Chapter Thirty-Eight

Blake scrubs the cloth back and forth against the white kitchen bench, scrubbing away the mess from his cooking. He's been cleaning for the last two days non-stop, polishing, dusting and vacuuming until all that's left is a perfect surface with a refreshing fragrance of lemon. Tori is staying for the night and he wants everything to be completely perfect for when she comes. It's been a week since we'd talked to Tori about certain arrangements, then a day after, she asked if she could spend the night here. I thought Blake was going to say no, on the account that he was planning on working to this stage. But he'd said yes, and that surprised me. I'd pondered on it being a way to keep Tori happy or just because he felt she was ready to take this seriously. Either way, Tori is on her way to the house and Blake is freaking out about it. "Everything will be okay," I reassure him, "she's going to have dinner with us, take care of Lo and probably watch a movie. Nothing is going to go wrong, I promise!" Despite my words, this doesn't bring an inch of confidence to him. Blake stops scrubbing the bench and looks up to say, "When she's happy and walking out the door tomorrow, I'll settle down." He then returns to his cleaning duties. At least Blake's nervous ticks were somewhat useful. I close the space between us and grab the cloth from his hand, then place it on the bench. Blake goes to reach for it, but I grab his hand and wrap it around my body and rest my head on his warm chest. "Kiss me, please," I whisper against his green t-shirt. Blake's hand cups the side of my cheek, then lifts my face up. He presses his soft warm lips against mine and I feel the sparks running through my body like hot electricity. I run my hands through his hair, while his hands squeeze my hips. There's a knock against the front door which sends us stepping apart. I look at Blake to see his hand twitching towards the cloth. Instead of forcing him to answer the door, I grab the cloth and hand it back to him. "I'll let Tori in the house, you finish cleaning this up, okay?" Blake smiles and presses a kiss against my lips and then gets back to cleaning. "Make sure you at least set the table for dinner." "I'll try," he says. "You will," I call over my shoulder as I walk towards the door. I open the door and greet Tori with a bright smile. She's standing with one hand on her hip and the other holding the blue shoulder strap of her overnight bag. "Hey Tori, how are you?" I ask. "I'm good, thank you." I open the door wider to let Tori inside. She walks in and takes a step to the side and looks at me expectantly. Nerves bubble in my stomach as I try to play it cool - I don't want to be the one to ruin their progress. "Blake is just finishing up with dinner, but I can show you to your room. I've spent the last couple of days making sure everything is perfect for you and London." I turn to the door behind me that leads to the spare room and open it up. Once Tori catches a glimpse of what's inside, she takes a step forwards and starts exploring the contents. The bed has fresh sheets that I borrowed from Angela. They are a pretty white set with pink flowers dotted around. To the left of the room is a pop up cot with pink sheets, a mobile to play music and a few books to read to her. I've also added in a portable changing table along with supplies for nightly changes. Everything Tori is going to need for tonight. "Do you like it? You can always change it around." I place my hands on my hips and watch Tori carefully. "No, it looks good. Thank you so much Ava." "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." I giggle. "London is down for a nap at the moment, but when she needs to be fed, you can move her down here." "That'll be great. When is dinner?" she asks. "Blake should be setting it on the table now, but he could be scrubbing the kitchen bench." I shrug my shoulders casually. "I bet he's still scrubbing that bench." She chuckles. We both walk towards the kitchen and find Blake hovering over the kitchen bench, still scrubbing it. I cough, which makes him look up at us. Blake quickly throws the cloth in the sink and dries his hands on a towel before grabbing the plates for dinner. I walk around the bench and grab the food, bringing it to the table. The three of us take a seat at the table and hand out the cutlery. "Hope you like spag bol." Grins Blake. "Sure do," replies Tori. Blake slides the pot towards Tori and she quickly serves herself before sliding it along to me. I do the same and then reach for some cheese to sprinkle on top. I wait for the cheese to melt before I start eating. "This is amazing," I compliment. "Just like you used to make it," says Tori, "I've missed your cooking. Mum's never been the best." She wrinkles her nose and giggles lightly. "It's not burnt, it's just extra crispy," says Blake, followed by Tori laughing. "That's exactly what she used to say!" agrees Tori. "She never admits to it either." "I think my cooking would come to par with your mother's, Tori," I say, "I can't seem to manage to boil a pot of rice without killing it somehow." I think back to the moment when I left rice on the cooker and came back to find the water completely gone and burnt rice stuck to the bottom. It was certainly not my finest cooking moment. "Don't worry, I'll give you a few cooking lessons to get you into shape," replies Blake. "We can fix your pot of rice in no time." There's a bright, humorous smile on his face. "You'd better keep the fire department on standby, I might end up burning the kitchen down." "London can be your cheerleader as well. Tori could even be the test subject," he adds. "As long as Blake tests the food first. I don't want to get food poisoning, or worse, die." Tori laughs while shaking her head. She takes another bite of her food and my eyes flicker back to Blake. So far everything is working out great. "Please excuse me, I'm just going to use the bathroom." Tori places her cutlery on the table and then slides out of her chair and walks upstairs. I take another bite out of my food and smile up at Blake. "Are you feeling better?" I ask, "Or are you itching to get back to cleaning?" I tease. "Bit of both. Everything is running smoothly, but I feel like it could blow up in my face within seconds." Blake stabs his food with his fork, then pushes a meatball to the side of his plate. "You should eat something," I encourage him. "If you insist." Blake swirls the pasta around and then shoves it in his mouth. There's a small cry, which makes me look towards the stairs. I wait another couple of seconds and then stand up. Blake still has food hanging out of his mouth, so I put my hand up and tell him to wait there. I charge up the stairs and walk straight over to London's cot. I pick her up and cradle her to my chest carefully, and then I start rocking her back and forth in an attempt to soothe her cries. I pat her back and get a small smell of poo. "It's okay, shh." The doorknob rattles and then Tori steps out of the bathroom and her face turns to shock, then fades to a small slice of envy, but mostly worried. "She was crying and Blake had food hanging out of his mouth. You can take her if you like." I take a step towards her and offer up London. Tori gently takes London into her arm and snuggles her close. "Does she need a nappy change?" asks Tori. "She does." I nod my head. "I'll let you get to it." I take a step to the side to leave, but Tori calls me back. "Could you help? I never got the hang of these things." Tori bites her lip nervously, then smiles up at me. "Yeah, I can do that." I nod my head. Tori and I step back into the bathroom and I set up the changing area by grabbing out a fresh nappy and a few wet wipes. Tori places London on the change mat and presses her hand against her chest. We both strip her out of her clothing and start changing. I let Tori take the lead and step back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Blake standing in the doorway with a big grin on his face. Things were going to work out.