Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Claudia
A week passed since Ken came back from the hospital and I made sure to pass by every day after school, it was now my daily routine. I usually check up on him before going home but this time I went home first. I had to wait for Henry to get home, usually his taxi drops him off at the hospital if either mom and dad aren't working night shift, but today since they are working night shift he would be dropped off at home. He arrived some moments later as I was taking off my uniform. He came and knocked on my door, though it was already open; such a gentleman. 'Hey buddy, come on in. How was school?' 'It was great, you remember the quiz I told you about last week. We just got our transcripts back and guess what I got.' 'How much did you get?' I always get excited to hear about how his day went at school. I know someday he would stop telling me about little things like how his day was, what he did, what he ate at school. 'I got a 100, the teacher even wrote expectional work and gave me a thumbs up sticker.' 'Its "exceptional" buddy, not expectional.' I corrected him. 'Yeah she wrote Exceptional work.' His eyes glistened. 'I am so proud of you my little Einstein.' I said lifting him up into my arms. 'Go get changed, while I go make something for you to eat.'
'Ma'am, yes ma'am.' He said in a salute. He hurried off to his room to get changed while I went downstairs to make him a sandwich.
He came moments later and he began to eat his food. I then gave him a popsicle as a reward for passing his quiz. 'A popsicle for my champ.' 'Thank you sissy.' 'You are welcome buddy, keep up the good work.' I said stroking his hair, I gotta say; he has the most silkiest hair I have ever touched. 'I am going to Maddie's, do you wanna come along?' 'Is she home?' 'I don't know, maybe. I left her at school so you wouldn't find nobody at home when your taxi dropped you off. She should be home by now.' 'Okay.' Henry is not really used to Ken, he only agrees to go to Maddie's house if she is there, if not he usually chooses to be home. Even though we have lived next to the Fader's our whole lives, we grew up not close to Ken. He was one of those who would always lock themselves up in their room and play metallic music. I don't know if that's what it's called but you get what I mean.
Maddie
I arrived home to find Henry playing in the living room, and it kind of threw me off a little to find him all alone in our house living room. 'Hey buddy.' He finally looked up and instantly the corners of his mouth tugged upwards into a grin. He stood up and walked towards me. I scooped him up into my arms, kissed his little face continuously. This caused him to giggle. 'Where is Claudia?' 'Upstairs.' 'I will go get changed then we play some games. Have you eaten yet?' 'Yeah sissy made me a sandwich but I am a little hungry.' Hearing him say that he is a bit hungry made me wonder how long have they come to my house. I got changed and stopped by at Ken's room. I knocked twice but no one answered. Slowly I opened the door and peeped my head in. I instantly regretted opening the door, their hands were all over each other and they were kissing, Claudia was on his lap and she gave me her back. She was topless with a panty on. I couldn't possibly tell if Ken was naked as well but he was also topless. I immediately closed the door. What if it was Henry who came up to their room and not me, how horrifying it would be for him to see them in the act. I went downstairs and tried to shake off the thought of what I just saw from my head. 'Didn't take long or did I?' He shook his head with a big grin on his face. 'M and H Kitchen?' 'Yeah!' His face lit up and he hurried to the kitchen while I came behind him. M and H is an abbreviation if our names. He enjoys cooking with me and that's why we decided to name our little cooking sesh M and H Kitchen. I tossed him his apron and told him to put it on and wash his hands. Since we do this often I bought him an apron of his own and I customized it with his initial. Mine was also customized with my initial. 'What should we make?' I asked as we both stared at the open fridge. By open I mean all doors of the fridge were wide open and since we were just inches away from it, you could feel the cold running through your body. 'Lets try something we never made.' 'Okay let's google dishes we can make. Should we cook beef or chicken?' 'This week I have been eating chicken a lot at home, so beef for a change.' 'Good idea.' I began googling beef dishes we can make. I never knew there were a lot of beef dishes, some of these names were new to me. 'There is Beef Bourguignon, Beef Goulash, Mongolian Beef, Bò lúc lắc or shaking beef_' I started reading out the dishes out lot and he just stared at me in disbelief. 'What did you say the first one was? How is it made?' 'Beef Bourguignon. It says Beef bourguignon, or beef Burgundy, is a classic French beef stew made with onions (regular and pearl onions), carrots, mushrooms, and herbs, and simmered in a sauce of red wine and beef broth.' 'Wine! Won't I get drunk eating food that has alcohol in it?' I forced myself not to laugh but this was hilarious. Henry is funny without even trying. I ended up laughing and I think I peed myself a little. Me laughing left him looking all puzzled. 'It won't get you drunk buddy.' I said squeezing his shoulders. 'But I don't think we can make this dish because we got no red wine here.' Seems like my mom's wine rack need a restocking, she had white wine bottles remaining. I am sure she doesn't know she is out of red wine since she drinks occasionally but I will remind her today so she restocks Incase we have visitors. 'How about the second dish, what's did you say it was called? 'Beef Goulash; it's a stew-like dish filled with tender chunks of beef and veggies, all simmered for an extended period of time in a rich sauce infused with a hint of aromatic paprika and bay leaf.' 'We got veggies, some bay leaves. What else did you say it's needed?' He said already taking out the vegetables and bay leaves from the fridge, seems like he has already made up his mind that we are making this dish.
I began reading out the ingredients while he took them out one by one. He began cutting the veggies while I simmered the beef til it was tender. And yes he was using a kid safety knife instead of the normal one. I wouldn't want him to cut himself that's why I bought a kid safety knife set for him. We cooked the goulash and served it with vegetable rice. Ken and Claudia decided to grace us with their presence when we were about to finish cooking. They went to the living room and watched tv. Mom an dad arrived moments later, Ken and Claudia were still in the living room eating their food while watching tv. Henry and I were busy chowing down our food in the kitchen as well. We were still in chef mode; aprons on, chef toque on. 'Hey guys, what are you having? Mhm, this looks scrumptious.' She greeted us both with a smooch on the cheek. 'I am starving' she said washing her hands. She pulled out the stool next to me and sat down. 'I put your food in the microwave, should I warm it up for you?' 'Yes please.' 'What did you guys make today Chef Henry?' She broadly smiled at him in complete admiration. 'Beef Goulash and vegetable rice' he amused. 'Ouu!' she amused. She began gobbling down her food the second I put them in from of her. I went and fetched her a glass of water, worried she might choke due to how fast she was eating her food right now. Dad decided to have his in the living room. After eating Claudia and Henry went to their house. 'Can't I stay over?' Henry didn't wanna leave. 'You have school tomorrow buddy and I am also going to school very early tomorrow. We can do a little sleepover on the weekend. We will make an erupting volcano and the Skittles experiment.' 'What's the Skittles experiment?' 'You will find out when the weekend comes.' 'But sis Maddie' He was disappointed that I wasn't telling him. 'Two more days to go buddy.' I said kissing his forehead.