Corpsman and the Nerd (16 page)

“
Aunt Lainy?” a young lady
she recognized as a niece of about ten asked
tentatively.

“
Yes, Cassy?”

“
What is that?” She pointed
to the pot Lainy stirred.

“
Grandma Morrison’s secret
spaghetti sauce.” Lainy wiggled her eyebrows at the girl. “Which
means in another year, you’ll own this recipe.” All the girls were
gifted with a book of precious family recipes, some of them
heirloom, on their eleventh birthday. KC loved the tradition.
Someday if she had daughters... New brides were also gifted with
the book on their wedding day. She decided not to go
there.

“
Oh. It doesn’t have
anything...disgusting in it, right?” Cassy sounded
unsure.

“
Nope, remember, I have to
eat what I make too,” Lainy replied and added more spices to the
bubbling sauce.

“
So, if you’re eating it, we
won’t be poisoned?”

Lainy peered at her niece over the
rims of her glasses. “I’m not your father, lovey.”

“
No, but you’re a Morrison,
so—”

“
Most of us can cook, it’s
just your father and uncles who won’t try,” Lainy finished for
her.

“
Okay.” The pre-teen seemed
appeased and wandered away.

Rachel, beautiful, blonde and Will’s
wife joined Lainy at the stove. She held a huge pan in both hands
and briskly filled the heavy looking beast with water. She turned
the gas on beneath the pot. “So, Lainy, did you remember the
meatballs this time?”

“
Uh-huh.” Lainy spooned up
something and KC saw a lone ball on the spoon.

“
There’s more than one?”
Rachel asked dubiously.

“
Of course there’s more than
one. Your husband and kids alone will eat us out of at least one
bag of these things, Rachel,” Lainy said, a bit of scold in her
voice. She added something else to the pot.

“
Excellent.” Rachel wasn’t
in the least bit offended by Lainy’s comment. KC remembered Max’s
brother Will, the oldest, and his sons had huge appetites, so
Rachel’s fears were justified.

Tom, the youngest of Max’s brothers,
ambled in. He looked a lot like Will, only a bit smaller, with
blonde streaked hair and as usual, wore a loud shirt. This one was
neon orange, with hot pink stars and electric blue flashes. KC
winced. Where did he shop?

“
Okay, who let Lainy in the
kitchen?” he asked to no one in particular.

Lainy continued stirring her pot, but
her eyebrow rose.

“
She’s a good cook, dear.”
Her grandmother defended her.

“
No she isn’t, she’s a nerd.
Nerds can’t cook.” KC thought she felt a headache coming on from
his atrocious shirt.

“
Nerds can follow recipes,”
Lainy retorted and then looked over the rim of her glasses again.
“Unlike some people, who managed to poison the entire camp last
year.”

“
I didn’t poison the
entire
camp,” Tom
denied.

KC shook her head, willing and able to
refute his statement. She definitely remembered that incident. Max
had missed a day of work, which never happened.

“
Did too,” Melly said from
the sink.

“
You most certainly did,”
Laurie added from where she stood at the counter top. She turned
and KC saw a huge tray of garlic sticks in her hand. The Morrison
family garlic sticks were a legend based purely in fact. Laurie
inserted the tray into the oven and set a timer. Rachel dumped
several boxes of pasta into the now boiling water.

“
I did not poison the
entire
camp.”

“
Okay, one of your daughters
and Sophy didn’t get sick because they found Granddad’s Ho Ho stash
and didn’t eat what you cooked. Everyone else got sick.” Lainy
continued stirring and KC realized her friend wasn’t paying much
attention to the conversation. Lainy kept glancing from the pan to
the book in front of her.

“
What’s this I hear we’re
having eye of the newt, dragon livers, and various insects for
supper?” Will demanded as he entered the already tight
kitchen.

“
We are?” Tom sent a
horrified look Lainy’s way. KC figured this was for the benefit of
the boys crowding behind Will, trying to see around him.

“
We are,” Lainy confirmed,
not looking up. She continued to focus on her bubbling sauce.
“Ah-hah! That’s it!” she finally exclaimed and hurried to the
cupboard above Laurie. Lainy grabbed a bottle from the shelf and
after twirling its lid off, removed a bunch of leaves. She dropped
those into the sauce and the boys eyes went wide.

“
What are those, Aunt
Lainy?”

“
Yeah, what’d you put into
our eye of the newt stew?” another boy asked, distrust clouding his
words.

“
Magic leaves,” Lainy
answered easily.

The boys surged forward. “What’ll they
do?”

“
Turn you into a werewolf
whenever the full moon comes out. Of course, that could happen
anyway considering who your fathers are.” Lainy stroked her
forefinger and thumb along either side of her chin as she stared at
her brothers.

The boys let out raucous hoots of
laughter and concluded they should go start howling at the moon
now. They left the room in an awesome display of pre-adolescent boy
antics. KC figured she had this stage to look forward to in five
years from Ryan.

“
Please don’t give them any
more ideas,” Laurie begged but everyone ignored her and egged the
boys on.

KC watched Lainy easily dodge a poking
finger and slap a hand hovering near her sauce. She managed to get
in a few good kicks and a few more excellent shots of her own,
though. KC couldn’t tell which brother bugged her, but again envied
Max and Lainy for the closeness of their family.

“
Go buy a real shirt,” Lainy
said, as she whapped Tom’s fingers with the spoon in her hand. KC
laughed. She needed aspirin to counter the effect.

Tom looked affronted. “This is a real
shirt!”

“
It’s a disaster,” Lainy
concluded and several of the women smothered laughter.

“
I can’t believe you don’t
like my shirt. But then, who would listen to fashion advice from a
nerd anyway?” KC wondered if Max, who was the masculine version of
Lainy, had to put up with that type of comment. Being a nerd? Since
when was that a bad thing? She rather liked them,
personally.

“
Don’t blame me when the
fashion police fine you and take away your license. I tried,” Lainy
returned.

“
Just one meatball,” Will
coaxed, breaking into their sibling spat and Lainy and the other
women all set glares on him.

“
Would you three kindly get
out of the kitchen – you’re in our way,” Grandmom Melody stated
emphatically and pointed an imperious spoon toward the
door.

“
But Grandmom, we’re staying
out of the way,” Greg whined, and the ladies laughed. He managed to
snag a piece of pasta from the spoon Rachel held.

“
Out!” Grandmom commanded
and Lainy seconded, Melly added a third and Laurie took to pushing
the men through the door.

Rachel sent a sweet smile to Will, and
KC suppressed a sigh. She wanted a love like that.

The men filed out of the room,
grumping, and when they finally left, a round of relieved sighs
filled the newly vacated space. KC commiserated, even though she
wasn’t there. All those men in the room could only spell
disaster.

“
Finally, now we can get
some work done.” Laurie pulled the garlic sticks from the oven and
placed them into towel lined baskets. Rachel drained the pasta, and
then dumped it into huge bowls. Lainy began scooping her concoction
into more bowls. Grandmom placed several plastic containers of
salad beside those dishes ready to go to the table.

The ladies then carried the food to a
table outside. The table appeared to go on for a mile and drop off
into the lake. Laurie yelled and almost miraculously, the benches
filled with bodies of all sizes and ages. When everyone was seated,
parents made a few adjustments, and somehow Lainy got stuck between
Tom and Will.

She didn’t appear fazed by the
arrangement, however. Soon after meeting Lainy, KC learned her
friend had lightning fast elbows which she used whenever necessary.
KC decided she could learn a lot from Lainy. She bowed her own head
when they asked the blessing for the meal.

Immediately after, typical Morrison
family chaos broke out up and down the table. It didn’t deter any
of the occupants intent on enjoying the culinary spread.

“
Mom, pass the garlic bread,
please.” KC watched as Monica picked up the basket. Ryan’s ‘Granme’
looked fit and healthy, and happy to be surrounded by her
family.

“
Did you finish dessert?”
Laurie asked from her part of the table. KC smiled sadly, enduring
yet another wave of pure homesickness. She had seen Laurie in
constant motion like that in person. Catching a knocked-over glass
here, cutting up a meatball there, breaking up a spat beside her,
sending her husband hot looks when she thought she
could.

“
Yes, I did. Brownies and
ice-cream for whoever finishes their supper!” Monica declared and
the kids ate faster. Or, as KC observed, slyly moved the contents
of their plates to the mouths of the dogs lying conveniently
nearby. KC now understood why Spuds came home sick every time he
visited the lake.

Most of the pre-adolescent boys and
all the teenagers ate second and third helpings.

“
How is it they’ll eat
whatever you make, but not what I make?” Laurie asked Lainy in
consternation.

“
You just have to know how
to sell the stuff,” Lainy said around a bite of garlic
stick.

The meal didn’t take long.

Max sat across the table from Lainy
and KC noticed the two of them exchanged looks from time to time as
the conversations rattled on around them. This wasn’t unusual for
them. He said very little at the table, his main conversation
consisted of asking someone to pass him something. This wasn’t
unusual, either. Every once in a while he did something to rile the
kids up but he didn’t often get the blame. Usually the kid’s dads
got in trouble, or Ed. Especially Ed.

Like the salt Max managed to sprinkle
into several drinking cups, was blamed on Ed. Or the meatballs Max
swiped off a few plates. He seemed to have ventriloquist abilities
too, but the kids realized it was him. He could do several voices,
two of which sounded remarkably like Ed and Tom. KC grinned at his
antics. That was so Max, she ached for him.

KC wondered anew at the dynamics of
the family. She remembered her and Max rescuing Sophy from the tree
in his parent’s yard. The kids almost seemed interchangeable.
Whichever adult was handy took care of any problems that arose. And
her son was included in that dynamic. If he needed help, someone
took care of his need.

Lainy and Max, while not having
children of their own certainly seemed called to service often
enough. Lainy scooped more meatballs on one little guy’s plate, one
of which promptly got winged at the little girl across from him.
Max intercepted the meatball before the projectile reached its
destination. He winged the food over his shoulder, and one lucky
dog snapped up the tidbit.

KC knew this was perfectly normal
behavior for the Morrison family. Max did have incredible reflexes,
no doubt due to the myriad number of kids. Being a part of the
Morrison family offered so many advantages. KC hadn’t seen any
disadvantages so far.

Lainy scolded the little boy, but he
didn’t look all that repentant and when she looked away, stuck his
tongue out at the little girl he threw the tomato encrusted ball
at. Probably a sister. The little girl returned the favor and
several other kids got in on the action.

Laurie ended the fun, and another
little boy down the table, away from the camera started something
she missed. The kids at that end all jumped back and KC laughed and
groaned as a very green, croaking amphibian hopped down the table.
Ryan would do the very same thing.

Ed snagged the frog and threw it at
Lainy, who caught it and turned to let it go behind her. Only to be
greeted by Bentley, who wagged his tail furiously. She handed the
captive across the table to Max, who waved the amphibian in the
face of the little girl beside him.

Laughing, KC wanted to scold Max, and
hug him. The little girl screamed and he let the frog go,
apparently content with the scream and lunging effort to get away
from him. He tugged on one curly pigtail and she smacked him before
going back to her supper, her little legs swinging
contentedly.

There was no stopping the feeling of
remorse that encroached. How KC would love to have grown up in a
huge family unit like this. To be picked on and tormented and loved
and wanted. With her family, a brother and parents, she’d never
experienced those things.

She couldn’t recall ever eating a meal
with her family. KC and Greg had eaten in the kitchen with the
help. Her parents had rarely been home. As a child, they were a
fuzzy image, so rarely had she seen them. When they were home, they
fought. She and Greg had preferred them to stay away from
home.