Page 38 of Better Than Expected

She had to hold in her laugh, as she dried her hands on the hand towel she’d had thrown over her shoulder, and swiftly moved over to Caroline’s side. She looked at the… somewhat recognizable as a crust dough and coughed to cover up her chuckle.

“First, you were thinking that your mom was very stressed about dealing with the volume of people coming tomorrow, second you were thinking about how much you love showing off this house, third, those people are your family,” she couldn’t help the bit of incredulous laughter that escaped her throat at that. “And third?” Hannah lifted her eyebrows and waited for Caroline to look at her, before she finished, “Sweetheart, you are always volunteering to host things. I think it’s lovely,” she informed Caroline honestly, ducking down to kiss the cheek that wasn’t streaked with flour.

Though, she licked her lips, there was a bit of cinnamon there, somehow, even though it had been Hannah who had made the snickerdoodles an hour ago.

“Very sweet,” she whispered, before she kissed the warm cheek again, and took a moment to breathe Caroline in and feel how easily Caroline’s back settled against her front.

With a light, content sigh, she patted Caroline’s hip and stepped back to her side of the counter.

“Now, I appreciate all of your attempts at helping for the last hour, I really do.” And, she did. If she was pressed to think back to her marriage, she knew she would find exactly no times like this ever where Michael ever cooked with her. Not out of either the desire to assist her to lighten her burden or to simply spend time with her.

And she knew both of those were factors for Caroline.

It made everything inside of her warm as she reached out and started curling Caroline’s “dough” into a ball to determine just how far gone it was. “You said you have some work to do tonight to make sure you can have at least a couple of full days off. So, why don’t you go finish that up right now and I’ll get everything ready, so that tomorrow, it will be smooth sailing?”

Caroline huffed out a breath, her hands falling adorably, indignantly to her hips as she turned to face Hannah. “I can’t just volunteer to host Thanksgiving and then saddle you with all of the work!”

“Well, it so happens that one of us has today, tomorrow, and Friday off from work, nothing hanging over my head, and…” Hannah bit her lip and exaggeratedly looked between herself and her girlfriend, “That one of us also happens to be far better at the culinary arts.”

“I can cook!” Caroline defended, her mouth falling open in what Hannah could tell was mock offense.

She laughed as she nodded. “Right, of course.”

“I can! What do you think I did before you came along?”

“Take out and struggle?” She suggested, biting her bottom lip against the full-blown smile that wanted to take over.

Caroline narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I see that’s how it is. I’ll have you know, Ms. Raised-in-her-mom’s-diner, I can get along just fine for myself!”

“Spaghetti, tacos, and grilled cheese notwithstanding.”

“You are deliberately discrediting all of my specialties,” Caroline grumbled as she scrubbed her hands in the sink.

“And what would you have done for a Thanksgiving meal if you didn’t have me?” Hannah arched a smart eyebrow at Caroline.

“Take out and struggle,” Caroline parroted, before she looped her fingers into the waist of Hannah’s jeans and leaned up on her tiptoes to press her lips against Hannah’s. Softly, just enough for a taste, before she pulled back. “Thank you. I’ll be in the office; shouldn’t be that long. I’ll figure out what to do for dinner tonight since you’re doing this.”

Hannah just shook her head after Caroline, watching her ass as she left the room.

All right. The dough.

As she started adding a bit more flour and kneading it out, she let her mind drift a bit into their conversation. Even though she’d mostly been kidding, because Caroline was extremely capable, Hannah did do most of the cooking.

She and Abbie had dinner here at least three times a week, usually four or five. And the thing was, she loved it. She loved cooking in here, for and with Caroline and Abbie. Doing something she was good at, that relaxed her, and having every single one of her efforts appreciated. Even if it was just a simple preparation, Caroline always sung her praises.

She knew Caroline was already singing her praises about Thanksgiving, and the food wasn’t even cooked.

But tomorrow would go so well. The flow of the house was set up perfectly for having family and friends over – Hannah had deliberately designed it that way, knowing Caroline. She could very dimly hear Abbie in the living room from where she was, and had the perfect view out into the back yard.

It gave her a certain pride, really, knowing that she’d designed this. Because, really, it was the perfect house.

She hummed to herself, feeling more than content, as she didn’t even have to look to know she was in the right place as she used her right foot to tug open the drawer with the trash, before spinning and taking two steps to utilize the island counter.

This counter, with one side designed perfectly for cooking and the other with a slightly lower edge, designed for people to sit and keep the chef company, was something Hannah had always dreamed about.

The kitchen in the small apartment she’d grown up in had been filled with delicious food, warm laughs, and plenty of family meals between herself and her mother. But it had been cramped, outdated, and with very little counter space. The kitchen she’d had at Michael’s house – it was beautiful, but it never felt quite like a home. It was never warm and welcoming.

This kitchen, it was everything Hannah would have ever wanted. Right down to the breakfast nook in the corner, the built-in fridge that blended with the cabinets, the quartz countertops…

---