..."No, Mark, you're doing it all wrong!", exclaimed Edward Nygma, pointing at the raw fish which Mark Rosenthal, Molly's ex-husband-turned-friend and a prominent forsenic scientist, was trying to prepare for roasting ,following his old recipe, in spite of the notorious private investigator's constant meddling.
It was Christmas time, and even in Gotham the atmosphere was more bright and festive than on ordinary days; and the soft falling snow covered roofs, streets and cars, bringing the almost alien colur white into the overwise gloomy city.
"No, I'm not. Trust me , Eddie, I know what I'm doing", retorted Mark good-naturedly, surrounding the mentioned fish of discord by layers of vegetables.
"No, it just isn't done this way!", the former Rogue extraordinaire insisted.
"Yes, it is, and , Ed, do stop ogling my fish and ,for God's sake, finish making that salad already, you've being messing with it for an hour by now! Or, on a second thought ", Rosenthal observed the kitchen table, "you could always help our girls with the dessert, I reckon, as everything else is almost ready".
"I'm not messing with it, I'm improvising!", pouted the ex-Riddler. "And as for the dessert, you surely must be kidding me: your daughter is going to tear me to shreds if I do as much as lay a finger on her precious stollen; for it's meant to be eaten first and formost by "Uncle Johnny", the one and only, coming tonight all the way from Germany, and we, mere mortals, should be glad to feast on the leftover crumbs..."
"Edward, are you, by chance, jealous?", Mark teased.
"Jealous? Me? Of whom – that old cosmopolitan nerd? Well, I'd never..."
" First, Ed, we're all nerds here, and ,second, there's no need for you to feel that way : the Professor visits us only once or twice a year, while you're here all the time, cher ami!"
"Well, if I'm not wanted here..."
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth piece, good will towards men!", sing-songed Annabel Lee Rosenthal, Mark's and Molly's eldest child and a first year GSU student, as she danced her way into the kitchen.
"Hello, everyone! Honestly, Uncle Ed, ", she gently reproached, putting on an apron and critically looking at both men , "how could you even think you're not wanted here? We all can't help but love you - you're one of a kind, and today you've helped us so much already...even too much... I think you must be bored by all this kitchen stuff by now, and, as I heard, Edgar needs your help with his project..."
"Oh, the computer science one he mentioned the other day? I – I mean , we, - are going to finish it in no time. It's a piece of cake! I mean, it's a snap!", Nygma eagerly jumped (almost too eagerly for a middle-aged man), ready to leave the kitchen for an intellectual challenge provided by the youngest Rosenthal (still in high school), who, in his turn, considered the "riddle man" his BFF.
"Really, Belle, are you sure you can take it from here on your own?", the girl's father asked.
"Of course, Dad. Mum should be rather tired, I think, after spending so much time over the phone speaking to her patients – though heaven knows why they choose to call during her holiday time, in the first place", Annabel answered, starting working on the dessert.
"Perhaps because they don't have anyone else to speak to", Nygma commented quietly (which was really out of character for him) from the threshold.
"Yes, Belle, don't be too harsh on those folks who are less fortunate ", Mark continued, while checking the cooker's temperature level. "Some people really don't know where to go with their problems...or where to go at all, you know."
"Is it from a Leo Tolstoy's book, isn't it?" Annabel inquired. "About having nowhere to go?"
"Actually ,from Theodor Dostoyevsky's", Edward corrected. "Crime and Punishment", actually, he added on leaving the kitchen in search for Edgar.
Of course, he, Edward Nygma, would know all about having no one to turn to.
(As did a couple of other former Arkhamites, by the way).
He rarely admitted it out loud, but he was glad to have Molly and her family as his friends. Especially considering the fact that they were almost the only folks in Gotham – except for Jervis and Alice , and, on some occasions, the retired Commissioner Gordon– who weren't annoyed by him.