Chapter 39: Chapter Twenty-Three

I remember the second time I met Blake Rivers. He was walking around the shopping centre with his mother chasing after him with the trolley. As he blitzed through the aisles, he pulled bits and pieces from the shelves like an expert and didn't stop to delay. He looked like a man on a mission and half lost in his mind. Perhaps this was the moment when I'd first decided that Blake wasn't anything like the other boys I knew. Blake Rivers was different, and I guess that turned out to be true. "What do you want?" Blake looks over his shoulder expectantly at me. I look around and realise we're standing in the middle of the junk food aisle. On one side, an assortment of chocolate bars and lollies, while the other side is packets of chips in an arrangement of flavours and colours. "Chips?" I answer. "Pick a flavour then." He nods to the packets. I hesitate as I look over the assortment, and then begin to ponder what I feel like to what is available, while being conscience of the price and what's on special. In the end, I pick the crinkled cut salt and vinegar chips and place them in the trolley. "You're that kind of person, hey?" Blake eyes of the chip packet. I frown at him like he's silly, then ask him what he's referring to. Blake sticks his nose in the air and smiles as he begins to walk forwards, "You enjoy a little flavour in your life." Rolling my eyes, I laugh at his comment and then move to walk beside him. We walk down a couple more aisles before heading to the check outs to pay for the food. We've mainly bought food for dinner, but Blake also grabbed a few packs of nappies since they were on sale at a decent price. Somehow, we manage to make it to the checkouts and back to the car within a reasonable time frame. I wonder how Jude is going with London by himself? I wonder if Angela has given up and come to his rescue? We haven't received any distressed calls, so no news could be considered good news. I help Blake load the shopping into the back of his car, and then get into the front seat when he goes to put the trolley in the bay a couple of cars down from us. Blake is quick to dump the trolley and return to the car. He shoves the keys into the ignition and quickly slams the gears into reverse. I dislike to assume. But it looks like Blake is missing his little girl. Miss Jackson by Panic! At The Disco comes onto the radio and I jump with happiness, I could scream with excitement when I see Blake leaning forwards to turn the radio up. "What?" He frowns at me. "I just love this song." I awkwardly nod my head. "Same." If it's possible, his cool factor has certainly increased. It's hard to find people who know about good music, everyone just listens to what's being played on the radio now days. Kyle is the exception of course. He's only ever listened to the radio to try and win things, like concert tickets for Good Charlotte. We never won them, but it was fun enough to see Kyle listening to radio music, he'd walk around the school singing pop songs. When we return to Blake's house, we find a stressed out Jude pacing around the living room. However, he's managed to get London back to sleep, which is a good sign. Angela appears out of nowhere and helps to put the shopping away while Blake runs upstairs to check on London. "How was everything?" I ask. Jude shakes his head and looks away, while Angela laughs and begins to tell me the story of what took place. "I heard London crying, so I came over to check it out. I gave him some pointers on settling. You should have seen his face and heard his commentary while he changed her nappy." I giggle in response. "Do you know what the funniest part was?" "What?" I prompt. "It was a wet nappy." She shakes her head with laughter. "You take after your father Jude, he never could change a baby's nappy," she explains. Blake soon appears back downstairs with the baby monitor tucked into his back pocket. "Ready to start cooking?" Blake looks at me. I look around and then back at Blake. "Me?" I point to myself. "Yes." He nods his head. "Oh." Blake starts rummaging through the cupboards producing containers, spices, oils and sauces. Then he grabs the meat out of the fridge and starts piling it on the kitchen bench. We'd managed to grab an assortment of everything. The way Blake was describing the different seasonings and styles, it had my stomach rumbling and my mind confused on what I wanted to eat. We're going to start mixing marinade so that the meat can soak and be all tender; that kind of stuff. I sit off to the side and watch Blake whiz through the kitchen. On the occasion, he'd slide over a container filled with meat, herbs and some other sauces and I'd put it together, but I'd much rather leave it up to the professional. Mucking up dinner for everyone isn't something I want to do. London's cries is the only thing that puts a halt in Blake's fast paced movements. Jude looks at Blake and I cough and look towards the stairs. "Jude, can you bring Lo downstairs? We'll bring her outside with us," he explains, "No child of mine will not know how to cook meat on a barbie." Jude nods his head and then quickly darts upstairs to collect the screaming baby. When he returns, Blake is washing his hands and I'm stacking the containers back in the fridge so we can go outside and prep the barbie. Jude stands near me as he slowly rocks London back and forth. Her cries begin to settle, which is good to see. Jude is starting to look less nervous now, which is also great. "Good afternoon my beautiful girl." He kisses her forehead. "Today, Daddy is going to teach you how to clean a bbq. Now, pay attention because this is very important." My heart skips a few beats as I watch Blake talking to London; it's rather adorable. The look of love and adoration in his eyes is cute. I think it's nice that Blake wants to include London in other things such as cleaning a bbq. Not entirely the most interesting thing in the world, but there's the effort and he wants to spend time and teach her things. That's an admirable quality in someone. With London wrapped up in Blake's arms, we head outside. Their backyard is still considerably large considering the addition of the guest house. They've got a build in kitchen and eating area along with a swimming pool and decking chairs out in the sun – great for tanning. Jude and Blake got to the kitchen area while I move to the deck chairs to rest in the sun. It's a rather beautiful day to be sitting in the sun – not hot enough to be burnt or overheated, but warm enough that you could easily go to sleep in. I watch the boys as they fuss around. Blake hands London back to Jude while he forages in the bushes for a lemon. He manages to cut it open and starts rubbing it all over the grill. Angela walks out of her house and has a tray full of drinks. She hands each of the boys a glass of cold beer, and then walks towards me. There's two drinks on the tray – which makes me think she's mixed me a drink, how thoughtful. "Alcoholic alright?" she asks as she hands me the cocktail glass. "Yes, always a good choice," I reply. Angela laughs as she joins me on the decking chairs. She takes a sip of her drink and places it on the side table. I'm hesitant, but I take a small sip. There's a mix of tropical juice and a hint of alcohol which is nice. Subtle and not overpowering like some drinks can be. "What are they doing?" she asks. "Looks like they're making more of a mess than cleaning." "London is about to learn a life lesson," I reply. "If she's anything like her father, she'll be a natural in the kitchen." "Then I guess it's good he's starting her out young." I smile. "Poor child." We say in union. Angela and I watch as Blake and Jude mess around with the barbie. London is passed between the two like a rag doll until Angela decides it's time to rescue her grand baby. She takes her from Jude's hands and walks towards the guest house. I grab my drink and wander over towards where they are standing. "Everything okay?" I ask. "Ava." Blake lights up excitedly. "You're just in time, I need to teach someone something at least." He wraps his arm around my waist and drags me closer to the bbq. There's a few squished lemons and pips everywhere. "I'm worried," I say. "Don't be. Blake is a very descriptive teacher." Chuckles Jude. "Oh boy." Blake shoots off into a deep explanation about the importance of cleaning while I chug down the cocktail.