Standing on the front porch, she wondered whether or not there would be dessert. Normally Owen didn’t serve it, which she took as a marker of poverty. Instead, he would serve whiskey, neat. To all the adults in the room, then everyone would retire for the evening. To an extent she expected this to be no different.

Rook, her step-parent, knocked on the door. Immediately it swung open.

“Hello!” Hannah’s high pitched voice clammers over the sound of the door opening.

They all look down to her, beaming up at them. “We’ve been ready for an hour!”

“Hannah don’t be rude” Thomas emerges from the kitchen. His apron is filthy, he gathers it between his hands and cleans them off. He holds a hand out to Rook. “So nice to see you all here. Welcome back.”

Rook and Mom shake Thomas’ hand, purse their lips into tight smiles. They enter the house, handing their coats off to Hannah. When Grace enters, Thomas simply steps out of the way, tilts his head and smiles at her.

“Hello again.” His tone becomes casually sarcastic. “Sorry, when were you last here?”

“Hmm. Can’t say.” She quips. Hannah takes her shawl and leaves it with the other outerwear, folding it all carefully into the closet. “How are you?”

He laughs, leaning his weight onto the banister. Stiff. “Oh you know. Living the dream. You?”

She stifles her laugh. “About the same.”

They make their way to the dining room, if it could be called that. The room was somewhat open concept. While the room was technically separate from the kitchen, it lacked a door, making the two areas flow into each other. From the seat at the head of the table one could take in nearly all the action in the kitchen. This was preferable. At her own house everything was so separated and quiet. During dinner the door would constantly swing, it made the movement a disturbance as opposed to background noise, as it was here.

She wished her parents agreed. They were so open about their distaste, at least knowing them made her see it. Mom’s pinched nose never relaxing, even as the soft candles, scented with herbs, burned directly in her path of smell. Strong enough that you couldn’t smell the food, which appeared to have nearly finished cooking.

And god if she ever wanted to smell it. Whenever Adrian cooked it was the best part of whatever was going on. He was so thoughtful that way. On most days Thomas was the resident chef of their family, but on special occasions or whenever company came over, Adrian would finish in the field sooner and attend to it for him. He was such a good brother, she loved how much he valued his family.

Hannah and Caroline rejoined Adrian in the kitchen. Thomas enters shortly after, takes off his apron and takes the wine out. Adrian stands over the stove, stirring. They exchange words before Thomas joins in them in the dining room. As Thomas sits down, Adrian looks out to the room and spots her. He smirks. She bites her lip. He tucks his hair behind his ear and returns to what he is doing.

“Wine?” Thomas offers the bottle, pouring small glasses for everyone except the younger ones. After a short time Owen joins them, sitting at the head of the table, away from the kitchen. He is a striking contrast from the scene in the kitchen behind him. His clean shirt if pressed with pleats in the chest. What remained of his hair was combed neatly over to the side.

Her parents and Owen make polite small talk. Thomas and Grace both watch the kitchen, half spaced out. Hannah plates food, Adrian mans the stove and swats Caroline away.

“Adrian had the idea earlier this week to use the bones from the last few nights into a stew. He’s been working at the base broth for a couple days now. I’m eager to try it. The smell has been filling the house since Thursday.”

Grace watches into the kitchen. “Recipe building is so difficult. Sometimes I think I would die without Emma. I can cook but planning it is a whole other ball game.”

Mom looks over. “Grace dear, quite the opposite. Emma is paid for what she does. We’re lucky to provide an opportunity for.”

Grace refocuses on the wine and stares into her plate. “I guess my point is that I think it’s really nice that Adrian is so good with that sort of thing.” She looks around anxiously. “Isn’t it?”

They look to each other and, seeing that they were waiting for each other, all nod several times in succession.

“It’s an admirable skill, certainly.” Mom says dryly, glaring over to the kitchen.

“Honest work.” Rook chimes in.

Thomas smiles at Grace genuinely. “I know what you mean. I swear half my knowledge is just riffing on Adrian’s recipes and asking what he would do. Hannah is starting to pick it up too, so is Caroline.”

He looks over to the kitchen gratefully. He rolls his lips inward and holds them together. “I’m so proud of how much he has taught them. He gives so much of himself for everyone.”

Grace can’t hold down her smile.

Hannah and Caroline come around the corner with a bowl in each hand.

“Dinner!” Caroline shrieks, she sets the bowls down, wobbly, in front of Rook and Thomas. Thomas kisses her forehead and looks over the bowl.

“Thank you. Its beautiful! You plated?”

She beams at him. “Addy. But I did the garnish. I’m giving you my bowl because I made it the nicest.”

Thomas’ grin settles into a soft smile. “That is so kind, Care. Thank you, truly.”

She spins on her toe and runs back into the kitchen. “Let me get mine!”

Hannah sets the bowls in front of Owen and Mom, who nod curtly at her.

After a time Caroline and Hannah return to the dining room with their own bowls, and Adrian in tow. He balances two bowls in one hand and the bread bowl in the other. He sets the bread in the center of the table.

He places one plate in the empty place to her left and the final bowl in front of her.

“Best for last.” He says, locking eyes with her for a brief but intense moment. Her mouth opens gently before the corners pull it into a wide grin.

“Hi.” She breathes.

He bends down and places a kiss on her cheek near her ear. “I put a little something into yours. There wasn’t much though. Keep it quiet.”

She stares down into the food. Surrounding the rest of the chives that Caroline had so neatly chopped were several strings of bright red saffron. He didn’t.

He settles into his own seat as Owen finishes talking. Mom, Rook, and Owen all clink their glasses together. Thomas, half listening, raises his and sips after the fact. Grace follows his lead. She turns to Adrian to clink his glass. He doesn’t have one. She sets her glass down. Everyone starts eating in silence.

“Owen this is lovely.” Mom comments, “you’ve outdone yourself.”

“Thank you. Our canning worked out well last season.”

Grace places her hand on Adrian’s thigh and gazes into his eyes. “It’s divine.”

He places his own hand on top of hers. “Thank you.”

Some notes:

1. The family is aware that they are non-normative with how they handle day to day stuff. The idea that Thomas is doing most of the domestic labour (instead of Hannah or Caroline) is laughable to Grace’s parents. They know this and act “normally” to hide it. They need Adrian to work the field, but today he is a house servant because it is more important to keep up the appearance than do the actual labour that needs to be done. (But Grace sees this as “oh isn’t he so thoughtful and devoted.”) Also need to correct in a way that makes it look like Thomas is the only one who is not acting in a performative way.
2. And that’s not the only thing (ha ha ha).
3. Adrian, Hannah, Caroline use basic water glasses or whatever. They don’t get the wine.