Part 31

On the way out, Alphonso smiled at Meena. "Meet me at the car, I want to talk to Rosita about something." He handed her the keys.

She was curious but trusted her husband. Outside, she put her hands in her pocket with a shiver. "Well the cold season is certainly on its way." She said to Ash as they walked together to the car.

Ash nodded, waiting with her. "Yeah. Trick or treating is going to be cold this year. Lance invited me to go with him and his kids."

Meena smiled. "That sounds like fun. Alphonso and I are volunteering with our church trunk or treat. Why don't you let us give you a ride home?" She offered.

She nodded. "I will happily accept. It's too cold to walk. I'm thinking of getting a car. Nothing fancy. Just something to get from a to b."

"Makes sense. I'm glad Alphonso has a car. He's teaching me to drive," Meena got into the front passenger seat and put the key in the ignition to start it heating up. Ash got in the backseat. "So it sounds like it's going well with Lance."

Ash nodded. "Well enough. He's much nicer than he used to be and he's a good dad. He loves them dearly." She buckled up. "He's good to me and I care about him."

"Do you love him?" Meena asked curiously.

The porcupine thought about it. "There are moments where I think it might be love but I get so scared. Last time ended so badly, I'm scared to put a label on it. What if it goes wrong again? And there are two innocent children who would be affected by it if it does."

Her best friend listened and nodded in understanding until Alphonso joined them in the driver's seat. Meena loved that he didn't even question taking Ash home. He just saw Ash and was more than willing to make the extra stop.

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The next morning, Alphonso was just finishing testing a new recipe when the doorbell rang. He opened the door to the nervous Lance, wearing a red polo shirt and khakis. "Come on in." He led Lance through the sitting room and into the kitchen. A bowl sat next to a supply of flour, white and brown sugar, baking soda, butter, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. A detailed print out of the recipe lay next to them. He threw Lance an apron. "Let me see you make a batch of chocolate chip cookies." He could go through the traditional interview questions but he already had an idea what the answers might be. What he needed was to see if Lance could do the work.

The crested porcupine tied on the apron and began the task of creaming the butter, sugar and vanilla in the mixer. "So, Ash says congratulations are in order. Are you excited?" He asked.

Alphonso nodded. "I'm ecstatic. I dreamed of being a father someday."

Lance laughed. "You're handling it better than I did. Becky was upset and I knew I was going to suck. Then the first time I held Raquelle and then Lance, it all changed. These were two little lives that I helped create." He sighed. "Then she left as soon as she had the energy."

The bull nodded. "Sounds like it was her loss. You're good with them. I can't wait to meet my baby for the first time."

"Do you want a boy or girl?" Lance asked as he finished preparing the cookie dough.

Alphonso shook his head. "I want a healthy baby. I'll love them, boy or girl. We want at least two ultimately, one of each if possible." He watched the porcupine carefully make each cookie the same size. "Impressive, not many know how to do that."

Lance laughed. "When you have twins, they're always watching to make sure they each have equal amounts. I bake for them all the time. Store bought treats are too expensive." He explained.

"Can I get an amen up in here!" Tyler said as he came in with grocery bags.

Alphonso groaned. "Store bought isn't my favorite. There's always an aftertaste." He admitted. After the cookies were in the preheated oven, Alphonso looked through the groceries that Tyler picked out. "Jam, cream cheese, fresh fruit, vegetables. More chocolate. Ooo caramel chips. Bacon?"

Tyler shrugged. "Bacon is really popular in sweets now."

He looked at Lance. "I want to see what you can do with these things. Make anything you want."

Lance looked at the staples he had to work with and the new ingredients. "Hmm…" He grabbed a yellow onion and began dicing.

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A few hours, the elephant and orangutan were pleasantly surprised. Tyler ate three pieces of the thin crust onion and bacon pie. "What did you call this?"

"My gram called it Zwiebelkuchen or German Onion Cake," Lance explained. "The kids love it at Christmas time."

Alphonso nodded. "I can see why. I bet it would sell at any time of year. That's good. So, we're opening the winter truck on November 1st. We're partnering with a local strip mall that promises to be busy during the Christmas shopping season. We'd like to offer you the job. Think you're up for it? It'll be intense. We get really slammed some days. Do you think you have it in you?"

Lance nodded. "If you're really offering me the job because I earned it, then yes." He said. "I just don't want to be one of those boyfriends, you know. I used to be one of those boyfriends and I lost Ash once because of it."

Tyler looked at Alphonso who nodded in understanding. "Hey, we get that. Pride might be a sin but wanting to be self-sufficient is not pride. Not wanting to look like a mooch is also not pride."

"Alphonso!" Meena called downstairs. "Can you bring me another ginger ale?"

Alphonso dutifully got up. "Whoever called it Morning Sickness lied." He grabbed a ginger ale and put a few slices of onion cake on a small plate. "I'll be right back."

Upstairs, Meena lay in bed, watching tv while combating the nausea. "Sorry for interrupting your work." She smiled at him. "Ooo what's this?" She asked as she accepted both the soda and the snack.

"Lance made it as part of his interview. He called it German onion cake. And it's going on the menu," he explained.

Meena tasted the savory pastry. "Wow, that's good. I didn't know he could bake. It doesn't seem likely."

Alphonso laughed. "Well, he has two kids and grocery prices are high so… He's going to be working with us." He kissed her. "How are you feeling?"

"I should be able to get up soon, I promise," she reassured him.

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At the Suarez home, Rosita served breakfast to her large family while filling Norman in on the plan. She kissed each of her children, including Eddie on the forehead as she divvied up the waffles and fried chicken.

"What? You mean we're going back? Again? Honey, are you sure that's a good idea?" Norman asked. That show had nearly killed his wife's love of the theater entirely. It had left them all traumatized in some way.

She sighed. "There really isn't a choice. There's a contract we have to keep or risk the troupe's reputation really. Mr. Moon would never want us to buy our way out either." She looked at the table, contemplating. "I've been having dreams and I think this is what he wants. We have to do this to find closure, I think. We didn't really finish the show. I didn't do my number. He wants to see a full run with no interruptions. I have to make my jump."

Her husband sighed. "Well, when you put it that way but when?"

"Thanksgiving break. That whole week, then possibly a few weeks over the summer," she explained. She saw Eddie writing in his notebook. "How is the writing going?"

He looked up. "It's going okay. I'm just plotting out the show to include Alphonso's surprise. And then I'm onto the second act of Cinderella. Thank you for getting my notebook back from them, Mama."

Rosita smiled. When Eddie told her that they had taken his backpack including his notebook, she had gotten their current address from Nana. With a few of her rowdier piglets to distract the Noodlemans, she found the bag. She had "graciously" dropped the charges provided they swear never to come anywhere near Eddie in future.

"I also want to possibly do something small for Halloween," he admitted. "Maybe we could turn the theater into a haunted house for the night. And maybe do a small Halloween party after the kids go home."

Norman nodded. "I love Halloween. That would be a lot of fun." Just what Eddie needed.

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The interview finally wrapped up with them onboarding Lance and getting him on the payroll. "Oh, Lance, October 30, our church is doing a trunk or treat with a hay maze and wagon rides. You're welcome to bring your kids, it's a free event." Alphonso told him as they went to the door.

"Thanks, I'll remember that. It sounds like fun. I'll ask Ash to join us. And I'll be here to help on Monday." He promised. "I have other recipes I can share."

"Great," Alphonso agreed. "That would be appreciated. We'll see you then." One employee hired. Now one or two others and their staff would be rounded out and he could go to Redshore with Meena without any guilt.

AN: Coming up, Halloween. Trying to decide where to take this.