"Good morning, Daniel. Gees, it's been a while! How long have you been gone this time?" The young man left the front door open as he came in and sat down on the little loveseat under the window. The sun was starting to reflect off the building and shine over the young man’s head.
"About a month." Daniel smiled at his friend as he walked in. "How's the family, Julian?" He asked as he turned back to his cooking.
Daniel thought Julian was one of the most innocent people he had ever met. A programmer for one of the large tech firms, he was a widower with two kids: a teenage daughter, about 14, and a little boy, about 4. Julian had been woken four and a half years ago by his pregnant wife, sitting in a pool of her blood on their bed. He was able to call for the ambulance, but it was too late; his wife had passed away by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital. One of the nurses heard a single heartbeat come from the baby and initiated an emergency C-section. In the end, they pulled out a beautiful baby boy. Julian was left on his own to care for his daughter and a newborn baby; Daniel had always been impressed with Julian's perseverance.
"Katie is doing well. She has kept up with her online classes, and it looks like she is going to make Joan’s Honor list this year… whatever that means," Julian said as he pulled out his laptop and turned it on.
"It means your girl is doing a damn good job," Daniel joyfully growled at Julian. At that moment, something small and fast zoomed through the doorway and wrapped itself around Daniel's leg.
"You're home, you're home! I want food!" a little boy exclaimed, hanging around Daniel's legs.
"Hey, Jack, I'm still waiting for some ingredients, but it will be ready soon." Jack wouldn't let go of Daniel's legs, so he kept taking out the bowls and plates he needed while Jack hung on tight.
Daniel was not shocked that Julian and Jack were up so early. He knew that Jack, being only four years old, would wake up his dad early every morning. He found comfort in knowing he was not the only one who had to wake up in the early hours. Though he realized he had more in common with Jack than with Julian, because he, too, had woken on his own. He held a deep hope in his heart that Jack had woken up because he was young, not because he was in pain like Daniel was every morning.
There was a tapping at Daniel's window. Jack finally let go and hopped up on the couch next to Julian, where he could see what was making the noise. There was a small drone hovering with cloth grocery sacks hanging from its arms. "Open the window, Jack, and help get those bags over here. Be careful, there are eggs in them."
Jack reached down to tap the small button at the bottom of the window to open it. In his excitement, Jack reached out to try to grab the drone, but was quickly blocked by a protective force field that Daniel had in place to prevent him from falling. The drone slowly flew in and set the grocery bags on the windowsill. Jack took them and brought them to Daniel's feet, promptly starting to go through the bags, pulling out anything he thought might be helpful to Daniel, or at least was interesting to him.
"Alright, Jack, are you ready to help me get the rest of the food cooked?" Jack started jumping up and down in excitement. "Yes, I do! I do!"
Daniel reached down, picked up Jack, and lifted him onto the counter right next to him. Daniel had a cutting board out, chopping the mushrooms and onions for the scrambled eggs. Jack stayed next to Daniel, doing as he was told when a cup of flour needed to be added or when eggs needed to be cracked. Jack was used to being Daniel's helper, and his beaming smile was evidence of how much he enjoyed it.
The smell of the German pancakes started filling the apartment, and soon, with Daniel's door left open, the entire hallway. As Daniel opened the oven to pull out the German pancakes, he heard doors opening and closing up and down the hallway. Soon, a small line of people would be coming through to his living room, each bringing their plate and excited to eat Daniel's amazing cooking.
First came Mr. Wethers, an older gentleman who lived at the very end of the hall, who came and left with a soft little compliment. ”Bless your soul, Daniel, I've never had food as good as yours!"
A kid, about 12 years old, popped his head around the corner and yelled at a good volume, "Mr. Daniel, Grandma is wondering if you are ready for her." Daniel turned to the young boy and nodded. He ran back down the hallway, and an old woman in a large brown knitted sweater and a well-dressed young woman walked in a few moments later. The old woman walked over and sat next to Julian, who now had Jack climbing on him like a jungle gym.
Daniel spoke to the young woman first. "Chloe, it is so good to see you! Don't tell me you got dressed up so nice just to come see me." The young woman laughed as she finished helping the old woman sit down.
"You can bite me, Daniel," the old woman said after she grunted, falling onto the couch. "Just because it’s early in the morning doesn't mean my daughter is going to take any gruff from a bastard like you. Keep your eyes off my daughter!" At this, Julian looked up at Chloe, his mouth dropped a little as he saw her in a sleeveless white blouse and tight black pencil skirt. Daniel knew that Julian always had a thing for her, and it showed as Julian started talking to the old woman, with his eyes still fixed on Chloe.
“Gees, Sophia, watch your mouth! I have Jack here." Julian's eyes didn't veer from Chloe, and she smiled when their eyes finally met.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sophia said in a very sarcastic tone. Chloe jumped in, "Oh, shut up, Mom! Don't act like you didn't know what you were saying." Sophia turned to Chloe to tell her off, but noticed that her daughter and Julian still had their eyes locked on each other. Sophia laughed, reaching over and grabbing Julian’s leg. “Oh, I'm sorry, son. You know I love you." Julian moved his hand off his laptop and onto Sophia's. "I love you, too." Jack then jumped unexpectedly on the old woman. "I love you, too!"
"Oh, hello, Jack!" Sophia exclaimed as she hugged him, gently sliding him down her stomach until he was standing on the floor in front of her. She leaned down and said to him, "You know, Diego is watching shows in my apartment. Why don't you go sit with him?" Jack's face lit up, and he began jumping for joy. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he chanted as he turned to run out of Daniel's apartment. Julian yelled after him, “Stop by our place and wake up your sister!” Jack dashed out the door, yelling back. "Okay, Dad!"
"He is so adorable," Chloe said, kneeling to the ground and sitting on her feet next to her mother.
"Where are your plates?" Daniel asked both women as they made themselves comfortable. "Diego will bring them after his cartoon is done," Sophia said, looking at Daniel.
"But the food is ready now." Daniel raised his eyebrow.
"Don't you lift your brow at me, you bastard." Sophia then leaned towards Julian. "Jack's gone, Julian, so shove off, I'll say what I want."
"You are the most lovely hag that ever was,” Julian said.
Sophia turned to him and smiled, “Be nice to me, Julian, or I won’t let you take my daughter on a date.”
Julian had a look of shock and surprise come over his face, trying to act like he had no clue what Sophia was talking about. Chloe turned red and looked down, smoothing out her skirt, which was tight against her bent legs. Her mother burst into laughter. Daniel knew she appeared embarrassed, but it was clear to him that Chloe enjoyed Julian’s attention and would accept such an offer if it were made.
Just then, Diego ran into the room with three plates in hand, reaching out to his mother first, who grabbed two of them without hesitation. The boy turned, smiling at Daniel with the last plate in hand. Daniel took it and began dishing out the food.
Diego turned back to his mother. "Mom, Jack came over. Can I keep watching shows with him?" Chloe was glad that Diego was there to change the subject, "Of course, dear, but did Jack bring any food? I don't remember him taking any with him." Daniel handed Diego the plate and took Sophia's plate from Chloe. "Jack ate early while he was helping me." Daniel delivered the full plate to the still-chuckling old woman, then finished by serving Chloe.
There was a moment of silence after Daniel served everyone. The silence complemented Daniel; it brought him joy to know that his food was good enough to halt a conversation. After a month of dealing with people who Daniel would describe as the worst people on earth, it was nice to feel good about himself for a little while. That was the reason he loved preparing these meals: to have people come over, converse, and eat something he made for them made him feel human. He needed to feel like a human, a good human, especially when his work took him to the darkest parts of humanity. He was able to ground himself by standing over the stove, cooking for this group of neighbors he loved so much.
As everyone was eating, a young woman walked into the room. Her hair was tangled and knotted at the back of her head, and she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Dad, Mr. Pius is cooking, and you didn't wake me up," the girl said as she walked over to Julian, who closed his computer and placed it on the bed next to him. Julian then wrapped his arms around the young girl, who turned, sat on her dad’s leg, and nestled sideways into him.
"Katie, it's so good for you to join us. Your dad’s been here for quite a while now while you've been sleeping, little one." Daniel took the plate Jack had eaten from earlier and put a new serving of food on it. Walking over to Julian, who was holding Katie, Daniel held the plate in front of the young girl's face. Katie sat up in her father's lap to take the plate from Daniel's hands and began stuffing her face.
There was a ding from the hallway. Daniel heard the elevator open, and heavy footsteps walked off. As they moved down the hall, he knew they were headed toward his apartment. Such a disturbance this early in the morning? While he was entertaining? Daniel's blood began to boil. He had just gotten home; what arrogance would lead someone with such a dominating walk to disturb him so soon after he finished a job? Daniel tried to think of someone with such audacity, but he didn't recognize their stride, and whoever it was had quite an entourage—bodyguards?
Daniel saw Sophia's head turn. She, too, had heard the group walking off the elevator. "Julian, Chloe, I believe it is time to go check on our children. Katie, would you be a dear and help me back to my apartment?" Katie got up from her father's lap, grabbed Sophia's hand, and pulled her to her feet. Chloe and Julian stood as Katie led the old woman out of the apartment. Julian looked outside the door and, in shock, turned to Daniel with fear in his eyes. Pushing Chloe in front of him and out the door quickly, Julian gave one last warning look to Daniel. Daniel got the warning; this was going to be one of those “official” visits.
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