Page 19 of Painting Together a Family
The kids were thick as thieves, eating and nattering while he and Bry talked about the animals and how much fun it was to see them in their own habitats and how zoos had changed over the years. Each having their own habitat and more space was so much better than the caged animals of old.
By the time everyone was finished, Bry’s boys were beginning to droop visibly. It had been a long and exciting day, and it was showing.
“Daddy, I want ice cream.”
“Is that how we ask for things?” Bry asked.
“Pleeeeeaassseee.” Dylan had the puppy-dog-eyes look down.
“We’ll have to eat them here or the van is going to get covered in drips and sticky fingers,” Bry warned him.
“That’s fine. We don’t have anywhere else to be.”
Of course once Juniper realized the boys were having ice cream, she wanted some too, which worked out well as it had been his plan. So they all trooped through the line at the cafeteria again.
Micah’s ice cream dropped out of his cone on their way back to their table and his face screwed up, and sure enough, he started wailing.
“Oh man.” Bry crouched next to his son. “We’ll get you another one, okay?”
Micah nodded, sniffling hard, and he and Bry went back through the line, but even though he had another ice cream, Micah still looked like the shine had gone off the day for him when they finally joined everyone back at their table.
“Overtired,” Bry murmured. “I probably should have said no to the ice creams.”
“I know they’re just tired, honey. If it wasn’t the ice cream, it would have been something else. Come on, let’s get them home. But you’re on your own for bedtime.” He gave Bry a wink.
The man snorted, but his shoulders weren’t up by his ears anymore, so Dev took it as a win. He found himself wanting to keep Bry happy.
Despite the last-minute meltdown, it had been a winner of a day.
CHAPTER FIVE
The boys were up early as usual on Sunday morning—no sleeping in despite how busy a day they’d had the day before—and Bryan fed them cereal, then they walked over to the Farmer’s Market. He loved the market. All the different stalls, from food to goods like soap and yarn, flowers. The boys were always fascinated by everything, full of questions. They were early enough today that it wasn’t busy yet and the vendors were happy to explain things to them. And feed them samples. He wasn’t going to have to feed them lunch at this rate.
“What’s that?” Dylan asked, pointing at a round, white vegetable—at least Bryan assumed it was a vegetable—with a few stalks coming out of it.
He knew it wasn’t fennel, celery root, or cauliflower. While those were all white, they weren’t smooth like this one was. “I don’t know,” he admitted, looking to the farmer for the answer.
“That there is kohlrabi. It’s a little like an apple and a little like a radish.”
Dylan wrinkled his nose, and he shook his head. “I don’t like radish.”
“Ah, but this isn’t sharp like a radish,” the guy told them. “Would you like to try a bite?”
“I would, please.” Bryan was curious, even if the boys weren’t.
Micah made a face and closed his mouth, keeping his lips tight. Bryan didn’t laugh at him, but it was adorably cute and he wanted to. There was a lot that Micah liked, but he was at the stage of being suspicious of anything he hadn’t tried before.
Dylan looked unsure, but he finally nodded his head and held out his hand when the farmer cut a couple of pieces off the kohlrabi. He handed them over, and Bryan and Dylan tasted it. It was kind of like an apple and radish had a baby, but it wasn’t a lot like either of apples or radishes. Definitely not sharp like a radish, or nearly as sweet as an apple.
“They’re great in salads, or as snacks just like you’re having now.”
“I can see that. Can you cook them?”
“You can, but they lose a lot of the flavor if you do. Raw’s the best way.”
“Good to know. We’ll take one.” Bryan was planning on making a salad anyway, so he’d chop some of the kohlrabi up and add it in. He loved the name of the vegetable, unlike anything he’d ever heard of.
He also picked up broccoli, carrots, corn, and two kinds of lettuce, along with strawberries, pears, and apples. Then he grabbed a free-range chicken from one of the stalls with meat available. He didn’t know exactly what he was making for supper tonight, but he knew it would involve chicken and broccoli so Dev’s girls would be happy. The beef farmer had hamburger on special, so he grabbed some of that for tomorrow. If he made a macaroni and beef casserole, there would be leftovers for a couple nights and it was one of his boys’ favorites. He also stopped to get a dozen eggs from the egg guy.
