Of Ginger & Spice

HM2V: Courgette & Diamond Light

43: HM2V: Courgette & Diamond Light

9 am, One Week Later, Vera Manor Garden

Two more weeks until Morgana's reevaluation of bedrest. Macy's belly made it impossible for her to see her feet nowadays. She struggled to find a comfortable seated position for herself on the Wilkins wrought-iron patio chair, her laptop once again sitting on the small table to her right. Her Hypnos research and writing were now complete, as was the new-and-improved conceptual framework. Harry was right, Macy thought to herself. The manuscript re-submission was a promising sign, a "Not Yet" instead of an outright "No."

Noon, Two Weeks Later, Vera Manor, Kitchen

Due to the overabundance of zucchini proliferating in the front lawn of Epicenter Pico No. 23, Matias had taken it upon himself to deliver a large basket full of the courgette in person, by means of the she-shed portal.

Harry and Matias shook hands and Harry proceeded to wash the many vegetables that tumbled out. Macy and Maggie found themselves in the kitchen sitting at the table, slicing away at the zucchini while Abigael and Maya worked on another one of their construction paper exercises.

Macy examined the recipe for zucchini fritters she had found online.

Zucchini Fritters—ingredients: one zucchini, one large egg, 1/3 cup of flour (more if you have a big zucchini), sea salt, olive oil

Zucchini Fritter Sauce—2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar or regular vinegar (not apple cider vinegar), and a smattering of roasted sesame seeds

Let's see, she thought to herself. Zucchinis? Check. Eggs? Probably—check. Flour? We live in Vera Manor—how is that even a question? Check (though almond flour and chickpea flour were alternative keto mainstays too...). Sea salt and olive oil? Check. As for the fritter sauce ingredients, she was pretty sure those were buried in a kitchen cabinet somewhere, and Matias probably already had a canister of sesame seeds given that he carried all his market wares in his satchel these days.

She reread the caption next to the "1/3 cup of flour." "More if you have a big zucchini." Macy stifled an adolescent giggle just as Harry happened to peer over her shoulder.

"Oh my, Dr. Valensi, are we being naughty today?" Harry whispered into his wife's ear with his delectable British accent, as she turned slightly pink.

"N-no," Macy responded, trying very hard to suppress her juvenile laughter. "Just—big...zucchini..." she showed Harry the captioned instructions, his eyes merrily twinkling at the phrase as Macy burst into peals of laughter.

"Oh my GAWD get a room, you guys!" Maggie snapped Macy and Harry out of their dirty reverie, rolling her eyes at the pair of them.

12:20 pm, Vera Manor, Kitchen

Macy and Maggie finished slicing the zucchini into ¼ inch slices, and sprinkled them with sea salt, leaving them out for the next several minutes, per the directions. In the meantime, Harry placed flour on a plate while Maggie whisked an egg into a separate bowl, bringing both to the kitchen table where Maggie, Macy, and Matias together created a human assembly line, coating the zucchini with flour on both sides, dipping each in egg. Once all of the zucchini had been flour and egg-dipped, Harry proceeded to fry them on the stove, flipping each half-dollar-shaped piece each as the edges turned a crisp golden brown.

Maggie stirred the ingredients for the accompanying dipping sauce, and soon after, the zucchini fritters were placed on the kitchen table with sauce (Matias had brought pre-roasted sesame seeds after all, which added a lovely sauce garnish). Six people sat down to lunch with accompanying placemats, forks, knives, and cups—Harry, Macy, Maya, Abigael, Maggie, and last, but certainly not least, Matias.

"Delicious," murmured Abigael, still chewing. "Reminds me of my time in Asia..." The other four agreed, turning to thank Macy for having found the recipe online.

12:25 pm, Vera Manor, Kitchen

Just then, Macy felt a sudden fetal kick at her ribcage; caught off-guard, her grip loosened on her kitchen knife which tumbled through the air and landed on the linoleum floor, but not before causing a 2-inch slash to the back of her hand on its descent. "Fu-" she stopped, realizing Maya was present, "-dgesicles-on-a-stick...Ow," she gasped. Harry made as though to apply his Whitelighting abilities, but felt a tiny hand stop him.

"Daddy, let me try," and before any of the adults could stop her, Maya grabbed Macy's hand, holding it in her own. A diamond-colored light emanated from the child's palm, warming Macy's sun-kissed skin as the pieces of her outermost epidermal layer stitched themselves together without so much as a scratch, to everyone's utter amazement.