The office door slowly swung open. A little voice spoke. "Mommy?" She turned around. "Yes honey?" Taakei walked in and crawled into her lap. "I'm hungry. When are you making dinner?" She kissed his forehead. "Is now okay with you?" He smiled and nodded. "Yeah!" He led her downstairs to the kitchen.
The dish today was grilled salmon. Sasuna pulled out the salmon and started washing it off. "I wanna help too", Taakei declared. She chuckled. "Alright, can you set the table for me?" He saluted proudly. "Yes ma'am!" Quickly, he layed out the dishes, glasses, and silverware.
Once the slamon was clean and cooking, next was the sauce. It tasted a little bitter, but not really bitter; a salty kind of bitter. It was smooth and flowed when it was mixed. She pulled out a bottle of red wine as it was custom for Maebara to have a drink during dinner.
Taakei pulled at her shirt. "Can I taste it Mommy?" She took a spoon and let him taste it. "Mmm", he exclaimed, "This is great!" He hugged her legs. "What was that for?"
"I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too."
"I love daddy too."
She looked a bit shocked. "You...do?" He loosened his grip a little. "Yeah. Sometimes. Does he love me?" Taakei looked up at Sasuna. She stumbled on her words. Taakei didn't understand that Maebara was a dangerous person, but still was somewhat good. Finally, she spoke. "Yes he does. You're his favorite boy."
"Good", he said. "I'm going to tell him I love him at dinner. She smiled and put her hand on his warm, smooth cheek. "Good. Go sit at the table. Dinner's almost done." Taakei sat there eagerly.
Suddenly, footsteps came down the stairs. "Hi Dad", Taakei greeted. "Hey big boy." Maebara came up behind Sasuna. His cold aura made her stiff. She could hear him breathing. "What's for dinner", he asked. "Salmon. It'll be ready shortly." He went to sit. Dinner was served.
Sasuna watched Maebara slowly consume the entire bottle. She assumed that he would be silent until finally, he looked at Taakei. "So, how has school been?" Taakei poked at his food. "Good. We're learning how to multiply." Sasuna joined in. "His teacher says he's really smart for a second grader." Maebara gave a smile of satisfaction. "Good. Keep it up. How has work been Sasuna?"
"Good. A lot of film producers have been buying our disks. They say we have the best quality."
"That's very good."
"It is. I saw you were having trouble writing. Did you get it figured out?"
"Yes."
Taakei collected the plates. He stopped by Maebara with a smile. "What", he asked. " I love you, Daddy." His face looked a bit disrupted like he wasn't prepared to hear it. Sasuna just kept her head down and kept eating.
Taakei went upstairs to his room, leaving the two alone. Maebara got up and leaned on the back of Sasuna's chair. "Did you put him up to saying that?" She looked a bit offended. "No I-", he interrupted, "Look at me when you talk." She turned up to him. "No, I didn't. He did that on his own." He thought for a minute. "Alright then. You did good with dinner tonight." He rubbed her shoulder. She stiffened more. "Thanks.."
He stopped, then went upstairs. "Where are you going", she asked. "To go talk to Taakei and get him ready for bed. It's 7:45." She said nothing else. She couldn't help but to think, "Why does he act like this? He's so conceded, but then chooses to be considerate....why?" She carried that question with her for an hour until she finally feel asleep. "Why is he so cruel?"
