She did it again. Thinking of her David over herself. I know how excited she was about seeing the house in person. We all were, but she stood back, and asked me to go. God, I loved her even more at that point.
Chrissie and I cleared up Tom’s mess, shooing him from the kitchen for a while. Tom grabbed the kids as they searched for their swimsuits and towels. Chrissie and I giggled like school girls, wondering what Tom’s suit was like. Loose or speedos? We both said loose, although the speedo wouldn’t go amiss!
We made it to the crowded pool. Well, it was Sunday! We left Tom and David to change, and took Chloe’s little hand and walked to the women’s changing rooms. Chrissie and I opted for simple one-piece suits. We didn’t want the attention of all these divorced fathers today! Unfortunately, we were correct. Loose board shorts, for Tom! Damn! We would have to behave anyway, so it was probably a good call on his part. Tom was simply wonderful with Chloe, teaching her, patiently, how to learn the crawl. He had bought them both colored goggles in case there was too much chlorine. We had a wonderful couple of hours, playing tag, splashing and swimming. Tom was a strong swimmer, graceful and competent. Chrissie and I watched him from the stands for a while.
“I’d fuck him,” I giggled at Chrissie, pointing at his fit physique.
“I already have, slut,” she retorted, both of us laughing too loud.
Chrissie looked delicious in her blue, high cut suit. God, if I could just run my fingers through the material painted on her hips, I’d be a happy girl! Her snug butt was covered chastely, but still captivating. I was besotted, again.
We stopped off at a family restaurant on the way home. It was easier, after today’s activities. The conversation, and connection were something I had missed for so long. [This is what a family was really like, I thought.] I wondered if my parents would notice the change in me. Others had already commented that divorce seemed to suit me. If they only knew how much! We went over the kid’s homework before getting them sorted for a new school week. Gosh, I really enjoyed what others thought of as tedious. Maybe I WAS destined to be a housewife! My mind wandered back to our talk about babies. I got wet just thinking of that. I looked at Tom, then Chrissie. I could imagine it. The image was so clear in my head Now let’s see if the reality lives up to it! With these two, I had no doubt it would.
Tom POV
We had yet another wonderful family day, the rhythms of our lives were slowly intertwined with one another’s. These small steps were taking shape, and the kids, relaxed with the new dynamic in the house, seemingly unaware of the intensity of their mothers, Emily’s and my growing attachment. Small steps.
We stopped at the grocery store so I could pick up a few provisions. I let everyone know that I was cooking dinner tonight, much to Chrissie and Emily’s mocking groans. They just lost their positions as my sous chefs. [Screw ’em, I thought!] I kicked everyone from the kitchen, except for Chloe. She was the only one excited about my endeavour, so she could help. Chrissie and Emily worked on her photos of our evening. I’m not sure what I was more excited about, my dinner or her photos.
Chloe wrapped her apron around her small frame, and eagerly asked, “What’s next, daddy?” Would I ever get used to those words? More than likely. “What are we making?”
“We are making a delicious Thai green curry for everyone. Have you ever had a curry, Little One?”
She giggled at those words, and shook her head ‘no’. I pulled out all the ingredients, explaining what each was and having her smell each, asking her what they smelled like. I had her divide the seeds and spices into separate piles, her attention to weighing each was impressive, if not slow. I prepped, sliced and cut up the ingredients for the paste, and let her use the pestle and mortar, her little arms were unable to get the right consistency, so I finished it off. She did enjoy pummelling the lemongrass, though. She leaned down to the mortar, inhaling the fresh paste.
“Mmmm,” she smiled. “David’s going to like this!”
The hard part was finished, so we began cooking the chicken, adding the paste and chicken pieces to a large copper pot, with a bit of water. Chloe tore up a few kaffir lime leaves and dropped them into the stew. Chloe stirred the big pot, most of the water boiling out so I had her add the coconut cream, and stir it in.
Chrissie, Emily and David poked their noses in, but Chloe and I yelled at them to leave us alone! They scoffed at us, so would have to wait! After some energetic stirring, I had her drop some sweet basil and a touch of palm sugar into the mixture. God, it smelled gorgeous, we both agreed. I had her dip a spoon in and taste. “Is it ready?” I asked her.
“It tastes yummy, daddy,” she coyly said, still getting used to the new affectation.
“Wonderful, darling. We’ll let that sit and we’ll make some naan bread, okay?”
She shook her head wildly, but I doubted she knew what those were, but I loved her enthusiasm.
Again, I showed her all the ingredients, and went over how we were going to make them. She carefully poured the sachets of yeast into the bowl, adding a bit of sugar. She weighed out the flour, mixing in the ghee, yoghurt, and nigella seeds, and mixed it together, her tiny fingers trying to get it all mixed. I re-kneaded the mixture, showing her the consistency we were looking for.