Life, so crazy busy. Almost done!

Chapter XII

"Are Betty and Daniel here yet?"

"They're on their way."

A lovely spray of flowers decorated the worn kitchen table. Typically seating four, the Suarezes found it was easy to accommodate the trio of Meades for dinner, and just as easy to accommodate them in their lives. Happy chatter drifted in from the living room, where Alexis and Hilda exchanged beauty tips arm-in-arm, interrupted occasionally by Justin. Ignacio bustled in serving pretzel and nuts as a pre-dinner snack. Everyone was anticipating the arrival of the missing members of the group, and for reasons other than getting dinner underway.

Claire Meade looked around the kitchen, similarly in the way her own daughter had gazed on her first visit to the residence. Technically, it was Claire's second visit to the Suarezes though she wasn't sure if the breaking and entering counted for her first. The Matriarch gave a glance towards a stacked pile of plates and silverware on the worn kitchen table. They weren't of the best quality, but to the Queens' quartet, it must have been the family's fine china, used only for the most special of occasions. Automatically her hands reached for them, arranging the set in prefect placement.

Plates in the middle, glasses to the upper right, forks to the left, knives to the right...

Her careful eyes scanned the overall look, positioning the centerpiece to its exact middle location. Setting the proper table setting she could do, raising a proper family, on the other hand, was something completely foreign to her.

"Ay! Mrs. Meade, you didn't have to do that. You're our guest." Wide panicked eyes looked around in an embarrassed, reddening face.

She waved off the protests delicately. "It was no trouble at all. In fact, I haven't done this in ages."

Claire's mind wandered to the last time she and her children had sat down at home together to eat as a family. Sure, they had gone out for meals, including one memorable brunch she remembered when Alexis had realized that Betty was in love with Daniel. It didn't take very long to spot the very same emotions lingering within her baby boy.

A mother always knows.

"You like to keep busy, don't you?"

Claire was taken aback by the question. It was just second nature to her to never remain idle.

Idle hands are the devil's tools.

It was a saying she had heard long ago and didn't they always have a grain a truth to them? Though her husband had a mighty corporate empire to run, after its success, his slowly growing boredom led to an involvement with that devil of a woman, Fey Sommers. Idle hands had also led Daniel astray until Betty came into his life. Her baby boy had found a new purpose with the last thing he had ever wanted, and the only thing that tied him to his father: running MODE magazine.

Oh Bradford.

"It helps to keep the loneliness away," she whispered. Even though she had her children nearby, her house will still big and empty. At least the Suarezes had each other for company.

A sympathetic look was sent her way. "I know how that feels, trying anything and everything to replace that void in your life, even driving your children crazy."

Claire winced. She did drive Alexis and Daniel crazy the first few weeks after her husband's death. However, she soon found an outlet. She had always wanted to see how it was to run her own magazine, and thus Hot Flash was born.

It was still a little lonely.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Those were the stages of grief, but what did the books ever say about dealing about loneliness?

"With Hilda, it was the complete opposite. She wanted to be alone. When Santos died, we made sure to check on Hilda every hour until the worst was over. It still took two weeks for her to even get out of her room." Her companion looked very small and shrunken in the kitchen chair.

Claire agreed with remorse. It was a pity a girl half her age suffered through the same pain and heartbreak.

"We only want the best for our children. To protect them from any harm, but we can't." Claire thought back to the old fable. A woman searched everywhere for a cure for her grief. The wise sage said that if she could find a household who had not experienced the same pain she had, then she would find contentment. Everywhere she searched, but every household had encountered death. She was not alone.

Not alone...

Her eyes blazed, her chin lifted. No, no, they were never alone. Even though she couldn't protect her family from harm, she could surround them with good influences. Now that the two families had found each other, she would do her best to keep the connection. It was the best thing that had ever happened to them.

"I wanted to thank you, for speaking to Daniel. You've really been like a father to him."

"I mean no disrespect to Mr. Meade's memory, Mrs. Meade," Ignacio ventured.

Claire met his worried eyes with her own warm ones. "Daniel needed someone to talk to, and you were lonely."

"Yes." The Matriarch had echoed the words he had spoken to Alexis. Even though the elder Suarez had his children with him, they all had work or school to attend, and so the days were spent puttering around the house, with every corner containing a memory of his dear departed wife.

Maybe she could find a solution.

"Mr. Suarez, I can set a dinner table, but I can barely boil water. Judging from the smell coming from the oven, I can tell you are a wonderful cook."

"Please Mrs. Meade. Call me Ignacio. You are asking for lessons?"

"Yes, I have a kitchen that's rarely used." She gave a thoughtful pause. "Call me Claire. I figure I should at least know some basics."

"I'd love to teach you, Mrs. – I mean, Claire." The elder man gave a beautiful smile. It would be nice to get out of the house every once in a while, and to spend time with one of the wealthiest families in New York with a state-of-the-art kitchen? An added bonus.

"Ay! Betty and Daniel are here!" Hilda Suarez's strident voice drifted into the kitchen.

Ignacio rushed to greet them. Claire rose slowly, lingering before the empty dishes.

She figured she should learn in case she had to baby-sit her future grandchildren.

A little weak, but maybe the last chapter will make up for it.

Please review, Grignard