Interlude || Young!Tiago & M
The cookbook propped against the wall above the kitchen counter had been a gift to M when she got married to Richard. When she had opportunities to cook, or made the opportunities, she frequently chose a recipe from the cookbook. The edges of the cookbook had frayed a little over the years, but it proved its use time and time again.
She scanned over the needed ingredients for paella once again and a smile quirked at the corners of her mouth. M fiddled in one of the cupboards as she pulled out the specific measuring spoons that the recipe required. She checked to see if the chicken was thawed before reaching for the cutting board in another cabinet.
She had found the recipe before she adopted Tiago and had marked it using a small piece of paper. It was something she had wanted to bake for the longest time, but she had decided to save it for a special occasion.
M checked the clock and looked back at the cooking and prep time for the paella, the smile on her face growing wider as she heard Tiago’s bedroom door open and close. Her other two children were out with their father as they went to the grocer’s to get two items that she had missed upon her first inspection.
As she heard Tiago’s footsteps get closer, she removed the chorizo sausages from the refrigerator and began unwrapping it. She knew that there would be time for it to warm up before it was required in the recipe, but cutting ingredients beforehand always proved useful.
It was better than having to scramble to cut them while getting things together. At that point, there was a chance of forgetting something or not cutting as well as the recipe needed.
The knife she pulled out of the knife drawer glinted in the light of the sun as she laid the two chorizo sausages on the cutting board. She kept her fingers a distance away from the blade of the knife as she made the first cut along the sausage. Working with one at a time, she cut the sausages into moderately thick slices. She wanted to have enough slices, even though there were two sausages. M went through the same motions with the other sausage before she set the slices aside in a bowl and washed off the knife in the sink.
She glanced out of the corner of her eye and smiled as she saw Tiago leaning against the wall near the far end of the counter. Her smile turned soft and more fond as she turned to face him fully, a hand on the counter.
“Would you like to help me?” she asked. “I’m making paella for dinner.”