Chapter 77 – The day after tomorrow
"Are you sure? You promised me we would be doing something like this again, didn't you? And you know, I am not a child anymore."
She sent him an interrogative gaze and he added.
"I know you have been very lonely after Dad left us. But I am here now and I won't let you feel like that again."
She glanced at him, bewildered. Soon, she smiled and took him in her arms.
"My son is all grown up now."
She then went silent for a bit, reflecting on what had happened.
"I am sorry, Ben. I should be ashamed of myself for what we did but I am just too happy. I love you too much, my lovely son."
"Don't worry, it is the same for me. I love you too, Mom."
"Darling..."
The two of them snuggled on the sofa together, cuddling for a while until Benjamin announced that he should leave to prepare dinner. They cleaned themselves until they were presentable and left the office, going down to the kitchen. They chatted lightly while he prepared the family meal and the other members of the house slowly came down one by one, joining the conversation. Once he was done, they had a pleasant meal, the day ending in a relaxing mood.
The following day, Thursday, also started very normally. As usual, Benjamin had a good time with Sasha in the morning. She complimented him for his contributions in the sports matches, even though she was worried he would get hurt playing with so many rowdy young girls. During the day, everyone talked a lot about the two matches, excitedly retelling the coolest moments and praising him. He took the opportunity to check Sarai's blog during recess and saw his picture at the top of the page. It looked alright, just him smiling normally, and he was satisfied with how it turned out. The number of views on the blog had skyrocketed, though, and the comments were quite similar to the praises he received these two days. It seemed that his accomplishments had a great impact on the blog's popularity. The rest of the time at school, he talked with Julian and Nathan about the concert on Friday and they went through the smaller details of their outing.
On the way home after school, Benjamin thought about his family. He was glad that they were getting closer and that everyone looked like they were very happy these days. Was this possibly what his grandmother meant previously?
Filled with positive thoughts, he had the idea of doing something for them. Thinking about it a bit more, he decided to bake a cake to eat after dinner. As far as he knew, they all loved sweets and it should be something they would be delighted to get. He reached home and prepared to go to his room when he noticed that his grandmother was in the living room, which was rare for her at this time of the day. When she heard him arrive, she smiled at him and said.
"Welcome back, love. How was school?"
"It was good, same as usual. What about your day, Grandma?"
"I had a good day too. I was waiting for you because I wanted to ask for a favor."
"Sure, if it's something I can do."
"Can you leave your Sunday morning open for me? There is something I would like to discuss with you. And after that, I am going to go on a hike with my friends and you are very welcome to join if you want to."
"Well... That's fine. I had no plans for Sunday anyway. I am all yours."
He added his last sentence with a mischievous grin and his grandmother responded with a bit of a predatory look.
"Be careful about what will happen to you if you say that to a woman, darling."
"Ahah, noted. I will keep it in mind."
He was pretty sure he had used the sentence already and could confirm its great effect. He started to go toward the stairs when he thought he might as well use the fact that his grandmother was there. He turned in her direction again and asked her.
"Grandma, I am going to bake a cake today, what sort do you want?"
"Chocolate cake."
Her instantaneous answer rejoiced him. It was in times like these that he liked her straightforward personality, allowing him not to lose any time deliberating about which cake to bake. He checked a recipe on his phone and told her.
"Good, I will quickly go to the super to buy the ingredients we miss here."
"Hm, I might as well join you."
"Alright."
He went to his room to fetch the groceries' debit card and they both started to walk toward the closest supermarket while chatting about little nothings. They were soon back with what Benjamin needed, his grandmother going to her room after helping him to put the groceries away. He decided to bake the cake before cooking dinner since it was his first time making anything sweet and he guessed he would need enough time, in case of failure. Fortunately, his experience in cooking helped and he was able to get a satisfying result by strictly following the recipe. He put his work in the oven to bake, put an alarm for when it should be ready, and went to his room to relax in the meanwhile since it was still too early to prepare dinner.
One hour later, it was ready and he went down again to the kitchen. Getting there, he saw Grace and Chloe waiting in front of the oven, a hungry look on their face. Unfortunately for them, Benjamin didn't feel any pity for them.
"It's for after dinner."
Of course, they tried to beg him anyway, Chloe leading the charge.
"Just a little bit, Ben, please. It smells so good."
Next to her, Grace nodded fervently. Used to their antics now, Benjamin didn't relent.
"Nope."
He took the cake out of the oven and when he was done, he noticed his sisters looking as sad as abandoned puppies on a rainy day. Their expressions almost got to him but he pulled himself together.
"Come on, don't look like that. You can wait until after dinner, right?"
They nodded reluctantly and he added.
"I will start preparing dinner now so it won't be too long."