november 21st, 2018
SCARLETT
THE BED IS COLD WHEN I WAKE UP. It's strange because I don't remember falling asleep alone... Well, I don't even remember falling asleep in the first place, but I know damn well Lita was right next to me when we laid down last night and I didn't except to wake up without her by my side. It's crazy to think I'm already so used to her presence around me, around my Rose and our family.
Sighing, I push the mountain of blankets on top of me and manage to sit up. The cold air hits me instantly, and I now understand why Lita left me to sleep under all those quilts. I get up, shivering as my feet touch the cold floor, and immediately make my way to pick up one of Lita's jumper that was left on the back of my desk chair last night.
After finding a thick pair of socks, I eventually venture out of the room to Rose's bedroom. The flat is weirdly quiet for this time of day, Rose is usually awake by now, and she's either causing some kind of trouble or snuggling with me in bed, so the sudden silence is making me suspicious. Rose knows the rules, and knows not to get into trouble, but she's four and loves to be a little mischievous and push boundaries sometimes.
However, as I step inside Rose's bedroom I am met by the sight of an empty bed, which I was not expecting to see. I was prepared to see a big mess on the floor, sure, but an empty bed? Nope.
There's no sight of Lita, no sight of Rose... so where the fuck are they? The kitchen crosses my mind, but if these two idiots were making breakfast, I'd hear them... It doesn't make sens– Oh! There they are!
They're just fast asleep on the couch. These two are tangled up together under a couple of blankets, and somehow Rose still managed to sleep all spread out like a starfish in spite of the uncomfortable position they're in. Well isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?!
I don't know how long I've spent looking at them, but after a bit I notice a book on the ground, next to... a bottle? Weird. But I move on. I quietly move across the room, and sit next to Lita on the couch. My hand brushes away some of her hair, the action causing her to rouse from her sleep. "Lita?" I whisper when I think I've woken her up. However, she stays asleep, leaning further into me. "Lita? Wake up!"
After a few incoherent mumbles probably telling me to leave her alone, I decide to play dirty. "What?! Do I need to kiss you like Snow White for you to wake up?"
All I get is a hum is response, so I lean in and palace a small kiss on her kiss. Then another. And another one... Until her eyes fluted open and meet mine. "Hi"
I watch as a sleepy smile creeps up on her face when she finally takes everything in and lowly murmurs a slurred 'good morning' to me. She leans against me, laying her head on my shoulder. We just sit in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company before our hectic day ahead. I wrap my arm around her, adjust Rose's blanket over them to keep them warm, and that's when I notice Lita about to doze off again. "Hey, no going back to sleep now!" I say, before placing a quick kiss on her cheek... startling her.
"What– I'm awake." She argues... well, more like tries to argue while stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, sure, I can see that." She pushes herself off of me, only to send me a glare. Though she doesn't even look intimidating one bit, she just looks adorable with her sleepy glare. Not that I'd tell her, of course, we don't want to start off the day on the wrong foot, do we? "Glare at me all you want, I am not letting you fall back asleep." After a few seconds of contemplating her options, not that she really had a choice and I think she knew that, she hums, readjusting Rose in her arms before standing up.
"I'm going to put her in your bed." She says, before leaving the room slowly with my daughter. In the meantime, I head towards the kitchen to start making breakfast for all of us. I turn on the kettle for Lita, while making some coffee for myself. I take out some jams and other spreads from the fridge for us to have, I toast some bread. Then, I take out the cereals for Rose, knowing that's what she'll want to eat when she wakes up.
Seeing as Lita isn't back by the time I finish setting everything up, I start brewing her tea. I know she dislikes when someone else does it instead of her, but it's still a nice gesture I know she'll appreciate. If I'm being honest, I think the mistrust comes from Erin messing up her tea every single time the blonde offers to do it for her.
She comes back a minute later with Rose's sheets bunched up in her arms and heads to the washing machine before throwing them in there, with a tide pod and softener before turning it on. She enters the kitchen, smiling at me before telling me Rose is still asleep and back in her back, tucked in under the covers.
After placing a quick kiss on my cheek when passing by me, she goes to fill up the kettle again before I interrupt her. "I made you tea already." I say, pointing to the steaming cup on the table.
"Lemon ginger?" I nod. "With honey–"
"And the tiniest among of sugar, no milk. Yes." I finish saying before sitting down next to her at the table. Breakfast starts off simple, too busy to talk as we immediately begin to pass around the bread, the jams, and the butter, exchanging cutleries and filling each other's glasses with cold drinks.
"So, what happened last night?" I cut through the silence, asking, before I bit into my toast. She finishes eating before she releases a small sigh and begins explaining what went on last night.
"I couldn't sleep, and Rose found me in the kitchen. Poor thing had a nightmare and wetted her bed. We'll need to wash the sheets. And she was crying so much, all she wanted was a bottle. I didn't know if that was appropriate, but I had to do something, right? And I didn't plan on us falling asleep on the couch, but we did, I'm sorry." She concludes with an apology, which isn't surprising one bit.
"No, no. It's fine. You did good." I reassure her as best I can, placing a hand on top of hers and offering a smile and a small nod. "But no more sleeping on the couch. I won't allow it, only for naps." I joke to lift the mood, and it works as I manage to pull out a Lita a small giggle.
"Yes ma'am!" She playfully salutes.
Rose wakes up a bit after we finish breakfast. She looks exhausted, entering the room rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, the other holding Turbo close to her chest. She runs towards me, the second her eyes land on me after scanning the kitchen. She tries to climb up, but she doesn't want to let go of her toy, so she loses balance and I catch her before she can begin her fall.
Lita gets up to get her breakfast, while Rose and I just cuddle in silence for a bit. Something tells me she'll be extra clingy today... even more than I expected after Lita's revelations. Lita comes back with a bowl filled with Rose's favourite cereals and milk and a glass of orange juice in hand. She places them gently on the table, but Rose shows no sign of letting go of me. As soon as I try to at least turn her around so I can lift the spoon to her mouth, her hand takes a hold of my shirt, which makes it harder for me to do so.
It takes a while for us to get Rose to eat a little something, but she does eventually after making us promise to spend the entire day with her. We both agreed immediately, despite knowing we have a busy day ahead of us : me with Thanksgiving preparations for tomorrow, and Lita with whatever birthday celebration that she has planned for me, as she won't be there tomorrow. However, I'm sure we can make this work.
"Okay, so... How about we start with your Thanksgiving prep, and then we can go out this afternoon to celebrate you.? Does that sound like a good plan?" Lita suggests, and when I think about it, I feel like this is the most logical thing we can do. I agree to it immediately, and so does Rose when she hears Lita say she can be the sous chef. "Alright, let's all get ready and then we can start cooking!"
Rose and I go our own way, while Lita busies herself by going through my things for something comfortable and clean to wear. She was quick and comes back wearing jeans and wool jumper, or aka her signature outfit. In her defence, I don't see what else she could wear in the middle of November but that. So we switch so that I can get dressed, and I leave Lita with Rose to get her dressed. I know it won't be easy, as she refused to even look at the options I laid out for her, more interested in her Barbie dolls. I get it you know, but she can't spend all day in pyjamas, especially if we're going out.
"Okay, so... How about we start with your Thanksgiving prep, and then we can go out this afternoon to celebrate you.? Does that sound like a good plan?" Lita suggests, and when I think about it, I feel like this is the most logical thing we can do. I agree to it immediately, and so does Rose when she hears Lita say she can be the sous chef. "Alright, let's all get ready and then we can start cooking!"
Rose and I go our own way, while Lita busies herself by going through my things for something comfortable and clean to wear. She was quick and comes back wearing jeans and wool jumper, or aka her signature outfit. In her defence, I don't see what else she could wear in the middle of November but that. So we switch so that I can get dressed, and I leave Lita with Rose to get her dressed. I know it won't be easy, as she refused to even look at the options I laid out for her, more interested in her Barbie dolls. I get it you know, but she can't spend all day in pyjamas, especially if we're going out.
Just as I finish getting dressed and get ready for y skincare routine, I hear Lita's voice from the other end of the hallway. "No, Rose, you can't wear your summer dress. I'm sorry, nugget, but it's just too cold."
"No!" Rose yells back. Curious to what has got into them, I eavesdrop from afar. Is it really eavesdropping is you're not even trying to, though?
"Rose, please. Look, mommy laid out a pretty winter dress, see? It's so pretty and warm, I bet you that you look like a princess in that dress!" Lita perseveres. I knew getting Rose dressed would be hard when I left them, but I didn't expect Rose to fight about this.
"I'm already a princess, I don't need a stupid dress!"
"Hey! Don't throw things at me!"
"Stop!"
"Rose, you can choose between the dress or the jeans with your jumper, but I won't let you wear a summer dress. I'm sorry that it's upsetting you, but I don't want you to be cold or to get sick. Do you understand me?"
I don't hear anything for a while, and then I heard a small yes from my daughter.
"Perfect. Now pick something before I decide for you. Which one do you want?"
"The dress." Rose mumbles.
"Alright princess, the dress it is. Now hold on to me while putting on your tights, okay?"
The problem now solved, I go to the bathroom to take care of my skincare. I take me a little under three minutes, I run a brush through my hair and I go looking for the other two as they're being quiet now.
Lita stuck Rose in front of a film in the living room while she takes care of her hair. I know she doesn't like doing this, sticking the kids in front of a screen to keep them quiet, but the day has barely begun, and I can already see how exhausted she is from her lack of sleep.
Rose is quiet and still, making it easy for Lita to French braid her hair. I know she's going to look adorable in her little blue dress and with her hair down properly. The dress itself is blue, with a flared skirt and boasting embroidered details which consists of two rabbits and a mouse having fun in winter. Her pink tights match the embroidery perfectly and once Lita is done tying the two ribbons at the end of her hair, it'll look amazing.
Even though I long to join them, I know I need to clear out the kitchen and the dishes as we're about to do a bunch of cooking with morning. I put everything away, back where they belong, whether it is the fridge or the cupboards. And then I wash the few dishes we used. Rose and Lita come running, waiting for instructions as I finish drying the last glass.
"Okay, so I already sorted out most of what we have to do. So today, we're going to set up the table, and we're going to cook and prep a few meals. Is that clear for everyone?" I begin my instructions, handing an apron to each of them and a hair tie to Lita.
"Yes ma'am." Rose and I say in unison, saluting playfully, and that can only be Lita's doing.
"You're a bad influence on her."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The brunette answers innocently, but I see the cheeky smile on her face.
I clap my hands together, so that we refocus on the plan for our busy morning ahead. "Back to business, Rose will be my sous chef and you Lita, you're on table decorating duty. You can come cooking with us when you're finished."
They both give me another nod, so I take it as my cue to keep going.
"Rose, put your apron, my love, we don't want to dirty your pretty dress, do we?" She quickly shakes her head and quickly hurries to slip it over her head and over her dress. Meanwhile, I lead Lita in the living room, where I keep my fine china that I mostly only use for special occasions, in a cabinet. "Lita, everything you need in this cupboard, you know where the rest is, but if you have any question just ask, and I'll help you out. I don't have that many decorations, so don't worry about it. I just want the table set, so I can clear some space."
"You got it!" She tells me, before diving straight in, starting with clearing up the living room table before throwing a plaid tablecloth over it. Then I see her sort out the plates and the napkins. That's when I decide to leave her alone because I can see that she's fine, and I can focus on Rose and our cooking.
I think today will just consist of prepping ingredients for dishes I need fresh tomorrow and maybe a bake a pie and casseroles. I already took care of the cranberry sauce, as it can be prepared up to a week in advance. Not only that, but I also took care of the dried bread for the stuffing last nigh, as well as froze up the rest of the big batch of soup I made us for dinner last night that'll I reheat on the stove tomorrow. My pie dough is in the freezer, as well as the gravy.
So all we have to do today is peel the potatoes, dice them and keep them in the fridge, so I can just boil them and crush them tomorrow. Bake the pies and the casseroles and try to remember the assembling of the stuffing because I feel like it will be the only thing I will forget.
Good thing we're three people taking care of that today... well two because I don't think Rose will be helping that much, more like licking the pie batter off the spoons once we're finished baking.
Rose and I decide to get started with the baking, as I'm sure she'll be more interested in helping with the pies than with peeling potatoes. We started with the pumpkin pie and we double the recipe. Rose is having a blast mixing the pumpkin, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg before cracking the eggs. Then we add the evaporated milk, water, and vanilla and mix well. I pretend not to see the finger that she dipped in the to try the batter and pour it into the pastry-lined pie pans, and in the oven they go for an hour.
Same as with the pumpkin pie, I decide to double the recipe for the apple pie. I was right when I said Rose wouldn't be interested in peeling the potatoes, as she's not even interested in peeling the apples, so she leaves me to go bother Lita for a bit. I don't mind as it gives me a moment to myself and eventually leads to works faster.
I call Rose to help me with the rest of my recipe once the apples are all sliced and I let her sprinkle the apples with the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves, and allspice. She has her fun, tossing until the apples are evenly coated. She didn't even want to stop, I had to forcefully take the bowl away from her.
We pour the fillings into two crust-lined pie pans and dot with butter before placing a second crust on top. We seal around the edge, trim the excess, and crimp the edges. I slice a few vents in the top crust for steam to escape and let Rose paint the crust with the egg wash using a pastry brush.
Once the pumpkin pies are out of the over, they go in the oven to bake for an hour also. I let the pumpkin pies cool on the counter and move on to something else.
Though, it is clear to me that Rose is now bored. I mean, I can't blame her. So, after making sure I'm okay with her leaving me alone to cook, she joined Lita in the living room to help her out prompting me to check on Lita and how the table is coming along.
As I look, I notice that she's nearly finished. She managed to fit everyone around the table, even the kids, as I didn't want to have a designated kids' table. She brought in more chairs from all around the apartment. She laid down place mats and then set down the plates, starting with the largest one, which is used for the main course, followed by the salad plate set directly on top with napkins rolled into napkin rings in the middle adding a little festive accent.
She set the silverware in the right order, with forks sitting on the left side of the plate, with the smaller fork going on the outside for an appetizer or salad and a larger fork placed closest to the plate for the main course. On the right side of the plate, she placed the knife nearest to the plate, with the blade facing in and the spoon next to the knife.
Same with the drinkware. She was careful to set everything that she deemed appropriate like wine glasses for the adults but also provided each guest with a glass for water. All drinkware is placed on the right side of the table setting, above the knife and spoon, with the water glass at the top. On the opposite side of the glasses, she included a bowl which matches the plates in colour and style.
Overall, she did a great job. I'm glad she took care of this because if it was my job to do it, it would have been a real mess with cutlery being placed where it doesn't belong.
"Hey, Scarlett, need a hand cooking? I'm done, and I know this little lady is tired already after all her hard work!"
"I worked so hard, Lita! I made four pies!"
"Four?! Oh my goodness, you must be some kind of superhero if you can bake this fast!"
"I'm a super princess baker!" She claims before running off, to her room, probably. Lita and I share a chuckle before going back to our plans after our small break. "So, chef, what are we making now?"
"Well the apple pies are still baking, so maybe I can make the stuffing before I forget, and you can peel and dice the potatoes?"
"Yup, let's go!"
We work fairly quickly now that Rose is distracted. She's playing with her stuffed animals on the kitchen floor. It's inconvenient, but we did promise her not to leave her alone all day, so the kitchen floor it is.
I already had veggies chopped up, so in the skillet I add them to butter and cook them until they are tender. Then I transfer them to a large bowl and combine them with the cubed bread, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. I add 2 cups of chicken stock and continue to add until the bread is well moistened, and finally I pour the eggs in and stir.
Just as I was about to pull the apple pies out of the oven, Lita beats me to it. She leaves them on the counter with the other two pies to cool down and takes the baking dish I filled up with the dressing to put it in the oven for me. She then transfers her diced up potatoes to a Tupperware filled with water and refrigerates it.
At this point we only have the green bean casserole and the mac and cheese to prep and we each take one. We're done one hour and a half later, and it is clear we're so done with cooking, but we also had a lot of fun in the kitchen the three of us together. We danced, we sang, we played. Even though it was tiring, it's probably one of my favourite memories now. Just the three of us, cooking for my family for Thanksgiving. It's a bit bittersweet, as I know Lita won't be here tomorrow, but at least we had today.
"Takeaway for lunch?"
"Take away for lunch! I can't cook any more, and I don't think I have any food left to make us a meal."
We order pizzas and eat in front of the TV, much to Rose's delight, as it's a rare occurrence. Without surprise, she requested to watch 'Belle', as she puts it, and neither Lita nor I had the heart to tell her no. So here we are, singing with pizzas in hand and playing I don't know how many village characters all at once.
Rose crashed soon after, but a small nap won't do her any harm, and if I'm being honest I'm tempted to join her. However, I also want to soak in every last moment I have with Lita as she'll be back only next week. I feel like a teenager in love, but honestly, we're still pretty much in our honeymoon phase.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
hello everyone!!
im back!!
(two months after my last update but shuuuuush)
i hope everyone had a nice november and december, that finals went well and that you're having a nice break if you're on holidays!
i was supposed to post this on christmas day but i literally forgot lol so let's pretend that i did yeah?
on that note, i hope you had a lovely christmas and if you don't celebrate well i still hope you had an amazing day!
i don't know when my next update will be, probably some time after new years but don't get your hopes up too high!
i hope you enjoyed todays chapter,
alexis :)
+ another letterboxd review