Page 81 of Wed to You-
He maneuvered onto his knees and, holding the bowl in one arm, began to stir.
“It’s thick.” His brows furrowed and his little pink tongue stuck out as he concentrated on mixing the dough.
“You’re doing great.” As he stirred, Chelsea gathered the cooking tools and set them in the sink. She’d wash them once the cookies were in the oven. She then went to stand with Kaden. “I used to make these with my mom.”
“My mom is sick.”
Chelsea was surprised by his comment. She’d never asked Jagger what Kaden believed about his mom. She only knew that Jagger didn’t think Kaden remembered her. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You’re like my mom now. And Jagger is like my dad.” There was a wistfulness in his tone. As if he wished she and Jagger were his parents.
“Families are made in all sorts of ways.”
“Is this good?” Kaden showed her the bowl.
“That’s pretty good. You’ve got a few clumps right there.”
Kaden resumed stirring. “Where’s your mom?”
“My mom died.” Chelsea purposefully avoided saying she died after an illness so Kaden wouldn’t equate his mom with hers.
“Like your brother?”
“Yes.”
“What about your dad?”
“He’s gone too.”
“At least you’re not alone. You have us now.”
Chelsea smiled, even as her heart sank. She didn’t have them. Not really. Soon, she’d be back at her house, and if all went well, Jagger would continue to raise Kaden.
“What are you doing?”
Chelsea jerked at Miss Z’s shrill tone.
“We’re making cookies. Look, I’m stirring.” Kaden showed her the bowl.
“I see that.”
Kaden missed Miss Z’s disapproving tone as he kept stirring.
“We have plenty of cookies.”
“Now we’ll have more.” Chelsea worked to keep her voice unaffected.
“These are snickerdoodles. We don’t have those.” Kaden pushed the bowl toward Chelsea. “Is that good?”
Miss Z’s lips pressed into a thin line. She inhaled a deep breath, turned on her heel, and left the kitchen.
Good riddance.
“I don’t think she likes us in the kitchen.”
“You caught that, huh? Well, good thing we’re almost done.” Chelsea picked up the spoon, scooping up some of the batter. Then she dropped the dough in her hand and rolled it into a ball. “Once you have a ball like this, we roll it in the cinnamon and sugar here. Then put it on the cookie sheet.”
“They’re round?”
