How Green Becomes Wood

"Oh sure, there's ain't nothing special about it," Cooger said, and after getting dinner to a place he could leave it be for awhile, handed her his cookbook. It a simple book of "country recipes", "I have another one that you add your own recipes to, that's the one Dark gave after getting the family recipes from my mom. The chicken pot pie comes from this one though."
 
Lex flipped through it curiously. This wasn't the type of food she was used to, having grown up in a more seafood-heavy area with a massive Italian influence. It looked pretty good! She hoped she could get her hands on the family recipes sometime purely because of her own curiosity. "It smells good," she complimented as the aroma of food filled the cabin.
 
"Yeah, I've made it a time or two. I've been at it for about six months now. There are a few in there that are really nice. My goal is to eventually try all of them, but I like how easy this one is, and it keeps well," Cooger told her, putting all of the fillings into the prepared crust and laying down the top crust, "When it's just me, I can eat on it for a couple days."
 
"I only have it 'cause Dark gave it to me. I think he figured if he didn't give me an actual book, I wouldn't end up taking his advice," Cooger replied, putting the chicken pot pie in the oven, "And I guess, in his defense, we have been having that conversation for years and it's only until I had the book I actually started cooking regularly."
 
"Sure," Lex agreed. She wandered in and sat down on one end of the couch. "How often do the kittens need fed?" she asked, making herself comfortable. "Are you going to be up half the night feeding them, or are they at the 'sleep through the night' stage?"
 
"They eat about three or four times a day. I'll probably feed them once more tonight and then try and get 'em on a better schedule tomorrow," Cooger said, glancing towards the loft while he sat down beside Lex on the couch, "I'm sure they'll end up keeping me up but that's alright. They don't know how people like to sleep."
 
"That's a question for Dark and Tarot. Or I guess yourself, but they're still in the thick of it and have read I think... every parenting book that's ever been written? Just about that." Cooger shrugged, kicking his feet up and reaching out one hand, knowing one of that cats would soon enough be there to be pet, "You should've seen 'em when they were sleep deprived."
 
"I skipped most of that, actually," Lex admitted. "I heard about most of it second hand, but when I got custody of Toby again when he was about five, he suffered sleep regression and nightmares. I think, based off of what I've heard about newborns, it was just as bad."
 
"Damn, I'm sorry," Cooger replied, not really knowing what to say to that as he scratched Miss Louise underneath her chin, "With Ivy it was hard because she was premature, so the whole 'sleep through the night' thing happened later than it does most of the time. I hope Toby didn't struggle with it for too long."
 
"It's alright. We got through it," Lex shrugged. "It was rough, I was not a great mother there at the beginning, but that's life. We lived, and now I'd say we've got a good relationship. Soon he'll be heading off into the world. I'm scared for him because I know what's out there, but," she shrugged again, "the point of a parent is to equip your little soldier as best you can before battle, not keep them confined to base for their entire lives."
 
"I wouldn't know, that's never been my path. Closest I'll ever come is bottle-feeding kittens," Cooger admitted while Louise curled up in his lap and began purring like a lawn mower. Putting his other hand on Lex's shoulder he told her, "I'm glad the two of you salvaged your relationship, though. He's a good kid."
 
Last edited:
Lex smiled at him. "Yeah. He really is." She smiled and reached over to very gently tug at his beard. "And don't you worry. It's not a path I want to go down again! I took certain precautions to make sure of that. You're safe from unexpected fatherhood."
 
"Unless, of course, the procedures reverse for us both," Lex smirked. She tugged his beard again and leaned in to steal a little kiss before releasing him. "With that out of the way, what other potentially awkward but important relationship topics do you want to cover?" she asked, leaning back in her seat.
 
"That is why I still use other sorts of protection," Cooger teased right back, although part of that was just because of STIs, but that wasn't something you could tell a girl without seeming accusatory. Instead, he kissed her back and leaned back against the couch, keeping one arm around her shoulders, "I guess another big one is the fact it's Turkey Day next week. Are we serious enough to figure out what we're doing for that? 'Cause if I call my folks to cancel, they'll skin me and you'll need to find some other guy who can accommodate seven kittens without notice."
 
Lex snorted with laughter. "Ah, they're that kind of people, huh? Don't worry. I won't do nothing to deliberately get on their bad side. I know I can't accommodate seven kittens." She considered the question. "I'd forgotten it was next week, to be honest. My only plan was to set up a video call with my folks for an hour or two and try to make something vaguely Thanksgiving-y for me and Toby. If you already have plans to go to your folks, I don't want to get in the way, and I don't know if we're ready to meet the folks yet." She glanced at him. "Unless you think we are? I've never been clear when that stage happens."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top