Getting to the house the pair spent the next two hours cooking everything from scratch. All throughout the preparations Jess was tasting and nibbling at things and feeding bites of things to Derek. Once everything was cooked it was all places in large deep covered trays and placed inside the oven or the fridge. Finding a large microwaveable container Jess put a large portion of each warm dish in the container. Putting on the lid she set the container to one side. Setting an alarm to go off at 6:30pm to start warming up the food Jess headed upstairs to lay down until supper time dragging Derek along with her.
When Jess and Derek came downstairs after being woken by Jess's alarm they found Scott staring in ammazment at all the food. Sending the boys to set the table Jess turned the oven on to heat everything up. Hearing the boys talking quietly about something wolf related Jess smiled glad they were getting along. Pulling the homemade roasted garlic butter and shredded mozzarella cheese out of the fridge Jess started assembling the garlic bread one handed. Making two large trays Jess waited until just before 7pm before sliding them under the broiler for a few minutes.
A commotion at the front door turned out to be Stiles walking into the house like he lived there while the Sheriff hissed at him from the doorway to get back outside so that the Sheriff could knock. Scott greeted the Sheriff and invited him inside and led the way to the kitchen where Jess was trying to keep Stiles from picking bacon out of the salad while she had him stir in the dressing, while giving instructions to Derek on which things he should be pulling out of the oven.
Walking around the kitchen island the Sheriff thanked Jess for the invitation to dinner and held out a bouquet of flowers and a large bottle of sparkling apple cider.
Taking the bottle first Jess handed it to Derek and asked him to open it and set it on the table. Next Jess took the flowers and after admiring them she asked Scott if he could set them in some water for her since she had no idea where to find a vase or the ability to juggle a vase and the flowers with just one working hand. Gesturing towards the table Jess invited the Sheriff to pick any seat he liked while she had the boys help her bring the first course to the table. Watching as he seated himself at the head of the table Jess turned to the Stiles and Derek and assigned them each a dish to bring to the table. "Stiles bring the salad please, and Derek bring the platter of loaded potato skins." Turning to Scott who had just finished settling the flowers in the vase Jess motioned towards the table. "Set those in the center of the table please." Turning off the oven and grabbing a pitcher of ice water from the freezer Jess carried it over and set it on the table. Turning away she hurried to the kitchen to grab the salt and pepper. Stiles had sat down beside his father and Scott sat beside his friend.
Derek stood awkwardly by the table appearing to be waiting for Jess. When Jess reached the table Derek cleared his throat and pulled out the chair at the short end of the table for her. As Jess sat Derek effortlessly pushed her chair in for her. Smiling and thanking him Jess waited for Derek to sit down in the seat beside her before turning to face the rest of the table. "For the first course we have ceasar salad with bacon and Parmigiano cheese and homemade dressing and loaded potato skins. Everyone help yourselves."
Derek snatched up the bowl of salad and setting it beside Jess's plate he cleared his throat loudly. "Growing up, we had a rule in our house. Who ever cooked the meal got served first. It was a way of thanking the one who did the cooking for the hard work they had put into the meal. I may have done a lot of the heavy lifting jobs to make this meal but if it had been me cooking by myself all we would be having tonight would be salad with store brought dressing, over cooked spaghetti with store bought sauce from a can, and dried out sausages. So if you all don't mind I think Jess should receive the first helpings of each dish."
Scott and Stiles snatched their hands back from where they had been reaching for the potato skins and the Sheriff nodded from his seat across the table from Jess. "I think that is a wonderful idea. We had a similar rule in our home before my wife passed away."
Blushing bright red Jess stared down at her plate. "Well, normally I would insist that our guest's were served first but as a young girl my family also believed in the cook having the first bite of the meal at the dining table." Raising her plate Jess turned to Derek. "Not too much. I want to save room for the gnocchi."
Conversation at the table mostly revolved around school and the Animal Clinic. When everyone had eaten some salad and some of the loaded potato skins Jess asked Derek and Scott to get the trays of gnocchi in tomato sauce, garlic bread and italian sausages from the oven and bring them to the table. Once the food was on the table Jess insisted that for the second course the guests served themselves first. When the food came around Jess only accepted a single spoonful of gnocchi and a small piece of garlic bread.
Soon everyone had been served and started digging in. Turning to speak to Scott excitedly about one of the animals at the clinic Jess saw the Sheriff smirking in her direction and saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to glance at Derek she saw his eye were sparkling and his plate was mostly empty. Puzzled Jess turned back to Scott and continued her conversation barely glancing at her plate as she ate on Autopilot. Turning to answer a question from Derek about the ingredients they had used Jess thought she saw a movement on her other side but when she looked over it was just Scott serving himself some more gnocchi, his eyes twinkling like mad. All through dinner it kept happening. Every time Jess started to pay too much attention to her plate the Sheriff would ask her another question about the animals she had worked with or the work she had done on her truck. It wasn't until Jess ate yet another bite of thinly sliced Italian sausage that Jess suddenly remembered that she had not taken any sausages not wanting to have to get help cutting them up. Staring down at her plate Jess saw a smile pile of thinly sliced portions of sausage. Turning to Derek she opened her mouth to say something about it but paused a moment to consider. Looking down at her plate Jess realized that she had more gnocchi LEFT on her plate then she had when the food had been served. Glaring back and forth between Scott and Derek Jess pouted slightly before pointing down at her plate. "You boys can't be mad if I don't manage to finish all of this. I normally like to be sure to finish everything on my plate. But I can't do that if people keep adding food to it." Jess grumbled stabbing another bite of sausage and turning to address the Sheriff. "And don't think I don't realize that you were aiding and abetting them with the timing of your questions. The only innocent one here is Stiles." Looking down at her bread plate Jess realized it held a fresh slice of garlic bread. Glancing down the table and seeing that the tray of garlic bread was still sitting on the table between Stiles and the Sheriff Jess sighed and pointed at the bread. "Et tu Stiles? Et tu?" Jess said sadly shacking her head. In response all three males started chuckling and promising not to sneak anymore food onto her plate.
Pulling her plate closer Jess made a big show of guarding it closely for the rest of the meal especially when anyone else was wielding the serving spoon and fork.
When the meal was mostly over Scott and Stiles insisted that they would pack away all of the leftovers and do the dishes.
Jess thanked them and asked Scott if he could pack some salad in a small container to add to the large container of hot food Jess had put aside for Melissa while cooking.
Smiling brightly Scott said he would be sure to pack her some salad and would bring the food to her for her to have for her dinner once the dishes were done.
Sitting at the head of the table sipping at a glass of sparkling cider the Sheriff watched as the man he had arrested on suspicions of murder tried to cajol the young girl to have just a few more bites of food. Taking up his own fork he was promising to eat three bites from the plate for every one bite she took. Laughing the girl agreed using her fork to cut up a piece of sausage into four pieces she ate them one at a time counting each tiny piece as a bite. Grumbling that she had cheated the man quickly ate the rest of the food off the plate. Clearing his throat the Sheriff looked to the young pair. "I mentioned to Jess this morning that I would like to have a word with you Mr. Hale." The Sheriff said slowly noticing how the young man instantly tensed. "Nothing official. I just want to tell you how sorry I am for ever thinking that you could have been involved with your sister's murder. We didn't know it was your sister at the time, and you were squatting in the abandoned building where half her body was found buried." Seeing the young man clenching his fists tightly and curling his shoulders forward slightly the Sheriff quickly continued as Jess reached over and placed her hand comforting on the Derek's arm. "But, now that I am starting to hear about the kind of young man you are from Melissa I really feel awful that you were arrested and not just asked to come in for questioning. And when I think about you squatting in that house..."
"Hey!" Scott said bouncing up to the table and interrupting the Sheriff. He wad holding the containers of food set aside for Melissa. "Um, Stiles and I, well Stiles got a ride here with his dad so he doesn't have his jeep..."
"And you two boys want to go bring that food to Melissa ASAP?" Jess guessed interrupting the boy. "If it's OK with the Sheriff you can borrow the Tardis. But you make sure to be back before Curfew. And take Anne with you. She hasn't seen much of you today." Jess offered. "The keys are in my bag upstairs in my room."
"Fine with me." The Sheriff said waving the boys away. Watching them leave he turned to Jess. "Nice of you to let them borrow your truck."
Gushing his thanks and handing the containers to Stiles, Scott ran upstairs and appeared a few minutes later with a set of keys in his hand and Anne trotting happily at his heels. Grabbing Stiles arm Scott pulled him along with him calling. "I'll drop Stiles off at home when we are done." Before both boys disappeared out the door slamming it behind them.
Shaking his head at the two boys antics the Sheriff turned back towards the young man he had been addressing. He still appeared tensed but seemed to have relaxed slightly as the young women held his arm and slowly stroked her thumb back and forth on it. "As I was saying. The thought of you squatting in that condemned house. It really got me thinking. Seeing how much Melissa is enjoying having a new face around her place made me think about the fact that I have an unused bedroom in my own home." The Sheriff said slowly.
"Are you considering applying to become a Foster Parent?" Jess asked shifting forwards in her seat. "I think you would do wonderfully as a Foster Parent."
"Thank you! Coming from you that means a lot. But I wasn't actually thinking about becoming a Foster Parent. I have my hands full enough with Stiles." The Sheriff said with a chuckle. Glancing at the young man the Sheriff eared his throat nervously. "I was actually thinking about your brother there. Can't be comfortable sleeping on the floor or the pull-out couch every night. And I've got a perfectly decent bed sitting empty just around the corner from here." Watching as the young man tensed and shifted closer the the young woman who clung tighter to his arm the Sheriff winced wishing he had listened when Melissa warned him that morning that the two weren't ready to be separated. "Of course the room really needs a good deep cleaning first." The Sheriff rushed to say. "And it could probably use a few coats of paint as well. It would probably take a bit of time to get it really ready for anyone to move in." The Sheriff smiled gently to see the pair slowly relax a little. "I just wanted to apologize, and to let you know that the room is an option. Once both of you and the room are ready." The Sheriff finished softly. "Just something to keep in mind. No rush." Swallowing the last of his Cider the Sheriff got to his feet. "Thank you both for a truly delicious dinner. I can't remember the last time I ate so well." Nodding to the pair that had slowly stood up as he spoke the Sheriff turned and headed for the door. "Have a good night. If Scott doesn't make it home before curfew give me a call and I'll get the guys to find him for you." He offered stepping out the door and closing it behind himself.
Standing at the table Jess and Derek turned to one another and scowled. Stepping closer to the girl Derek wrapped his arms around her and tucked her under his chin. "I'm not planning on going anywhere any time soon. But if Melissa gets sick of me it might be good to have a fallback plan. Won't hurt to help him get the room ready for someone to stay in even if I never end up using it myself. Doesn't hurt to be on the Sheriff's good side."
Clearing the last few dishes from the table Derek added them to the dishwasher and started it running. Glancing around the kitchen to be sure everything was put away he walked over to where Jess was still standing by the table and gently guided her towards the stairs. "Come to bed. I'll make sure Scott and Anne get home safe before I fall asleep." Helping Jess up the stairs Derek helped her to get changed into a pair of bicycle shorts and one of Derek's t-shirt and tucked her into bed. Turning out all the lights and locking the windows Derek saw Jess's truck pull into the driveway and watched Scott and Anne come inside.
Reassured that the truck, and the boy were home safe Derek waited until Anne had come barreling into the room. Looking down the hallway and seeing no sign of Scott he figured the boy was watching some TV before bed so he called. "Hang the truck keys on the doornob when you come to bed." Closing and locking the bedroom door Derek stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed beside Jess. Finding her barely clinging to consciousness Derek snuggled against her neck and murmered softy. "Scott and Anne are back and your truck is fine. Go to sleep." Taking his own advice Derek dropped off to sleep soothed by the large carb heavy meal and the feel of the young woman safe in his arms.