Chapter 190: Ham and Cheese

The last time my youngest cooked anything in my kitchen, it got remodeled. And we’re not going to talk about the camping trip. - Sid

Camille’s first pregnancy craving started small. A ham and cheese sandwich. As they walked through the grocery store on the way back to Oma and Opa’s house, the craving grew. The grocery cart filled up and Darkness knew that her pregnancy was about to be out in the open.

They each carried multiple cloth bags into the house and placed them on the counter. Camille started emptying the bags and putting the groceries away. She left out the sliced sourdough bread, ham, cheeses, eggs and baby spinach. Honey Dijon mustard, bacon and butter were pulled out of the refrigerator. The big cast iron skillet went on the stove with a layer of bacon.

Sid came down the hall with the scent of frying bacon. She looked at her daughter in the kitchen, a sight that always made her worry. To her relief, Darkness was also in the kitchen.

“What are we fixing?”

“I thought it was a ham and cheese sandwich,” Darkness chuckled, “but now I have no idea.”

Camille flipped the bacon, “I saw the bacon and it just sounded like it would be so good.”

“When do we pick up Momma Dee?” Vin asked as he sat on the stool at the island bar.

“Tomorrow,” Darkness answered as he watched his wife cook. “Their plane lands around two thirty. Mia said that Rosie can use one of the cars until she can get one.”

“Did they ever get the Packard fixed?” Camille asked with a little laugh.

Sid laughed with her daughter. “I think so, you’ll have to ask your dad.”

“What’s up with the Packard?” Darkness asked.

“A few years ago, they had to move the car collection out of a private storage location, and they moved them out to the farm. Werewolf and Bear or maybe it was Sticks…” Sid looked at Camille who just shrugged.

“The only thing that I know for certain is that it was a couple of Mia’s brothers,” she told her mom as she flipped the bacon once again.

“You’re so much help,” Sid said dryly.

“Narrowed it down from the Lowery men in general,” Camille pointed out as she prepped a plate with paper towels for the bacon.

“True,” Sid shook her head. “So, they’re getting the collection and two of Alana’s boys are fighting over who gets to drive the Packard pick-up. Mia’s telling them that no one is driving the Packard and they’re still fighting over it.”

“Now, I will be perfectly honest, the guys out at Wilson’s makes sure that my little Jeep goes. How it goes? I don’t know. A wing and a prayer, God’s good graces, a little witchcraft, hell, there might be a little ADHD squirrel with a running wheel in the engine.” Sid shrugged her shoulders and made a ‘I really don’t know’ motion with her hands. “Keep that in mind because I may be telling you this wrong.”

“Got it, don’t go to you for car maintenance,” Darkness chuckled.

“No, I go to Wilson’s every Tuesday and Riff does whatever Riff does to my car.”

Camille laid the bacon out on the paper towels and drained the grease into the grease can. “Mom is so forbidden from doing anything with her car that Riff puts gas in the tank. She is forbidden from doing anything other than driving her Jeep.”

“If diesel is so different, it should not come out of the same pump.”

“Mom,” Camille shook her head as she put butter in the skillet. “They have different hoses and the handles are different colors. Just because the pumps have the same housing unit, does not mean that they use the same pump.”

“Whatever,” Sid rolled her eyes. “Anyway, the transmission was in the back of the Packard, and the engine was in the back of the double thing.”

“The deuce,” Camille said as she cracked a couple of eggs into the skillet and they began to fry.

“Was Deuce there?”

Laughing, Camille sprinkled some pepper on the eggs. “The double thing is called a deuce because it weighs two and a half tons. Meanwhile, the man is named Deuce because he’s the second twin.”

“Well…” Sid said as she watched her youngest daughter cook.

“Can I have one?” Vin asked.

“You want just an egg or a sandwich?”

“Full sandwich, please,” Vin said as Darkness asked, “Are you searing the ham?”

“Thought about it,” she admitted with a shoulder shrug, “except…”

Darkness chuckled as he moved around the island and took over the cooking. He gave her a quick kiss and then nudged her over towards where Tink lay on his bed against the fireplace. “Go take Tink for a walk, I’ll take care of that part.”

She gave him a quick hug and then called Tink to go for a walk. Camille knew that her mother was confused and knew that her secret was about to become common knowledge. Just as she expected, Sid asked the question while Camille snapped the lead onto the Tink’s harness.

“When did she learn to cook?”

“I’ve been teaching her for a few years,” Darkness told her as he moved the fried eggs to a ceramic plate and placed it in the microwave. “It took some time to get past her hang ups; she was always afraid that she would catch something on fire.”

The door closed behind her, and Camille did not hear any more of the conversation. She walked Tink around the block and stopped to talk with Mrs. Phillips on the corner. When she walked back into the house, the smile on her mother’s face told her that Sid knew about the baby.

Sid rushed over and hugged her daughter. Pulling back, she grabbed Camille’s face and smished her cheeks together. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were pregnant?”

“May he he cuz of dis?” Camille said the best that she could with her cheeks smished together and her mouth forced open.

“What?” Sid laughed as she let go of Camille’s face. “Sorry, now why did you not tell me?”

“Because as soon as you knew, you were going to react like you always do and it’s not a bad thing, I love how you love all your grandbabies… but I wanted to enjoy just being pregnant for a little while.”

“Pregnant?” Trigg asked as he came in from the garage. “We’re getting more grandbabies?”

Camille sighed as her eyes filled with tears. “Guys, I need you to chill. I know that y’all are excited to have another grandbaby, but I already have three babies. They don’t need to feel like they are no longer important. They need to know that they are still your grandbabies.”

“They’ll always be our grandbabies,” Sid assured her.

“Forever,” Trigg agreed. “Where are the other two?”

“Out at Molly’s,” Vin told them. “But she’s right. Mitch is afraid that you won’t love him anymore. And Nicki thinks that she’ll become the babysitter.”

“Never,” Camille whispered as she moved over to hug Vin. “You’ll always be my first babies.”