Ginika realized as soon as she saw Caroline at the airport that she had lost a fair amount of weight and instantly connected it to her grieving Kate. Since she had come to think of Caroline as a second daughter the past few months, she decided then and there she was going to "mother" her as much as she could to put some weight back on her before she returned to England.
She decided to not mention the weight loss and her concern to Caroline, opting instead to spoil her at some of her favorite restaurants. After a couple of meals out, however, she noticed Caroline seemed to just order salads which she then spent more time pushing around on the plate than eating. Ginika decided to step up her plan to love Caroline with comfort food by making more meals at home in the hopes she might eat a little more that way.
Ginika told Caroline the first day that she wanted her to sleep as late as she could every morning and let her have some alone time with Flora. She figured this visit would afford Caroline a chance to catch up on some much needed rest. Although Caroline felt a little guilty doing so, she found she was really sleeping well and took advantage of Ginika's offer. Since she and Flora were up at least an hour before Caroline each day, she decided to take Flora out in the stroller for an early walk to grab some freshly baked bread from Balthazar, one of her favorite bakeries. She recalled Kate telling her that Caroline was a bread lover and she hoped she would not resist it.
Ginika loved all their breads and had a tough time deciding what to get so she bought two loaves. The first was a cranberry raisin pecan bread that she enjoyed toasted with cream cheese. The second was a loaf of its Valrhona chocolate bread that was Kate's favorite.
Caroline was just exiting her bedroom as Ginika was returning with Flora. Caroline went to help them in the door and relieved her of the bag of bread that was still a little warm. As the aroma rose to her, she exclaimed, "Oh my word. Whatever is in here smells delightful. What is it?"
A smiling Ginika replied, "I thought we deserved a little treat for breakfast so I picked up some bread fresh from the oven. One is a cranberry pecan bread and the other is a chocolate bread. If you get Flora out of the stroller, I'll take the loaves into the kitchen and slice them to toast or you can eat them untoasted. They are good either way."
"Sounds great. I hope they taste as good as they smell," she said as she removed Flora from the stroller. Upon entering the kitchen she remarked how the bread looked as good as it smelled. She placed Flora in the baby seat with a few toys in front of her and then asked Ginika what she could do to help.
"Just tell me if you prefer tea or coffee and if you would like some eggs too," she said. Before Caroline could answer, she continued, "Which loaf would you like to try or would you like some of each? That's what I am going to have," she said.
"Oh, when in Rome, or should I say New York. I'll have one of each too but no eggs," she responded. "I don't care if it's coffee or tea, you decide."
Ginika chuckled to herself as she said, "Well, I always prefer a strong French roast coffee when I'm having this chocolate bread. It's a perfect pairing. Would you like some cherry preserves, butter or cream cheese?"
"If it is as rich as it looks I think I will have it plain, thanks," Caroline said as her mouth started watering a little. After a couple of bites, Caroline commented, "I don't know which I like more as they are both so good. I can't remember now why I stopped eating breakfast but maybe if I could get bread this good at home I would eat breakfast more often."
"Caroline, you absolutely have to have some breakfast everyday. I can't imagine how you power through all you have to do at that school without putting some fuel in your tank before you leave the house." Ginika gently advised. "One lesson I know Kate got from me was the importance of a good breakfast."
"She would say that breakfast was her favorite FIRST meal of the day," recalled Caroline with a grin. "Of course she would also say that it was not to be confused with dinner which was her favorite FINAL meal of the day. "
"Kate introduced me to this chocolate bread from Balthazar. When she heard it was made with Valrhona chocolate she just had to try it. Valrhona was her favorite chocolate to cook with. She discovered it during one of her trips to Paris. Did she ever make her Valrhona molten chocolate cake for you? She would make it in little ramekins and bake it so that the outside of the cake was cooked but the inside was still just a little runny. When you cut into it with your fork and put it in your mouth it was just irresistable."
"Oh, I remember it well. She made it for me on Valentine's Day. She picked up some of my favorite vanilla gelato that she served with it. She also made a very rich chocolate ganache that she drizzled over it and then dotted the plate with the ripest red raspberries. It was so decadent and…" Caroline suddenly left the last thought unfinished.
It was then that Ginika looked at her and realized she was blushing. Feeling very comfortable with Caroline after the last couple of days, she decided to ask her why.
"It's just a good memory," she explained. "But I'm not sure it's the kind of thing I should tell Kate's mother."
"Oh child, you can't shock me. Come on, spill if it's a good memory," she pushed.
"Well, we enjoyed that dessert warm from the oven shortly after I did my fumbling version of a proposal," she explained. "I was so nervous I could barely get the words out." Realizing that Ginika knew there had to be more to the story, she continued, "It was so decadent that I gave the dish a new name. I called it 'sex on a plate' as it was almost orgasmic. It was so good I wanted to lick the plate after I took the last bite."
Ginika laughed out loud. "Oh, I think that is a very apt description. I know she only made that dessert on special occasions so it sounds like it was a perfect end to your special night."
"Your daughter was far more romantic than I knew how to be. She made all our nights special in her own way but that night she really outdid herself," Caroline said as she wrapped her arms in front of her to hug herself and leaned onto the table. "I never thought I deserved how she spoiled me. I so wish I had been more like her because she deserved it."
"Caroline, when I was married to Kate's father we had a rule that only one of us was allowed to have a bad day at a time and we took turns. When one of us needed comforting, the other would rise to the occasion and support and nurture the other. It wasn't about the grand gestures, it was about the little day to day things we did to support each other," she explained.
"Whether you realize it or not, that is how you and Kate were. There is no better demonstration of love than being there day in and day out and putting your own needs on pause while you support your partner when she needed it more. Kate told me how you would do late night runs to pick up whatever food she was craving that wasn't in the house. She also told me how you gave her foot massages and ran baths for her when she was exhausted could not get comfortable because of the baby. You always made sure her favorite maternity clothes were washed as soon as they hit the laundry basket and you would pick up her favorite takeaway on the nights she was too tired to eat but you wanted to make sure she did. Those little things were just as important as her making a special and romantic dessert for you. It's easy to just focus on the grand gestures but life is really about those small expressions of love."
Caroline wiped away a tear and leaned in to hug Ginika, unable to say anything in response. After a few minutes, Ginika said, "I don't know about you but I think I will have another slice and some more coffee. This bread will be good tomorrow but it's always best the first day."
"I shouldn't but I can't resist. How about if we toast a slice of each and then cut them in half to share so we can have more of each," Caroline suggested.
As Ginika turned her back to Caroline to put the bread in the toaster, she smiled to herself. She not only managed to get Caroline to eat more for breakfast than she had seen the past few days, she was pleased Caroline was comfortable enough to share memories of her special private moments with Kate. Although her goal was to comfort Caroline during this trip, she found Caroline was comforting her as well.
It was then that she remembered the caramelized apple galette from Balthazar was still in the bottom of the stroller; she hoped Caroline would not refuse dessert after dinner.
