The Devil as a Father – Chapter 10
While Dad was gone, Harry enjoyed his Mum's company. She was very proud of his rolls. "Do you think you made too many?" she asked.
Harry puffed up with pride, "This recipe can be eaten cold. They taste good both ways, so if we want, we can freeze some, or we can make frozen dinners of leftovers. Dad and I are working on magic cardboard you can freeze that you can recycle."
Mum was surprised, "That's marvelous," she said, "You keep from wasting food and you help the environment at the same time." She hugged him.
People were finishing the main courses and investigating the many pot luck desserts people had made.
Harry got up and started clearing away dirty dishes and put them on trolleys, happily taking them to the service elevator and to the floor where are the dishwashing equipment was. He used magic to prep the dishes and started several loads.
The elevator opened and Mum and Trixie came. "Harry, aren't you going to eat dessert?" asked his Mum.
"Later Mum, if I eat any more food, I may explode."
Trixie grinned at him and said, "I can help."
Harry smiled at them, this woman who wasn't related to him by blood, this little girl who had never met him before he'd been found, and marveled again how they were now in his heart.
"Dad has music set up to go in the Lux and says people can bring the desserts there to have with coffee. He also has a room set up to watch football because it's an American custom."
So they went up to the Lux and watched people dance together. He danced with his sister and his Mum and then Dad showed up with Mr. Lupin.
Dad walked up to Mum and said, "My darling, would you honor me with a dance?"
Harry grabbed his phone and took pictures. Mum and Dad were so cute together. Then Amenadiel came and shyly asked to dance with Mum, and Harry got pictures of that too.
Soon everyone had danced with everyone. He had danced with Dr. Linda who was very short, and complimented him on his dancing. Trixie danced with Remus Lupin and then so did Maze who said things that made the man blush terribly. Uncle Dan came up as asked to dance with Trixie who was really delighted, and Mrs. Edwards came up and sat next to Harry. "Would you like some coffee?" asked Harry.
"Not just yet," she replied, "I'm enjoying the dancing."
Maze finished tormenting Mr. Lupin and came up smiling, "If you think this is good, you should try belly dancing." She said giving a flick of her hips.
"Oh Belly Dancing!" said Mrs. Edwards, and she stood up. Suddenly Mrs. Edwards seemed to change before their eyes, from an older woman who walked carefully, to a creature of feminine carriage, what Harry knew Maze would call a sex goddess or hot. Every move she made was charged. Harry had never seen anything like it. Maze shrieked in delight and they danced together. Several people joined in and Mrs. Edwards and Maze showed them the moves. Mom joined in and Ella and Dr. Linda. It was fun. Harry did some too. The way the ladies moved had some kind of magic in it. He would have to ask his teacher.
Then Mrs. Edwards came and sat next to Harry, "Good for the knees, you know," she said.
People danced and laughed and it was more like family, and the music wasn't as loud, so you could hear conversations. People were making friends and having a good time. Harry met several kids that weren't from his school and they were nice. They enjoyed the food and were impressed that Harry had made all the rolls. Then he went to the banquet room and put the rest of the dirty dishes in trolleys and started new wash loads. Patrick from Security and Dr. Linda showed up with some more security people and helped him.
"You know," said Patrick, "I heard what you said to Mr. Morningstar about having a restaurant. We have all the equipment, and you and Mr. Morningstar make awesome food. Maybe we can could use the space and serve meals like breakfast and lunch a few days a week and see if it makes money. Once people eat your cooking, they'll love it."
Harry felt shy for a moment and then thought of all the people here who had eaten his cooking and were happy. "It would be worth a try. I could use it as extra credit too, and learn to keep books and stuff. Auntie Maze could teach me."
Harry went back to the buffet area with this in mind and began moving the food to the kitchen area, where he prepared gifts of food for all the people on his list, the police station workers living here, and those on limited incomes, Uncle Dan, of course with extra chocolate cake, Mrs. Edwards, some of the dancers who lived alone, Patrick and his team. He labeled everything meticulously, and thought about what a wonder it was to have the ability to do so much for people.
He heard steps and looked up. His Dad was looking at him with love in his eye. "You did a tremendous job, Harry." He said, pride in his voice, "Thank you for all your hard work."
"You made wonderful food, Dad," said Harry happily, "Patrick said if you wanted to practice, we could serve breakfast and lunch if we wanted to on just a few days of the week to see if it pays off."
"Brilliant," said his Dad. "That actually might be a lot of fun for both of us and interesting too. While I do love our nightclub business, it's just not as interesting as it used to be." Dad looked amazed for a moment. "I do believe family has changed me," He muttered, "and against all expectations, I'm loving it."