Really Now
#20 of Hockey Hunk Season 6
Really Now
*
Hehey, and welcome to the Hockey Hunk! I'm back in the action, and this chapter is posted in due time, I hope, to take the edge off the weekend-long Gruffy deprivation, perhaps? *chuckle* Hmmm, that's probably a bit cheeky of me, but it's nice to be back and typing away, and providing you with some good old-fashioned furry drama for you to enjoy! I look forward to reading your feedback, so I hope you like it, and leave some comments, too! As always, remember that votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!
Have a fun read!
*
"Dad, really now?"
I hadn't really hear him come in to the kitchen again, but there he was, standing on the doorway and observing me through his spectacles. I was standing in front of the sink, almost elbow deep in the suds-covered water, my paws enclosed in yellow kitchen gloves.
"What is it?" I asked, watching him over my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm doing the dishes," I replied calmly.
"We have a washer," he said.
"I like doing them like this sometimes," I said.
"I see," he mused.
"Does this amuse you?" I gestured at the striped full length apron I was wearing to protect myself from the inevitable splashing suds.
"Kinda," he said.
"Well, when you're a household of one, you have to do everything on your own," I said, "housework included."
"You seem to take the hardcore approach to it," he said, "do you put on a biohazard suit for vacuuming?"
I chortled. At least he sounded to be in good spirits. I was...not so much, after allowing my mind to go into places I didn't prefer to visit much, and the mindless chore of washing the dishes was a good counterpoint to trying to brush those thoughts away.
"Only for cleaning the fur filters on the drains," I replied seriously.
I could see that he weighted for a moment whether I was speaking the truth or not, and then he decided that I was joking, and then he was smiling, too, just a little, but it was better than nothing.
"Do you need any help with that?"
"I'm almost finished," I said. "There's not much anyway since it's just the two of us."
"I guess so."
I wondered if he'd had to do many chores at home, under Rachel's iron claws, perhaps indeed, but I didn't want to think about that too much, either.
"Are you all set?" I said. "Got your tummy full?"
"Yes, dad," he duly replied. "The food was good. Thank you."
I smiled a little while continuing shuffling my rubbered-up paws in the warm water.
"Well I like to take the effort sometimes," I said. "Not always, of course, but sometimes it's definitely worth it."
"I'm not complaining," he said.
I smiled again.
"I've been looking at recipes for Rosh Hashanah too," I told him, "I thought I'd make a bit more effort at it this year, with you around and all. I usually just buy something but - "
"Mom always buys everything," he replied. "Not that we do much, anyway."
"Well I wasn't thinking of going overboard with it, of course, but I thought it'd be nice to do something," I explained, "make it into a nice occasion and all..."
"Invite grandmother and grandfather Crane over?" he suggested.
My ears fell automatically.
"She might object to my attempts at making Challah," I said. "And you know how she is when she...objects."
"You make Challah?" Paul appeared surprised.
"I have been honing my skills," I replied proudly. "I'm not half bad anymore."
"So the stuff we ate last Friday..."
"I made that and froze it, yeah," I said. "I just defrosted it.
"I thought it was from the bakery...I don't think mom even knows how to make it," Paul sounded genuinely surprised now.
"Like I said, I've been practicing," I smiled.
"Impressive," Paul said.
"Well I like to do something that makes me not look like the big slob I am," I said.
"What else are you going to do?"
"Well, bake a honey cake, and do something with apples of course..."
He chuckled.
"Are you going to get all misty-eyed over the photos of me dipping apples into honey when I was like 4?"
I smiled more broadly.
"Of course. And will keep talking about it throughout our meal."
"Of course," he replied. "How about temple?"
"We can go if you like," I said. "I was thinking of going on Yom Kippur, but if you want to go on Rosh Hashanah too, we can go."
"It's okay," he said. "We usually went but that's because Joel's parents would insist, and we'd then go over to their place to eat."
"Oh, I see," I said.
"So it's up to you, dad."
"Alright," I said," we'll see."
"I really appreciate you making the effort, dad," he added after a small pause. "It's really much more than I could ask."
"So don't ask," I said. "I'll just do it anyway."
"Okay."
Another pause, during which the only noise was the water lapping the sink while I did some dutiful washing still.
"Did you get any work done yet?" I asked, to break the silence.
"Not much," he chuffed. "I was thinking of making some coffee."
"At this hour?"
"it's barely past seven."
I glanced at the clock and decided that it was not worth to nag about it.
"By all means. Make me half a cup, too. I might as well go at it."
"How dare you?" he smirked crookedly.
"With the amount of coffee I drink, there's no danger of losing my sleep anymore," I said. "I'm almost done with this, I can easily join you. There are biscuits in the second shelf of the first cabinet above the coffeemaker."
"I know, I've already eaten most of that stash."
I could practically feel my butt balloon at the idea of all the biscuits on my biscuit shelf.
"So it wasn't just me imagining I'd eaten them all..."
"Nope," he stated as he walked over to begin the process of coffee making.
"Well that's good news for me!"
*
The awaiting coffee gave me the motivation to finish up the dishes, and soon, after a final rinse of my paws, I joined Paul on the small table, where he'd already placed the box of chocolate chip cookies and two steaming mugs. Paul was munching on one after dipping it in his coffee, and he seemed quite content.
"This is nice!" I told him. "A readymade table for me for once!"
Paul snuffled.
"Already tired of cooking for me?"
"Of course not!" I smiled. "It's actually easier to cook for two than one, you know. It's much more economical, too, since now I can buy bigger portions and that's always a clear saving."
"Spoken like a true housewife."
I chuckled.
"Like I said, I have to make do. I had a lot to learn of course, since grandmother Crane wasn't keen to teach me anything about housekeeping since she didn't think that would be needed."
Paul snickered.
"Thinking you'd be moving from her kitchen to the kitchen of your beloved wife and that'd be all you'd ever need?"
"Exactly," I made a face while sipping the nice-smelling brew in my mug.
"Tough shit."
I let the profanity pass, and nodded.
"It doesn't always turn out the way you thought it would, but that doesn't make it anything less worthwhile."
"I suppose not," he spoke, but he was really quite too young to really know.
*
Thank you for reading my story! I hope you had a good time, and I look forward to reading your comments! Do remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!
See you on Friday!
Cheerio!