know she was relieved to have a real Thanksgiving as opposed to takeout.
Bells returns to start cooking the other sides, the turkey already cooking away.
It isn’t until an hour or so later that Tilly comes back with everything and we create an assembly line to move things along.
It’s faster than yesterday. Bells and I are moving things along effortlessly as we finish one thing and then another.
The finished sides are being kept warm by the new warming plates Bells had bought as we put the new sides into the oven.
Ollie and Hattie show up around one o’clock, arriving at the same time as Lina.
Helping her bring in the variety of baked goods she brought with her.
Bells instructs them to leave them in the extra bedroom until later so they’re not in the way.
I finish up with the green bean casserole which isn’t my cup of tea but looks like the pictures I found online.
The recipe cards are helpful, but without any pictures to go by, some of them can be a little confusing.
“Mmm, it smells delicious in here!” Hattie groans as she walks in. Closing her eyes and sniffing.
“Mama brought the soup we made!” Ollie says, pointing to the crock pot of Butternut squash soup Hattie is carrying.
“Can we plug it in? It needs to warm up,” she says, looking around.
“Sure,” I go to make room on the counter near the outlet. “Right here should be okay.”
“I hope everyone likes it,” Ollie says nervously.
We decided on Butternut squash soup because it was the most fall and Thanksgiving soup we could think of. He and I had made it late two nights ago so it would be good for today.
“I’m sure everyone will love it,” Hattie reassures him. “Everything going okay?”
“Yes, go grab a glass of wine from the dining room and relax,” I reassure her. I want to give her a kiss, almost leaning in, but stopping myself before I do.
“Can you pass me the recipe for the mashed potatoes?” Bells asks, popping back into the kitchen.
“Of course.” I grab the box, pulling out the recipe but a small yellow Post-it falls out with it.
Picking it up, I realize it’s faded and a little dirty from whatever was cooked last. But I see Hattie’s name and read it.
To whoever ends up with my darling Hattie—
Don’t let her anywhere near these recipes. She is a terrible cook but deserves someone who will cook for her. These are her favorites, and I hope they’ll be yours too.
- Benny
My heart swells, of course Benny had a plan for these recipes.
And of course she knew Hattie better than anyone else, she most definitely should not be in the kitchen.
If I could spend the rest of my life cooking for her, I think we’d both be happy.
I need to show this to Hattie, this might be the sign from Benny she needed for today.
“What’s that?” Bells asks as I hand her the recipe. I show her the Post-it, and before I can ask, she’s nodding.
“I’ll be right back.” I stop in the living room where Hattie is sipping a glass of wine on the couch. “Hattie?”
She looks up, and I wave her over. Leaving behind the glass of wine she follows me to the empty dining room.
“What’s going on?” Hattie asks anxiously.
“I found this while opening the box of recipes. It seems that Benny had another plan for them after all.” I smirk showing her the faded Post-it.
Hattie’s eyes water as she reads, and a laugh leaves her lips before she hugs me.
Her arms wrap around my neck, and I hold her, feeling my shirt dampen with her tears.
Her body shakes with movement but I can’t tell if she’s happy crying or sad and she’s still laughing too.
I just hope the note is providing some sort of comfort for her.
“That is so Benny,” Hattie finally says, pulling away to wipe her eyes. “I can’t cook, and she’s right. I’ll starve if I don’t end up with someone who can cook for me.”
“I’m sensing that’s why you and Ollie were living off frozen chicken fingers and fries for so long,” I tease.
“Oh definitely. Benny used to joke it was the only thing I could make because it was so hard to burn.” Hattie laughs. “I’m so glad you found this. Do you think I can keep it?”
“Of course.” I hand her the note.
“This means so much to me,” Hattie says softly.
“I was hoping it would. She must’ve known you needed someone who could follow the recipes without burning anything,” I joke.
Hattie smiles. “I was worried it would hurt too much being here without her,” she admits. “But it turns out, I’m just lucky enough to be here with you.”
“I should probably get back, but I wanted you to know she was always thinking about you,” I reassure her.