Petit Lapin

Chapter 14

The four of them arrived at Francis' house where Arthur and Alfred unpacked and Francis decided to make a nice dinner for them. Matthew, of course, helped. He and Francis cooked together all the time, and he was ecstatic to be cooking for more than just the two of them. Matthew was quite a good cooking helper after almost three years of cooking with Francis. While he never got to touch the stove or oven, he helped do other tasks.

"Mathieu, could you put the bread and cheese on the soups before I put them in the oven?" Francis asked as he stirred something in a frying pan. "I grilled and cut the baguette into small pieces already."

Matthew made a sound of affirmation before going to wash his hands. Picking up the stool he kept in the kitchen (for whenever he helps Francis around the kitchen, which was everyday), he grabbed the grilled bread from the counter and took out some cottage cheese from the fridge. He then headed towards the island, where the bowls of onion soup were waiting for the perfectly grilled bread and decadent cheese to be placed on top. As he was about to place the first piece of bread, he realised it there was no garlic on it. Francis had always rubbed some garlic on the bread before putting it on the soup.

"Frog! Do you need help in there? You honestly-"

The British man was interrupted when Francis shouted back with panic evident in his voice. "Non non non! Absolutely not! Rosbif, you are NOT stepping one foot into my kitchen."

"I'm coming in!" Arthur seemed to have ignored everything Francis said.

Francis yelped in fright at the thought of Arthur coming in the kitchen before rushing out, telling Matthew to tell him if anything was burning. The Canadian could hear as Francis and Arthur argued in English. Taking a look at the food that was cooking on the stove, Matthew saw that it was on low heat. He then continued what he was doing. Grabbing the garlic from nearby where Francis was using it for another dish, he rubbed it onto the grilled bread before placing each slice on the four bowls of onion soup. He the used the cheese grater to grate the cottage cheese onto the bowls.

Once he was done, he looked at the food on the pan to make sure it was cooking alright. He knew Francis never allowed him near the stove, but he wanted to get a better look, so he took his stool and put it in front of the stove top. After stepping up, he noticed bits of the onion were beginning to burn on the edges. Taking the wooden spoon Francis had left on the side of the pan, he stirred the food around in the pan, holding onto the handle to make sure everything was moving around. This was something he saw Francis do. Francis returned to the kitchen with a long sigh. He looked at Matthew and realised he was stirring the food in the pan.

"Mathieu! Get away from the stove!" Francis yelled, rushing over to take the spoon and pan handle off the little boy's hands and pick him up to put him elsewhere. He visually scanned Matthew to make sure he didn't burn or get anything on him. Thankfully, Matthew was not harmed.

The Canadian looked down at the ground, feeling guilty that he did something that made his father react this way. "I saw that the onions were burning, so I went to stir it, like I've seen you do." He whispered softly.

Francis sighed before standing up and turning the heat off. He returned to Matthew to see the little boy had tears picking in his eyes. Kneeling down, Francis used his thumb to wipe away the drops that threatened to spill from his son's bright violet eyes. He smiled at the boy before ruffling his hair.

"Mon petit lapin, I'm not mad at you. I'm just worried That you're going to hurt yourself. The stove can be very hot and I don't want you to accidently touch anything that would burn you." Francis explained, holding Matthew's chin up softly to look at him. "Although I've very proud you knew what to do when you saw the onions burning, next time, please call for me instead. I would hate to see you get hurt."