Snowfalls, Fires, and Family

Snowfalls, Family, and Fires 7

The next few hours went surprisingly well for the five siblings and their aunt, who had returned after finding her power out. Anne continued to work on her pies since two of them required her to cook down some fruit for the filling and she had to baby them, allowing one to cook before cooking the other. Tristian and Brian both started to prepare the three hams to cook for the Christmas Eve feast after they got the decorations up. They removed them from their wrappings and created three different toppings and crusts.

One was a layer of brown sugar over canned pineapple rings held in place with whole cloves. Another was a mix of dark brown sugar mixed with a sweet white honey that was carefully pressed against the ham and spread lightly between the spiral cuts of the ham. The third was just a simple rub of various herbs and spices that Tristian had created one year, Brian agreeing that it was good the natural flavor of the ham.

Markus was doing the dishes while the three worked on cooking breakfast and setting up dinner, usually loading up the dishwasher and letting it run when it was full, which happened twice. But for the most part, he was washing the large bowls and plates.

Karla just kept out of the way in the bare formal living room at a fold out table and in a chair, staring at her laptop. She said she was doing business and they had no urge to ask her what kind of business it was. Most likely something to do with her modeling and brand.

The siblings worked their way through the day easily, none of them really venturing into any kind of territory that was off limits to any of them. Tristian felt grateful for the fact that they were smart about that, but he still worked to ignore the small glares that Karla seemed to send at him whenever she thought she could get away with it and when no one was around. He just went about what he had to do while she returned to her own work. After the hams had been prepared, Brian and Tristian started up the sausages, bacon, eggs, pancakes, sweet rolls and fresh bread that had been made the night before, French toast made from the fresh bread, and homemade toppings. It was all easily prepared between the two men. Karla was one of the first to come to the table while Anne stared at her fruit, hitting up the small coffee bar that had been set up to keep the four that weren't cooking out of the kitchen.

She soon had her cup of coffee in hand and was sitting at the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room, sipping her flavored choice and watching them with thoughtful eyes. "When did you learn to cook?" she asked Tristian, watching as he flipped out another piece of French toast, picking up the soaking bread and laying it into the pan to cook.

"I learned to cook because I needed to cook," he stated. "Aunt Tabby could cook so she taught me things when I was a teen. And often baked with me when I was a kid. She always thought that everyone should learn even the most basic skills in the kitchen," he said, shrugging one shoulder. He flipped the batter soaked bread over and watched it carefully. He was using a small pan since the big pan and griddle were being used to make eggs and pancakes respectively, but wasn't to put out by it. "Why?" he asked.

Karla just shrugged as Anne finally finished with her fruit, putting it to the side to cool before walking past her to the coffee pot which had a pot of regular coffee waiting already. "Just curious," she said. "I mean, after all, you weren't even allowed in the kitchen when mom was still taking care of us," she continued. With jab done, she slipped out of her chair and strolled out, most likely heading for her room again to get ready for the day.

Brian huffed. "I hope to high hell that she doesn't think that she'll get away with that too often," he drawled.

Tristian rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Nah, it's fine," he told him, going back to cooking the French toast. "It doesn't bother me." Once Markus came down from having to change, along with a freshly dressed Karla, Brian and Tristian started to set out the food, Tabby walking back inside with a bang of the door and a rush of cold air into the house.