Ayla: Always an Alpha

Chapter 37 - Pork and Potatoes

The kitchen smelled heavenly. "Pork?" I asked.

"Pork and potatoes."

"I would've been okay with dino nuggets."

Steph laughed. It was quiet, more of a giggle than the howl I'd been used to four months ago. "No way I'm serving an adult dino nuggets for their first time in this house."

I shrugged. "They looked good."

"They're practically all Charlie eats these days."

"Respectable decision."

For the second time that night, she glared at me. "I'm about to spend 10 minutes finely chopping up spinach enough that I can hide it into mashed potatoes in order to get that kid to eat a vegetable."

"I could chop the spinach."

Steph did most of the talking while we finished making dinner. From the living room, Charlie's play battle noises gave us a soundtrack to listen to when it was quiet.

"He's got a lot of energy." I handed her the cutting board loaded with spinach when she gestured at me.

"Tell me about it." She scraped the spinach into a bowl of mashed potatoes and mixed it in. It created a bright green bowl of food.

Ayla would have found a way to force the kid to eat before she ever did this to a vegetable.

"I would put some to the side for us, but I've convinced Charlie that the Hulk gives us special green potatoes to use. I absolutely can not have him seeing you eat a different color of mash."

"Hulk potatoes and dino nuggets. Sounds like a great meal to me."

"I'm just happy he's no longer on a mac and cheese fix. I went through so much nutritional yeast in those few months."

"Nutritional yeast?"

"It's like a seasoning with some vitamins in it," she explained.

The dino nuggets came out of the oven, and soon enough, we were all sitting around a table. Surprisingly, I enjoyed my hulk potatoes. Steph had put enough garlic and pepper in them that the spinach disappeared into the background.

"You'll have to thank Hulk for me." I played along with Steph's tale. "These are amazing."

She blushed.

"Hulk comes when I'm at school," Charlie announced. "My mom says I can't meet him 'cause I have to learn."

I nod. "Learning is important."

"Hulk can teach me stuff."

"Fair point."

"See mom?"

Ayla would have absolutely destroyed me by now. Stephanie, meanwhile, gave me a pleading look.

"Your teachers know a lot more than Hulk." Steph said, attempting to pacify the kid.

I couldn't stop myself from adding, "Hulk has seven PhD's."

"Peter!"

I was saved from my scolding by Charlie. "Mom, what's a PhD?"

"It's something people get when they go to college for a long time."

"Mom, what's college?"

"A school for grown ups."

"Grown ups go to school?"

"Yes. Hulk goes to school just like you." I told him, butting in to redeem myself to Steph.

"That's so cool!"

Stephanie sighed.

Conversation continued similarly until Charlie finished all his dino nuggets and ran back into the living room.

"Thanks for putting up with him," Steph told me as I helped her clean the kitchen.

"He's a funny kid."

That small giggle escaped her lips again. "He is."

She was quiet for a bit as she scrubbed a pan clean.

"He likes you, you know." Steph broke the silence.

"I'm sure he likes most people."

Steph turned towards me. The look on her face was one of deliberation. I waited silently for her to say whatever it is she was thinking.

"Well, I like you."

"I'm sure you also like most people," I told her. Steph was almost too nice. I couldn't see her hating anybody.

She put the pan into the second bowl of the sink and stepped towards me. "I like you more than most people."

That, I had not seen coming. As I quietly tried to sort out how I felt about Steph hitting on me, a small frown formed on her face.

"Forget I said anything." Red spread across Steph's cheeks as she turned back towards the sink.

"Stephanie -" I tried to find something reassuring to say.

"Totally understand!" Her voice squeaked. "We can pretend that never happened."

I found myself wishing I could just be direct and say what was on my mind without having to filter it. Instead, everything I could think of seemed like it would just make her more embarrassed.

Steph anxiously scrubbed at a bowl with green potato pieces stuck to the sides.

The more I pondered my next move, the more my own feelings began to sort themselves out, and an honest reply came to mind. "I'm not over someone else."

I wanted Ayla or I wanted no one, I realized.

"Oh," Steph said. She still seemed a bit unnerved, but her hand moved in less wild circles around the dishes.

"An ex girlfriend?"

"It was complicated." While a genuine answer, "complicated" barely began to describe Ayla and me.

She frowned. "I'm sorry. I've been there."

~~~

Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter!

Question of the week! What's the best way to hide vegetables in food?