"That looks great, Candace," Lisa complimented as she looked at the story the 4th grader was writing.
"Thank you, Ms. Jareau, it's about my sister and me going to Grandma's," the little girl explained.
"My sister and I," Lisa corrected.
"My sister and I going to Grandma's," Candace replied.
"Good job, accept it should be we made cookies, not we maked cookies," the student teacher explained.
"How do you spell that?"
"How do you think you spell it?" Lisa prompted.
"Um, m-a-d?" she asked as she erased the word maked and began writing again.
"No, that's mad, add an e on the end and you have made," Lisa instructed. The little girl nodded as she did so.
"Is that right?" she checked.
"Yes it is," Lisa responded as she noticed two boys throwing spit wads at each other. "Keep up the great work," she said patting the young girl on the back before going to deal with the two boys.
XXXX
"Do you have any idea why I called you in hear, Nathan?" his culinary instructor inquired.
"No I don't, sir. Did I mess up on that dessert I made yesterday?" Nate asked nervously.
"No you didn't. Relax, son, it's a good thing I called you in for," the instructor assured. Nathan felt himself relax slightly at Mr. Nelons words.
"Then what is it?" he wondered.
"The governor is hosting a dinner for some of the politicians in the area and he's asked our school to prepare it. He's picked the three people he wants cooking, and your name was the first one he picked." Nathan couldn't believe it.
"I'm going to cook for the governor and several other politicians?" Nate asked his voice cracking at the end.
"Yes you are. They'll send over the menu next week. The dinner will be next Friday night. Each of you is able to invite one person to come to the dinner. You will be receiving an email with all the information in the next day or two. This is a great honor," Mr. Nelons stated.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. Wow, I can't believe it. Thank you so much, sir."
"You don't have me to thank, Nathan. You got this opportunity all on your own. Your excellent reputation and your prowess in the kitchen got you this. I'm just proud to call you one of my students," the teacher said with a proud smile.
"Well, thank you just the same," Nate replied graciously.
"You're quite welcome. Unless you have any questions, I have a meeting I need to get to," Mr. Nelons said rising from his chair.
"No, I don't, but if I do, can I email you?" the shocked young man asked.
"Yes, you certainly can, congratulations, Nathan," the instructor said as he patted one of his best students on the shoulder before exiting his office leaving a grinning Nathan Reid-Morgan in his wake.
XXXX
"You're really getting to cook for the governor?" Lisa asked as she and Nathan fixed dinner for the four members of the apartment.
"Yeah, I just found out today. I'm nervous but excited. I wonder which part of the meal I'll be preparing," he said thoughtfully.
"Well anything you make will be great, DJ said kissing her twin on the cheek as she headed for the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Thanks, Sis, how you feeling?" Nate asked.
"Tired, but otherwise okay. Did you tell the team?"
"Yeah, I told them. Mom about burst my ear drum with her squeal," her brother replied with a grin.
"She's definitely good at that. Need any help?" Henry asked entering the kitchen.
"Can you put the plates on the table?" Lisa requested as she finished putting together her part of the meal.
"Man am I gonna miss you guys and your cooking. Especially Nate's," DJ said wistfully. Tears came unbidden to her eyes and she quickly blinked them away before anyone noticed them.
"We'll be close enough I can still make dinner some," Nate said softly. Everyone smiled and dug into the meal savoring the delicious food Nate and Lisa had made.