in a number of arts, including culinary school. He had two more jobs left before he fulfilled the terms of the contract.
6
Dinner with the Kaines
Phoebe
“ S weetheart , we’re almost late for dinner.”
“Coming,” Phoebe called, slipping a bracelet on her wrist. “Just a minute!”
She carefully smoothed down her hair and checked the back view. She had gone shopping with her mother to get this dress a few months ago, and she wanted to make sure that her mother knew that she was using it. Phoebe’s mother was very generous when it came to clothing, as long as Phoebe actually used the clothing.
Phoebe ran down the stairs, probably undoing the work that she’d just done. Andreas was standing next to the doorway.
“You look beautiful, babe.” He leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him lightly, not wanting to mess up her lip gloss before her parents saw it, although she supposed that eating would mess it up anyway.
“We should go,” Phoebe said, wiping her hands on the skirt of the dress. She might have been sweating a little bit, but that was because of her dad and his strange antagonistic attitude towards Andreas.
The car ride was quiet, the radio filling the silence. When they got to her parents’ home, the one where she’d grown up, she was out the door and walking up the steps while Andreas turned off the car and trailed behind her. The air was filled with the scent of cinnamon, and she knew that her mom had baked pumpkin pie, which was Andreas’ favorite.
“Hello, munchkin.”
“Daddy!” Phoebe went and hugged her father. “I’m so happy to see you. Where’s Mommy?”
“Here, kiddo.” Her mother smelled like vanilla and cinnamon; she definitely had been baking. “And where’s Andreas?”
“Here, ma’am.” Phoebe had tried to break him of the habit of calling her parents ma’am and sir, but Andreas still didn’t stop. Her mom had tried to convince him to call them Sally and Harold, but it just didn’t stick.
“Everything’s already on the dinner table.”
The four of them went inside of the house, and Phoebe sighed with contentment when she saw the table practically groaning from the weight of the food. Her mother equated food with love, and it was a constant battle to keep her dancer’s figure when her mother’s cooking was around.
They sat down at the table. They had barely put napkins on their laps when her father said, “You’re still a chef, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So when are you going to get a real job?"
Phoebe watched Andreas wince just a little bit. She put her hand in his. her father had just hurled one of the standard insults at Andreas, and she could see the tension in Andreas' shoulders. Phoebe hated the way that her father loved to verbally spar with Andreas. He was wonderful, just wonderful, a dream husband and a good man. Why couldn't her father see that?
Yes, the wedding had been a surprise to her close-knit family, but her mother had no problem baking pumpkin pies (Andreas' favorite) and bringing them over for Phoebe and Andreas to share. She knew that her father had been upset that there'd been basically nobody from Andreas' side at the wedding, but it wasn't as if he could control the fact that he was an orphan. Being an orphan didn't make him a bad man.
In fact, her father should be trying even harder to embrace him and show him how warm their family could be.
"I have a real job, sir," Andreas said, wiping his mouth.
"And no family, is that right?"
Phoebe's mouth tightened, her eyes filling with tears. Her pregnancy was making her really emotional.
"Excuse me."
She ran out the door and towards the bathroom.
7
Leftovers
Andreas
A ndreas looked at Mr. Kaine , wiping his mouth again.
"Thank you for the wonderful dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Kaine. I'll need to call it a night. We'll leave once Phoebe is done in the bathroom. I don't want Phoebe or the new baby dealing with too much stress, but I highly enjoyed this delicious meal."
Mr.