Eddie decided it was time to start cooking his lasagne. At first it took him a while to find everything he needed. It did not look like Rachel did a lot of cooking, at least, not recently. Everything he needed was tucked away at the back of the cupboards. But it was there. He wondered what Rachel would think if the roles were reversed, and she was the one looking through his kitchen cupboards. He had to admit, it probably was not much different. He tried to remember when he had stopped cooking. He realised it was when he left Alison. There had just seemed no point cooking for one. His university friends may have teased him for his interest in cooking, but they were all too happy to eat the food. Eventually he took over cooking for all his flatmates. They were more than happy to pool their food budget and let him take control of the grocery shop and the cooking. He had cooked for Alison too, especially when she was pregnant. All Eddie wanted was to care for her and his unborn babies as best he could, and healthy, home-cooked food was what he could offer, so he offered it. As the babies grew, he cooked for them too. It had not been enough for Stephen. Rationally, he knew it was just sheer bad luck, but he could not help but wonder, if only he had fed the boy better food, maybe things would have been different. His thoughts wandered as he chopped and fried, mixed and stirred. He was surprised when he found the lasagne assembled and ready to go into the oven.
He went upstairs to check on Rachel. He knelt beside the bed and stroked her cheek, waking her gently. Nevertheless, she jolted awake. "Oh," she said, "sorry, it wasn't you, it was just a dream."
Eddie smiled sympathetically. After everything she had gone through, it was no wonder she would have nightmares. He knew he could not push her to tell him anything, but he hoped that she knew she could, whenever she was ready. "Lasagne will be ready in twenty minutes," he said.
Rachel took a deep breath, gearing herself up for getting herself up and out of bed. That was when she first noticed the smell of the food cooking. It smelt amazing, and she noticed that she was now very hungry. "Thanks Eddie," she said,
"That's what I'm here for," he said laughing, "Nurse Eddie at your service!"
At that, she joined in his laughter. "You'd make a good nurse," she said.
Still laughing he replied, "Oh I think I'd probably be a better cook than a nurse."
"Have you ever thought about teaching?" she joked.
"Ooh no," he replied, "I'd be terrible at that, I don't even like kids!"
