"A nice garden you got here",Joshua said and I smiled in agreement, looking at all of my mom's beautiful hydrangeas and roses that were in full bloom. "It looks best at this time of the year with all the flowers blooming",I added and we simply stood there, enjoying the serene beauty of my mom's garden.
"There you are, Josh, you were supposed to find Issy and call her for dinner,not stand there and hit on my pretty friend",Zeke said as he came to meet us and I was taken aback and looked at Joshua,but he only stood there without replying so I said,"Joshua wasn't..."."Relax Issy, I'm only kidding",Zeke cut me off,and I knew he was truly just joking by the way he was still trying to put out a disappointing look at Joshua,but failing it miserably, and ended up displaying his wide grin instead.
"Come on,lets head inside,lest they send someone else to get us",I said and we headed back inside. It looked like my mom had gone all in as the dining table was filled with all her best dishes and looked like she had prepared the food for an army. "It looks yum Nora",Aurora said.
"Thank you Rora, you all helped in as well, so credit goes to all of us",my mom replied. "I just left you guys for a few hours, and you're already giving nick names huh",I joked. "I'm stealing your mom from you",Gabby said and hugged my mom, falunting it as she did so and we all ended up laughing at her childish antics.
"Any friend of Issy's is our child as well. Lets have the food before it gets cold,but before that, Leo, do you want to say the grace tonight?",my mom said and we all sat down and held each other's hands,while Leo prayed over dinner.
The dinner went on a happy note, Leo not missing out the opportunity to further have fun at my expense. I could only laugh along with them and pretended to be angry at Leo, but I was truly very happy and wished if life could always be this simple and happy.
After everyone was done with the dinner, my mom brought out her signature chocolate ice cream cake, and my mouth watered instantly. I took the initiative to take the biggest slice I could get my hands on, and seeing my behavior,she said,"Issy, you aren't a kid anymore. You need to share with your friends as well",my mom scolded me like I was a five year old,but I could only stick out my tongue at her and continued having the dessert.
"Didn't I tell you, she's just a monkey still learning to adapt to human society. Don't let her grades fool you",Leo said and Gabby,Zeke and Aurora laughed out loud, while Joshua only smiled, apparently seeing this side of me was not what he might have expected. But, it was my favourite ice cream, and I didn't need to mind my behavior at my own home so I didn't have a care in the world as I enjoyed finishing my share,before they had even begun having theirs.
After I was done, I gathered the plates and the dishes and took them to the sink,"You guys enjoy my mom's best dessert,while I do the dishes. Its only fair I do them as I couldn't help you with the cooking",I told them. "Let me help you", Joshua offered and I didn't object. "Let me help you as well",Zeke offered,but knowing that he had already helped my mom in the cooking, I told him,"You've already done your part cooking. Just relax and enjoy the dessert",I smiled and told him and went to wash the dishes, which honestly, wasn't gonna be fun considering all the pots and pans that were lying on the sink to be cleaned.
"Well, you can still back off Dr. Williams, in case you find it too much",I joked and he smiled back saying,"Once I've set my mind on something, I don't back off despite the challenges thrown at me". At his remark, I thought I saw a glint in his eyes, but that disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. I nodded at him and added in a no nonsense tone,"Then buckle up Dr. Williams, we've got a pile of dishes to clean".He chuckled at my remark and gave me a mock salute at which we both laughed and started working, I scrubbing and he rinsing them.
It didn't take long for us to clean all the dishes and joined the others. It was no surprise to see that they had already finished the dessert."Here Joshua, I left you a piece. You've been busy running errands,you must be pretty tired as well",my mom offered him and he smiled and thanked my mom before having it."Wow,its really nice, but so was everything in tonight's dinner",he said to which I added,"Of course,my mom only cooks the yummiest and the best meals".
"That's right,I'm the luckiest man to be her husband,cause I get the bonus of getting to have delicious home cooked meals from my lovely wife everyday,though I wouldn't mind if she could cook steak like Brady's",my dad said and we all laughed at his last remark about Brady's steak.