Miss Denmark

teamwork

We were playing with Legos until he prepared lunch. Who would have though he didn't make me do it?

They were behaving, and there weren't anything to put a finger on. Well, except that I'd promised I'd make cookies, so how much lunch did they eat?

"Are you making cookies?" Owen asked.

"Do you want to help?" I asked.

"Boys don't bake," Harry said.

"Because Alexander doesn't?" I asked.

Harry nodded with a serious expression.

"Boys can bake," I promised. "My dad always baked cakes for my birthday."

"Why not your mom?" Owen asked.

"Because she always burned the cake."

"Oh," Harry said.

"But if you don't want to help, I'll just lick the dough without help."

"You can lick the dough anyways," Harry said.

"No," I said and shook my head. "Not when I'm baking."

It was way too easy to win them over.

I diced the chocolate, but we all tasted. Alexander put Julia to bed so she could nap.

Owen didn't nap, I learned.

I kept an eye on the cookies, while Owen and Harry licked the remaining dough in the bowl. Alexander was keeping an eye on them.

This felt so homey. The way Alexander and I interacted. He wasn't dominating or demanding, only if there was something Owen and Harry weren't allowed to. Julia didn't do much. But otherwise, he asked before he just decided.

I removed the baking tray from the oven and put them on a trivet. I put the next tray in the Owen and looked at Own and Harry.

"They have to cool before you can taste." I said.

They jumped down form the chairs and went back to the living room.

Alexander went to me and leaned back against the table. "Thank you for being here," he said.

"You invited," I said and looked at him. "And it's very nice to be here when I choose to."

He looked at me with slightly narrowed eyes. "When can I eat a cookie?"

I smiled. "When they've cooled and Harry and Owen are here too."

"Julia'll probably nap an hour to an hour and a half."

I nodded and checked the cakes in the oven. "I wouldn't have thought you would actually try to bake cookies," I said quietly.

"It was once, it's not happening again," he warned.

I smiled and looked at him.

His blue eyes were focused on mine.

It was just not weird. I looked away and focused my attention on the cookies.

"Christina?" Harry entered the kitchen.

"Yes?" I asked and looked at him.

"What are we having for dinner?"

"Are you already hungry again?" I asked.

He shook his head no and smiled. "Only for cookies. But I want to help."

I looked at Alexander. "What are we having for dinner?"

He shrugged. "There's something I can defrost from the freezer. Or then just what's in the fridge."

I shook my head lightly. "I'll figure something out," I said and looked at Harry. "With Alexander's help."

Harry nodded and ran out the kitchen.

"What am I to help with?" Alexander asked.

"Open the fridge, if you don't know what's in it, and make up something for dinner." I said.

"I can't cook, Christina," he said and opened the enormous fridge.

I pulled the remaining cakes out the oven and put the last tray in the oven. The portion was a bit bigger than I'd expected.

I removed the cookies from the first tray with a spatula and put them on a plate Alexander had found for me.

"There's cake!" I announced.

Alexander shut the fridge and Harry and Owen ran to the kitchen.

I put the plate on the island, and Alexander helped them onto the high chairs.

"We also baked them!" Owen explained.

I looked at the cakes in the oven. We baked them all? Or what? I looked at them, and they each had a giant cookie in their hands.

Alexander looked at me when I looked at him.

"Dinner?" I asked.

"Burger?" he suggested.

"Can you grill the meat?" I asked, smiling.

His eyebrows dived down, causing his eyebrows to lie in shadows, but he wasn't made. The smile on his mouth was not something he could hide.

"Do you have avocado?"

"Yes?" He said.

"Guacamole," I said.

He shook his head like he'd given up on me, and let Harry and Owen have one more cookie before he removed the plate.

They finished eating, and he made them go wash their hands in the bathroom sink.

I pulled out the last tray from the oven and turned it off. I put the tray on a trivet.

Alexander came back to the kitchen. "Julia just woke. Do you mind keeping an eye on Owen and Harry?"

"Sure," I said.

Those cookies just had to cool now.

I went to the dining room and we started drawing.