(I'm back. Also, the new webnovel apps update sucks. It'll be harder for me to check my notifications and review after this. Hopefully they change it back)
[Edward POV]
I raised my brow as I heard Claire's statement. However, as I saw their excited faces, I sighed helpless and said, "Okay fine. But we're cooking it… MY WAY!"
I invited them into the house and went directly to the kitchen.
"Where's Phil and Jay?" I asked as I know Mitchell hadn't gotten off work yet at this time.
"Phil is going to Luke's school. He was in a fight." Claire said, a bit concerned by her youngest child.
Gloria widened her eyes and said pseudo-shoutingly, "That's crazy?! Jay also went there because Manny was in a fight!"
"Wait. Both of them are fighting?" Cam asked as he tried to snatch a cherry tomato from the bowl in front of me. I gave him the same treatment as my dad and smacked his hand with a spatula. Ignoring his yelp in pain, I said to the ladies, "Wait. They are in a fight…and you guys didn't go there?"
Gloria and Claire looked at each other guiltily before Claire took the bullet and replied, "Phil…can take care of it."
[Gloria and Claire's commentary]
"Well…I went to Gloria's house to pick her up…but then…something unexpected happened." Claire said anxiously.
Gloria was relaxed and was leaning back on the couch. She said, "Claire told me that he cried. So I want to help."
"No. You found out on your own." Claire said, hinting at Gloria to follow her script.
"No No. You definitely told me. I opened the door, and you told me he cried." Gloria replied casually.
" I wanted to go to Manny, but Jay said he could take care of it and I want Manny to be closer to him too, so I didn't go this time." Gloria added.
Claire suddenly realized something. She turned to Gloria and asked with a whisper, "You don't think Luke and Manny were fighting each other do you?"
Gloria widened her eyes at the realization and her jaw dropped as she looked around anxiously.
[commentary ends]
While narrowing my eyes at them, I said, "Really? You guys not going there and shouting at the school principal makes me wonder if you guys have any ulterior motives in coming here."
"We don't pick a fight everywhere we go." Claire admonished me. Gloria nodded at her, but I found their objection pretty funny as it differed from everything I knew about those two.
However, if Luke and Manny were really fighting with each other, then that means I have stumbled into the beginning of the next episode.
'But they were not at Jay's house, nor was there a football game on right now. The football match Jay watched in the series has already passed.'
When Claire found out about Gloria's past, and how she used to drive a taxi to support her son as a single mother, her opinion on Gloria had changed thus she started to reach out to her more. Gloria wanted them to become a true family, and she admired Claire who was now working a new job as she took care of her family. They easily became friendly with each other and their friendship continued to grow everyday.
"So I guess the episode won't happen anymore." I muttered as I continued to roll the dough to make my own pasta.
"Ed, do you have a pasta strainer?" Cam asked as he walked behind me with a bowl of water in his hand.
"Down there." I said and pointed to the kitchen rack behind me.
"Of course, if you just got the store bought pasta…you wouldn't need it-" Cam said smugly before he accidentally tripped on his own foot and fell down on the floor. The bowl of water he held splashed into Gloria's direction, but she managed to avoid it.
However, the water splashed into the electrical socket, short-circuiting it and generating sparks. The socket caught fire while the kitchen light suddenly went out. Claire ran to the fire extinguisher hurriedly and put down the fire before Cam could even get up from the floor.
"Ay Cameron! What did you do?" Gloria said while she helped him to stand up. I wanted to help, but my hands were filled with flour.
"I stepped on something slippery." Cam said before he checked his shoes. But there was nothing there. However, both women already accepted his excuse without even confirming his excuse.
"Hey. The power's out." My dad entered the kitchen and said after seeing the situation there.
I frowned and turned to look at Cam. He noticed it and looked away quickly.
"It's okay. We'll bring this all to Gloria's house." Claire said before turning to Gloria.
"Okay. You can cook there. I will text the guests to come there." Gloria agreed easily and even helped carry a bag of groceries before walking to her car with Cam.
"(sigh)...What's wrong with my luck today?" I wondered.
…
I was dragged to Claire's minivan instead of riding with my dad after Claire gave my dad a flimsy excuse of wanting to talk to me about work in private. My dad had to agree to Claire's wish as he basically had no defenses against tough women.
I was sitting next to Claire who was driving and said, "So. What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't have many questions. I just want to know how you are feeling right now." Claire said.
"Is this because of yesterday?" I asked with a bit of annoyance in my tone.
She nodded and said, "I'm worried you know. You suddenly burst out crying like that. And now, you suddenly want to cook for people-"
"Claire. Try to remember, what I was doing before I cried." I asked her while preparing my excuses.
Claire hesitated a bit and thought back about the events of last night. "You're playing the piano…"
"What was I playing?"
"I don't know. It's a sad song."
"And…Have you heard that melody composition somewhere before?"
"Huh." Claire suddenly realized something. "But it still doesn't make any sense as to WHY you were crying."
"Well…I was just sad. An old lady that I know passed away 2 months ago. I remembered her last night and felt a bit blue. I planned to mourn for her alone though, I had no idea that you were coming in. Next time. Knock please." I said playfully.
Claire nodded in understanding before she smiled creepily and said, "She died?"
[Claire's commentary]
Her face no longer carried traces of concern as she said, "Sooo… That's what happened!"
"I was the one who basically intruded his house while he was processing his emotions. I can breathe easily now." Claire said as she let out a sigh of relief.
"This whole… cooking thing… I guess he wanted to make a tribute to her. I wanted to ask about the whole 'Granny' thing more, but he didn't want to continue talking about it. I guess she had fed him before while he was down in the dumps."
"Still. For his privacy's sake, I will not be telling others about what happened last night." Claire said before adding, "At least not talk about it in front of him."
[Commentary ends]
'Thank you God Usopp.' I thought to myself. I could imagine the guy giving me a thumbs up while smiling–flashing his shiny teeth to the universe as he appreciated my gratefulness.
"Wait. You invited Taylor to your house?" Claire asked, flabbergasted as I told her about the guests.
"Yeah. She's bringing Selena too if she has free time." I answered casually as I texted the teenage pop-star. Claire was stunned and asked carefully, "Are..you guys…no… You guys ain't dating right?"
"Nah. We're just close friends." I replied before putting the phone back inside my pocket. She looked at me with non-believing eyes, but I ignored her.
Sure, Taylor and I did it before, but it wasn't like there's anything romantic between the two of us.
When we arrived at Jay's house, the dough was already ruined, so I had to use ready made pasta instead. I wanted to hit Cam so much as he ruined my food, but as Noni always said, 'If you don't have enough time, then don't blindly follow your ego. The people got to eat.'
While I was cooking, the guests started to come one by one. Haley, Abby, Desiree and Alex entered the kitchen to see what I was doing, only to be chased away by me as I didn't need the extra distraction.
"Hey. I came here to help!" Abby said as she was pushed away by me.
I stopped and said, "Okay. Then cut the tomatoes."
She nodded and washed her hands while Haley glared at the both of us from afar. Cam was boiling the pasta while Gloria was helping me to make the pie. I was cutting the bell peppers before I saw Abby's horrendous knife-handling skill. I grabbed her hand and stood behind her before saying, "Like this."
I guided her hand to cut off the ingredient carefully in a non-sensual manner, but she blushed anyway as she could feel my breath on her neck.
"Wait. Did you get taller again?" Abby asked.
"Less talking. More chopping!" I said sternly as I released her hand and let her do her own thing.
"We only have 30 more minutes, people!" I channeled my inner Gordon Ramsey as I took control of the entire kitchen.
Cam took out the pasta from the pot prematurely, which made me do the idiot sandwich bit on him. Despite his annoyance, he didn't say anything as he had destroyed the power supply at my house. My dad and I had to stay elsewhere for the night because of him.
"You can bunk with Luke." Claire offered while watching me cook at the side of the kitchen after being banished from the kitchen for trying to use MSG in my dishes.
"No. His room smells." Alex interjected.
Haley was excited and whispered, "If he can't stay there because of the smell…then he can drag the bed into our room-"
"In your dreams young lady." Claire heard it and stopped Haley's fantasy immediately.
"Hello Hello, we're here!" Phil entered the house with Luke while Jay and Manny followed them closely from behind.
"Honey. What happened?" Claire asked Phil while Luke stood beside his dad looking all guilty.
Phil replied, "He-"
"These two knuckleheads were fighting each other." Jay interjected while bringing Manny with him. "Apparently Manny called Luke his nephew…and Luke doesn't know what those words mean.." Jay said carefully before looking at his grandson in pity.
I noticed the event of the episode currently going on and turned to look at the group.
Phil brought Luke and Manny together before saying, "Now, in light of what happened at school today, if you have any feelings you'd like to express, this is the proper forum-"
Jay interjected again and took over from Phil, holding each of the kid's shoulders. "For God's sake. All right, both of you.Now, in this family, do we kick and punch each other, or do we love each other?"
Luke and Manny answered reluctantly, "Love each other."
"That's right." Jay said and punished both of them by smacking them at the back of their head. "I'll be in the den." Jay said gruffly and walked away.
Claire shook her head as she saw her dad's simple conflict resolution method and turned to look at Phil who seemed a bit hurt that his father-in-law had stolen his spotlight.
After releasing a sigh, I continued to finish cooking. With my new talent, an irresistible smell started to spread from the kitchen that made everyone's nose twitch in happiness.
"I underestimated him." Cam said as he rubbed his sore hand from being smacked by a spatula a few times as he tried to change the recipe or sneak something inside the food.
Claire, Gloria and Cam helped me to set the dishes on the table while I greeted the guests that just arrived. Taylor gave me a light hug as she entered the house while saying, "It smells good. So good that I'm now wondering if it was really cooked by you."
"Of course it was me. None of the other people in the house have my skill." I said smugly, earring an eye roll from each of my assistants. Mitchell arrived while I was talking to her, but he couldn't enter the house as Selena and Taylor were blocking the entrance.
"Excuse- Excuse me." Mitchell tried to gain their attention, but I was talking to Selena at that time and didn't notice him. "I'm glad you came. I'm sure my food will be even better than Amelia's."
Selena chuckled before sliding her stray hair back to her ear and said meekly, "Don't remind me. I got into a lot of trouble because of that day. My agency kept trying to get me to seduce you."
"Oh. Then, I guess I'll look forward to that." I replied playfully.
Taylor narrowed her eyes in anger at her friend's blatant attempt at flirting in front of her before she hugged me by the shoulder from the side and glared at Selena. "He's mine to seduce!" She said jokingly but with a thinly veiled threat in her tone.
Selena ignored Taylor's hostility and said, "Too old."
I swear I could hear Taylor gritting her teeth, but she turned to look at my face and said, "It seems that I must teach someone a lesson."
"Don't go overboard." I said before I finally noticed Mitchell who had given up trying to pass us and was now enjoying the drama.
"Mitchell. Why don't you just come inside?" I asked in confusion.
"..." His excitement disappeared as soon as he noticed my comment and was quickly replaced with a sense of non-existence. He slumped his shoulders as he muttered to himself, "I…tried."
Jacob arrived soon after, but Jenna and Elsa couldn't make it to dinner as they had prior engagements.
Pepper and Harvey would be a little late, so they asked us to eat first instead of waiting for them.
[3rd Person POV]
As Edward went to set the table, Taylor and Selena were drinking a glass of sparkling water standing up in the living room. Suddenly, they bumped into Haley and Abby who were having a conversation at the pool table, and they eyed each other as they whispered to their friend about something.
"Is it me? Or did it suddenly turn cold here?" Manny shuddered as he walked past the group of girls.
"Haley. No-" Abby tried to stop her friend, but it was too late. Haley had already walked toward Taylor.
"Hey. I like your hair. It's so 'brave'. It actually shows a lot of 'confidence' to go that curly." Haley said, 'complimenting' Taylor in a clear passive aggressive way and mocking tone.
"Hey. You must be Haley right? Ed's 'Best friend'?" Taylor enunciated while feeling self-aware of her curly hair.
Abby sighed and walked to Haley's side to back her up while Selena was amused about the whole pissing contest.
"I'm so jealous. You're so tall… I wonder though, do the guys you date need to wear heels too or do you only go for those that like to look at the sky?" Haley added with an innocent smile on her face.
Taylor giggled and said, "Like Ed?"
Haley gritted her teeth and said after finding her smile, "Nah. Ed is fine with whatever size. Despite how 'small' it is."
Taylor checked her chest in embarrassment and said, "Hey quick question, does your push up bra hurt your back? I've been thinking about it for a while now, but I still can't commit to using filling. It's good to see some people just go for it."
Haley was taken aback, and Taylor smiled as she felt that she won the contest, however as she turned to look at Abby's voluptuous chest, she knew that she would still lose in this topic, no matter what.
[Edward POV]
All of us sat together at a long table with me sitting at the head of the table. I stood up and clinked my glass to gain their attention before saying, "I'm glad that we all could gather here together today. So I decided to let you guys see a part of me that you never knew before."
"Such a cocky kid." Jay said with a smile on his face.
"While I was lost before, I met a kind grandmother who showed me that sometimes…there's light, even at the darkest place."
"Francesca 'Isabella' De Luca. You were a wonderful grandmother, and while you may have passed on, your memories will always live on within me. Thank you for your sacrifices, your care and concern, your love and everything that you have done for me. Wherever you are, I know you are in a much better place. I will be forever grateful and thankful that I got to call you, at least for a while, my 'grandmother'."
"Cheers!" I said while raising my glass up.
""" Cheers!""" Everyone raised their glass and cheered before the feast began.
(A/N: You guys might wonder if Ed is exposing his secret as a transmigrator. But he's not. This kind of gathering is actually normal, even when you don't know who the dead person was. It's a tribute to her life, and to let the dead person know that their will lives within those who remember them.)
…
"Hey, why don't you get a drink?" Jay asked my dad after he saw he was only drinking water instead of scotch or wine at the dinner table.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, dad replied, "Well. I decided to drink less from now on."
[Ted POV]
In the 2 years I wallowed in self-pity, surrendering myself to the temptation of alcohol and even becoming an addict, I failed to see my son's need during this period of time.
I was grateful to the 'grandmother' who took care of my son after I failed him before. She surely had a massive impact on his life, and I regretted that I could never meet this wonderful person while she was still alive, but most of all the fact that I will never get to truly thank her.
'I should stop drinking for good.' I vowed to myself…and to my son, that I would be a better father from now on.
[Edward POV]
"Oh muh god! I can't stop eating!" Luke said as he slurped the pasta in his mouth.His face was full of sauce, earning a disgusted look from Manny who was sitting beside him.
"Can't you eat …like a human being?" Manny muttered.
On another part of the table, Taylor had to eat warily as the big man in front of her kept staring at her. Cam couldn't believe that he was sitting at the same table as his favorite artist, and now he could only stare at her while he waited for her to finish eating. Sensing his intentions, Taylor ate the food extremely slowly to avoid having a conversation with the suspicious man.
"Ed. This is so good. Did your grandmother teach you how to make this?" Mitchell widened his eyes in surprise as he tasted the pasta.
"Yes. All the food on the table is from the recipes she passed on to me." I answered.
"She should've opened a restaurant before this. This is SOOO good!." Claire added.
I just nodded and didn't share much detail about the 'grandmother' I was referring to. However, none of them actually tried to dig deeper into the identity of the lady – which I actually expected them to do.
My heart felt at ease as I managed to bring together my two different worlds tonight, however, I was also a bit worried as if the episode continued, then a fight would happen today between Claire and Gloria– destroying the mood.
"Yed." Suddenly, a one year old asian baby climbed onto my legs and stood up by using my leg as a support. As she couldn't support her body for long, her torso fell towards my leg and her drool wetted my pants.
"Hey Lily. Did you just wake up?" I asked with a smile as I picked up the baby in my arms– not caring about the tiny splotch of drool.
"The moment she wakes up, she calls your name." Gloria said in dissatisfaction as she was the one who stayed with the baby before.
"I can't help it if I'm just her favorite." I said, not realizing that Phil had started to turn the wheel of the future incident as he looked at both Luke and Manny laughing and joking with each other. Gloria went to sit next to Manny while I was distracted by Lily.
"Gosh. We can learn so much from the kids." Phil said, earning the attention of almost everyone at the table.
"Just look at them. They couldn't even look at each other a second ago, and now they were laughing and playing with each other. It must all seem kind of silly now ugh? Whatever you were fighting about."
Luke laughed and said, " I made fun of his accent."
Gloria heard it and joined in the fun. Using an exaggerated accent, She said, "What accent?"
The group laughed again, and Manny joined in the fun, "I made fun of him for having the same thing for lunch every day."
Even Taylor chortled a bit as she heard it. I snapped back to reality and as I was already too late, I cursed, "Oh shit."
"I made fun of him because his mom used to dig coal." Luke added, causing the entire table to be silent.