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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Oct 30, 2008 23:07:42 GMT -4
"Aw, I know," Leigh answered. "You go play I. G. Joe with Stevie," she said, unintentionally mispronouncing the name, given how often she'd heard it incorrectly. "I'll help Mom. Just put Bethany in her ball-pit." She handed over the girl, who only fussed momentarily, and dropped a kiss on Sera's lips. "Don't worry, I'm gonna tell Mom about everything bad you do, you know."
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Post by Natasha Ainsworth on Oct 30, 2008 23:22:13 GMT -4
"She won't believe you. I'm the angel, remember? Pristine, perfect, all of those great 'P' words," Seraphim replied shortly, returning the kiss gently. "Good luck, by the by, with dinner? Just make it quick, I'd ready to just eat chicken nuggets, if it's quicker," she added, before shifting Bethany more comfortably, and heading into the living room again.
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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Oct 30, 2008 23:27:54 GMT -4
Bella had, in the meantime, already begun sauteing the potatoes in olive oil, dropping some of the same rosemary into them, along with a series of spices.
"Leigh, fish in the pan, please, dress, and it'll be done in about fifteen minutes," this last part was directed more towards Sera's retreating form.
"Yes ma'am," Leigh replied and followed her instructions. Once the pan was safely in the oven, she wiped her hands on her pants, needlessly. She moved closer to her mother's side and draped her arms around Bella's neck. "Me and Ser, Mom, you sure that you're okay?"
Bella smiled softly at her daughter's worried tone. "Of course. You know that we're open-minded, and we really do love Seraphim to death. And I know that Tatum's already out as well, but make sure that if their parents say anything...you bring them over here straightaway, okay?"
It was no secret that Leigh's parents wanted the Donnelly's to be more involved, but they kept their peace so long as all of the kids were well-treated.
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Post by Natasha Ainsworth on Oct 30, 2008 23:41:08 GMT -4
Seraphim followed her instructions easily enough, taking Bethany over to her play-pen, and depositing her into it, before placing a light kiss onto her forehead. "Please don't cry?" she murmured, half asking, and half hoping. She sat down near to it, so that the little girl could still see her, as she picked up one of Stevie's toys and turned it over in her hands.
"I call Power Rangers. I don't want to be Joes of any sort."
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Post by Harley Michaels on Oct 31, 2008 8:49:44 GMT -4
Bethany pouted a little at being left alone, and then promptly began to slam two of the balls from her pit together and bouncing in place. She was truly easy to please, and she giggled.
Stevie offered Sera the red power ranger over as well, with due formality, since that one was his favorite. "'Kay," he answered. "You be Red and Blue, and I'll be I. G. Joe, 'kay? And then they fights, like this!" He picked up one of the G. I. Joe action figures and promptly began twisting it into weird shapes occasionally making incredibly out-of-place martial-arts noises, and every now and again making them fly directly towards Sera's hands, and thus the Power Rangers within them.
Luckily for Sera, so long as someone was there to hold the other figures, he could very well carry out the wars on his own, and Bella was a wizard at timing, and the food was done quite promptly. Unsurprising, given that all she was doing was baking thin slices of well-treated flounder, steaming green beans, and sauteeing the potatoes she'd mostly prepared that morning. And preparing Stevie and Bethany some chicken nuggets, which she would have to tear up and remove the breading for Bethany.
Leigh popped her head out of the kitchen and grinned at Sera and Stevie. The blonde girl was well and truly charmed at whoever treated her family well. "Hey, angel, bring the kids to the dining room? Food's done."
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Post by Alex Harwood on Oct 31, 2008 9:06:19 GMT -4
Seraphim had been quite content, sitting cross-legged across from Stevie, and simply holding the Power Ranger figurines at a distance, so he could easily smash his G. I. Joes up against them as he pleased. When Leigh finally announced that food was done, the brunette was sure her stomach may have actually rumbled, as she quickly dropped the action figures, and pushed herself back up to her feet. "Be right there," she offered simply, as she bent over and scooped Bethany out of her containment.
She settled the girl easily into one arm, before offering her other hand down to Stevie. "Come on, kid, foods up."
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Post by Harley Michaels on Oct 31, 2008 10:58:42 GMT -4
"Chickem nuggets!" Stevie cried joyously, took the proffered hand, and used all of the strength in his three-year-old body to pull Sera along. "Nuggets with katsup," he added as they got close to the table.
Leigh excited the kitchen balancing a serving dish of the flounder carefully on one potholder-covered hand and the dish of potatoes, serving spoon sticking out the side in the other. The table had already been set, and she placed the dishes carefully in the middle of the table. "Stevie, in your chair please," she noted to the blonde, and then to Sera, "And please buckle up Bethany, that child has a death-wish to fall out of that chair."
Bella followed shortly after, with Stevie and Bethany's chicken nuggets, a bottle of katsup and a sippy-cup of milk for Bethany, who reached for it with her arms outstretched. "Dahdah!" She said insistently.
"Yes, yes, dahdah," Bella answered, leaving the dishes (and the sippy cup) in their proper places and returning to the kitchen for the steamed green-beans and called out, "would you girls like soda or milk with dinner? Or water?"
"Water for me, please," Leigh answered, serving the flounder as she waited for her mother's return. "Milk'll make me too sleepy and soda will just hype me up."
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Post by Rath Donnelly on Nov 1, 2008 16:24:29 GMT -4
Seraphim did as she was told, settling Bethany comfortably into her chair, before buckling her in, and sliding across the table-top portion of it as well. "There we go, kid, all better," she said, reaching and picking up the sippy cup, handing it to the little girl before turning back to Leigh. "Yeah, avoid the milk. I know I've already tired you out enough today," she murmured in Leigh's direction.
She flopped into her own chair at the table, the usual spot she sat at, before leaning back some in her seat. "I'll have soda! There's root beer, right?" she called back to Bella.
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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Nov 1, 2008 21:57:17 GMT -4
Bethany greedily accepted her sippy cup and promptly began drinking, leaning comfortably back.
Leigh blushed a little, and nodded. "After dinner I'm taking a nap. Still sleepy, to be perfectly honest. And, oh, I forgot to change over the laundry!" She smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand, just as her mother left the kitchen, holding the beans in one hand, and holding two drinks in the other -- one holding water and one with soda.
"Of course I have root beer," she noted amused, placing down the green beans, which Leigh promptly began dishing up for everyone. "I think that there'd be a mutiny otherwise."
"Mutiny!" Stevie cheered at her, and Bella laughed aloud.
"See what I mean? Also, baby girl, I switched over your laundry," Bella informed Leigh taking her seat, next to Bethany so that she could feed her without having to move.
"Thanks, Mom, you're a lifesaver," Leigh answered, sitting next to Sera, having finally distributed everyone's plates.
"I live to serve," Bella answered with a flourishing bow, and taking a bite of her flounder.
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Post by Natasha Ainsworth on Nov 1, 2008 22:08:02 GMT -4
"God, you were right," Sera replied absently, taking up her glass of root beer, and taking a quick drink from it, before settling it aside and going for her fork. "Laundry sense, it's a mom thing. She switched it over, and she didn't even know you were doing laundry before she got home. Plus, she managed it while making dinner. Amazing, this woman," the brunette continued, motioning toward Bella with a forkful of green beans, before taking the bite.
She chewed and swallowed, before nudging Leigh's leg under the table with her own foot. "Maybe when you grow up, you'll be as talented."
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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Nov 1, 2008 22:17:42 GMT -4
"A girl can dream," she replied, winking towards her mother, and taking a bite of the potatoes -- one of her favorite dishes, really -- she adored the contrast between slightly crunchy skin and soft white flesh of the potatoes. "Mm," she murmured appreciatively. "Hopefully I'll be able to cook as well, or else I'll be still living here just for the food."
"Ah, nothing," Bella noted to the brunette. "The laundry room is just on the other side of the kitchen, and between my children and Andrew, I check whenever I come home," she offered Sera a blank look. "If you ever live with this one make sure she never does the laundry by herself."
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Post by Natasha Ainsworth on Nov 1, 2008 22:27:55 GMT -4
"Oh, trust me, I wouldn't. Today was just a fluke, because I was in the washroom.. and I made sure to warn her to watch her soap, and not to shrink anything," Seraphim explained, nodding firmly with her own words, as she took another bite of her dinner. Bella's cooking really was the best, hands down. Back home, she was used to either her own meals, take out, or whatever Tatum could put in the microwave. And sometimes her mother's French dishes, if she found the time. But that was rare, in and of itself. "This is great, by the way," she soon added, indicated the flounder.
"Leigh's right, I hope she learns to cook as good as you, or I might move in, too."
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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Nov 1, 2008 22:48:58 GMT -4
Leigh might have stuck out her tongue, but she was too busy eating. And besides, it was perfectly true. "Good, less laundry for me."
"Thank you, dear." Bella smiled at Sera. "You're welcome whenever you like. You're family. And as Leigh has repeatedly informed me, I make enough to feed about five of my families. And between Michael and Leigh's appetites, that is saying something."
Bella was feeding Bethany, as Stevie smeared katsup decoratively over his right cheek. Leigh reached out with a napkin and swept it off neatly. "In the mouth," she instructed him, as Stevie giggled.
"In the mouth," he repeated solemnly, and promptly belched, then dissolved into laughter.
Leigh rolled her eyes heavenward in a silent prayer for patience, but couldn't help but giggle when Stevie slumped over onto her, hiccuping still. "So gross, gross-o boy."
"I need a cape for that," Stevie informed her, and then turned his big blue eyes on Sera. "Can you help me get a cape? Pleeease?"
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Post by Natasha Ainsworth on Nov 1, 2008 23:21:49 GMT -4
"I'm glad to hear that. I've been taking advantage of your hospitality for years, and you can expect it to continue. I'll be wanting care packages when I go away to college, too, just so we're clear," Seraphim mused, grinning over at Bella. She was slightly distracted by Leigh and Stevie, watching them absently, and continuing to eat. When the little boy turned to her, and fully addressed her, she gave a little nod as she finished chewing her current bite of flounder.
"Yeah, sure," she said quickly, before cocking an eyebrow. "But I thought you liked Spiderman? Isn't he your favorite? And Spiderman doesn't wear a cape."
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Post by Leigh O'Conner on Nov 1, 2008 23:28:04 GMT -4
"And you'll get them," Bella answered, absently giving Bethany a bit more chicken, to which the infant began bouncing merrily in her seat, making it much more difficult for the food to make it safely into her mouth). "I know you're responsible, but college kids never eat right. God knows Michael doesn't. He comes home skin-and-bones every single visit."
Stevie contemplated Sera's words quite seriously. "But Gross-o Boy needs a cape," he replied thoughtfully. He turned to Leigh, "Who's better?"
Leigh made a show of considering the question. "Well, I think Spiderman is much more cool. Gross-o boy has only one power. Spiderman has a whole lot of powers," she finally decided. "Don't you think, Sera?"
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