By the time dinner is ready, Kookie has become a math genius. At least that’s the idea Melody is conveying every so often.
“Kookie, you are brilliant! I don’t know why you thought you needed my help. You got the last five problems right.”
I can read his dilemma on his face. If he continues to do well, Melody might stop tutoring him, but if he misses too many, she might decide he is an idiot. And as smart as she is, she would want to be with an intelligent guy.
Kookie, be yourself. I am sending him mom vibes. Will he pick up on my thoughts? As I stand watching him and wondering if he can feel my advice, he glances up at me. Hmm. Perhaps he can sense my words, after all.
“Kookie, are you ready to make the ramen?”
He nods, eager for a break from algebra, if not from Melody.
He glances at her. “You want to help me?”
Uh-oh. Now he has drawn Nana’s attention. “Help you? Are you out of your mind, Kookie? You haven’t needed help making ramen since you were seven! It isn’t algebra!”
Now I’m sending a different kind of vibe to my clueless daughter!
He sends her a dirty look. She completely misses it as she turns towards Melody. “Hey, Mel, how did you do number eighteen?”
Kookie, frustrated, sighs and pushes his chair back. But I don’t miss the furtive glance Melody sends him. She looks disappointed that Nana is trying to get her attention. She clearly wants to be with Kookie. He walks to the stovetop and turns on the heat to warm the pot of water he’d already collected. He sticks the lid on the pot and turns towards me.
“How many packages do you think I should cook?”
“Well, there’s seven of us.”
“But there’s Everett and me. We count for more than one!”
I raise my eyebrows as I grin at him. “I’ll let you be the judge then! But,” I turn to look at Melody before glancing back at my adorable eldest, “I don’t think she eats much!”
It’s his turn to raise his eyebrows. “You’d be surprised, Mom! I don’t know where she puts it,” now he is whispering confidentially to me, as he leans towards me, our foreheads almost touching, “but she eats almost as much as I do!”
“What?! No way! That’s impossible!”
He grins from ear to ear, revealing his cute, chubby teeth and wrinkling up his nose as he laughs. I smile at him. I glance at Melody who is staring straight at Kookie, completely enthralled with his laughing face. Then I decide to be his partner in crime.
“Janna, can you go collect the clothes out of my hamper and put them in the washer, please?”
“Mahmmmm, I’m trying to do my homework!”
“It won’t take you but a minute.” Just long enough for Melody to join Kookie at the stove!
Grumbling, Janna jumps up and heads for my bedroom.
Kookie glances at me, and I tilt my head towards Melody as though to say, “Well? Here’s your chance.”
But Melody doesn’t wait for an invitation. She jumps out of her chair and approaches Kookie.
“What can I do to help?”
He smiles the sweetest smile at her, and I know my heart can’t possibly be the only one melting in this moment.
“Want to open the packages with me?”
Oh, so romantic! Ok, I know I’m being silly, but they are so cute bumbling their way through first love. If this girl can’t tell that my son is head over heels for her, then she is blind, deaf, and dumb! But if her smile is any indication, she is none of those things. I try to watch them enact their little drama (which isn’t really very dramatic) without them noticing me. I pull the chicken from the oven as they make ramen together. Kookie’s dark eyes keep colliding with hers, and they are both blushing. It is the cutest thing I’ve seen all day.
A few moments later, Janna comes back into the kitchen. She finally takes a good look at Kookie and Melody together. Then she gets the strangest expression on her face, an odd blend of surprise and disappointment. She glances at me as if to say, “But Kookie belongs to Emmie!”
Oh, faithful heart! Best friends forever, indeed!
I smile sadly at her and shrug my shoulders. Then I bend a sterner glance her way as if to say, “You can’t make Kookie’s choices for him!”
Soon we all sit down to an uneventful dinner. That is, until the doorbell rings.
