SALUBRIOUS

SB50

Nasiem Fareed

7:07 pm - June 8th 2024

Being that Nas wanted Demi to have fresh meals every night, he found himself pushing his culinary skills. He knew that him cooking every night wouldn't happen, so he cooked every few nights and repurposed the leftovers, turning them into different dishes by adding new sides, or making the protein into a whole new meal.

Today made about 5 days since he officially got Demi for the summer. On top of a meal schedule, he was also getting the hang of their day to day schedule as well. Nas knew that we wanted dinner started by at least 7, so Demi wouldn't be eating too late at night.

"Daddy." Demi voiced while walking out of the bathroom, catching Nas' attention. He looked up from the bell peppers he was cutting and looked at Demi, who was very visibly upset. "Wassup, Girly?" Nas questioned.

"The toilet seat! You keep leaving it up!" Demi fussed while speaking with her tiny hands, causing Nas to chuckle. "You right, that's on me." Nas replied, but Demi was a tough cookie to crack. She stood there, grilling her father with a scowl on her face. Nas continued to chuckle, as even her mad face was still so adorable.

"You don't listen!" She sassily added. Demi was quickly laying down the law as the little lady of the house. She was right, she expressed that him leaving the toilet seat up bothered her, and Nas mindlessly continued to do it. He was so used to a routine where he most lived alone, so he found himself forgetting about the complaints.

Nas didn't mind admitting his wrongs and apologizing to his daughter, because not only was she was his daughter, but she was also a human with feelings, and she deserved it. "Tell him, Demi." Dakota chimed in with a light chuckle as she watched the interaction from the couch.

Nas dropped the knife and tossed his hands up in surrender. "My fault, ma'am. I got it now. It'll be down from this day forward." He spoke. Demi shook her head before joining Dakota on the couch. Meanwhile, Nas continued to chop up his vegetables. Though his was his second time making the dish, he didn't really remember the exact steps from the first time. Nas wasn't too worried. Judging by the pleasant aroma in the air, he felt like he was on the right path. Once he was done, he added them to his baking dish, where his seasoned pan seared chicken was. Tonight's meal was smothered chicken over rice, that he planned to pair with green beans. After a few more steps, his meal finally went in the oven.

Before joining Demi and Dakota on the couch, Nas decided to tidy up, so he wouldn't have a lot to do when the meal was finished. While wiping down the counter, he caught a few glimpses of Demi and Dakota interacting with each other, which put a smile on his face. They were doing something on Demi's iPad, that was making them ever so often burst into laughter. Once Nas got closer, he realized that they were playing a game of digital tic tac toe.

"What we doing tomorrow, daddy?" Demi questioned, something she'd ask every night at around this time. "You got early morning cheer camp." Nas replied, making him realize that he had an appointment scheduled way before the camp was set to start. Shit, he thought out loud, causing both Demi and Dakota to look over at him.

"I gotta three hour tattoo like two hours before the camp start—I don't know how imma work that out." Nas announced, hitting his hand against his palm while in deep thought. "I'll take her." Dakota suggested.

"Foreal?" Nas questioned while furrowing his eyebrows together, Dakota shook her head yes. "What time does it start?" She questioned back before marking an X on the tic tac toe board on Demi's iPad.

"It start at nine and end eleven thirty." Nas answered, Dakota shook her head to indicate that she took in the information. "Yeah, I got her." She assured. Nas didn't expect major help when it came to Demi. She was his responsibility, and he was fine with that. But it still meant a lot to him that Dakota was offering her aid.