Miriam could only gape in utter surprise. Did he actually promise to keep it forever? Her happiness knew no bounds. She was so happy she could just jump up and down or jump into his strong arms for a hug, if not for the fact that she needed to act all lady-like in front of this gentleboy. She felt all emotional that he valued her gift so much that he wanted to keep it forever.
"You don't really have to promise, but that's okay. I hope you can keep it with you forever."
"I mean it. I will keep it safe with me, everywhere I go."
Now that was too much for her heart to bear. Everywhere?? Was he being serious right now?
Miriam was about to say something when the door gently opened and Gerry came in. She wasn't expecting to see Maxwell in there, but she smiled broadly and drew closer.
"Happy birthday, my lovely boy." Gerry said excitedly. "I'll be making all your favourite dishes today, okay?" She said and raffled his hair a little.
"Thank you, Mrs Gerry."
"You're welcome, darling." She shifted her gaze to Miriam, and said, "Are you done with your breakfast? We need to start with everything. There's a lot of work to do." Then she glanced back at Maxwell.
"I already made the meals ready and called your parents for breakfast. You should join them now, Maxwell."
"Thanks, Mrs Gerry. I'll get going now." Maxwell said, his eyes not leaving Miriam all this while. "Have you had breakfast already, Miriam?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, I'll just have it here so it's okay, you should go now." Miriam said.
"I can join you here to have breakfast with yo..."
"Maxwell..." Edith's voice was heard from a distance.
"Maxwell I think you should go now," Gerry pressed. "I'm sure they've been wai..."
"Where's my baby boy?" Edith's voice drew closer till she entered the kitchen. "Oh, there you are..." Her voice trailed as she saw a small girl in apron in the kitchen. She had wanted to ask who she was, but one glance at her and you wouldn't need to be told she was Gerry's daughter. The small girl was an insane replica of her mother, except her eyes.
"Oh... who do we have here?" Edith still asked the obvious, since the silence was a bit awkward.
"She's my daughter, ma'am. Miriam, say hi to Mrs. Holmes." She nudged Miriam forward a bit to go and greet.
"Hello, ma'am, good morning." Miriam bent and greeted shyly while fiddling with her fingers.
Edith sized the small girl from hair to toe, before looking at Gerry.
"Your daughter..."
Gerry didn't know whether that was a question or a statement. Her tone irked her to the bone, but she had to stay put, so she nodded her reply.
"And why is she in apron?"
"She's actually going to help with some of the preparation." Gerry managed to say. "She knows her way around the kitchen so..." Gerry trailed off, like the rest of her statement should be obvious.
"Right," Edith answered after sparing Miriam another round of sizing. "Just make sure she doesn't mess around here. And all the things here are quite expensive. She can't spoil anything around here, or there will be consequences." Edith said with a known smile, like she meant what she just said, and turned to leave with Maxwell trailing behind.
Gerry bit her inner cheeks and strongly held the urge to roll her eyes at Edith. More like the condescending bitch that she was, Gerry thought.
They got to the dining table and made themselves comfortable, or more like, Edith made herself comfortable. Maxwell was like dragging his feet in reluctance.
"What's wrong, baby?" Edith asked, lifting her cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip.
"I want to eat with my new friend." Maxwell said firmly, taking a plate to serve himself, while still standing.
Edith almost choked on her coffee upon hearing that.
"What!?"
"I said," Maxwell drawled his reply, knowing full well that she heard him, but wasn't at all pleased with it, "I want to go eat with my new friend. In the kitchen."
"What are you even saying, Max? It's dirty in there, you can't eat there."
"Everywhere in this mansion is.super.clean, mom." Maxwell stressed the last part.
"Come on, just sit and eat here. You can't eat with a stranger? How healthy is she? What if she has an infection or something?"
"Mom!"
"Edith!"
Both Robert and Maxwell snapped.
"Oh come on, Robert, don't tell me you won't stop him." She said with eyes wide open, looking at her husband in surprise.
"Who's this stra... new friend?" Robert asked Maxwell.
"She's Mrs Gerry's daughter, dad."
"Honey, Gerry has been working with us for quite a long time now. If she had infections we would have been long gone. Don't exaggerate too much and leave the birthday boy, for once." Robert had his eyes on his food as he spoke lazily, like he wasn't ready to have a lengthy talk on the matter.
"Great! Just...great!" Edith threw her hands in the air.
"Mom, nothing is going to happen. And are you forgetting that the meals we eat come from the same kitchen, by the same cook every single day. Don't be dramatic. I will do just fine." Maxwell stated with a smile, drew closer to her mom and pecked her on the cheek and nodded to his dad before lifting the tray of food to the kitchen.
"Robert, you sure won't stop him?"
"He's 10, honey. Let him enjoy himself, please." Robert said with a sigh. He really wanted to get this breakfast over with and leave the table as soon as possible.
"He's 10? What has that even got to do with him eating at the kitchen?"
"Now, now, what is your main issue?" Robert asked, dropping his cutleries and clasping his hands together in front of him with his elbows on the table, looking intently at Edith.
"I...I just, I mean he should eat here and not at the kitchen. It's over crowded in there and it's..."
"Dirty?" Robert took the word out of her mouth, his gaze not leaving her face one bit. Edith just opened her mouth and closed it again, not knowing what exactly to say. She just lowered her head and attempted focussing on her food.
"Well, that coming from you sounds a bit ridiculous because you make sure this house is sparkling clean all the time. I wonder why you think the kitchen is dirty now that your son wants to eat there. Don't the other workers eat there all the time?"
Edith shot him a displeasing look. Now this man was making her look bad. She was just concerned about his sons health. Why would he bring in the workers?
"Robert, I don't..."
"You're just over thinking, Edith. Let's finish our food. The flowers just arrived." Robert said, cutting her short. If he didn't, they would go on and on with this unnecessary argument. "We need to supervise the decorations and all, so let's hurry, hmm? We have a 10th birthday to plan." He reached for her hand on the table and caressed it softly and shot her an assuring smile.
Edith could only sigh in defeat as she glanced one last time at the closed kitchen door. Maxwell was her baby boy whom she dotted on so much. And she didn't care if the workers ate at the kitchen and had had no problems, but she wouldn't wait till her son contracts their filthy infections before she takes action. Prevention, as they always say, is way better than cure.