The dinner party

Kopa came back wearing civilian clothes and continued his efforts to get food to snack on. But Mary and Bettina teamed up and blocked his access while they continued with the last preparation. Mary loved the playful mood and the fact that the kitchen was filled with laughter.

When there was a knock on the front door, Mary took of her apron and offered to answer it. She walked over and opened the door for the doctor.

“Good evening, Dr Genict, please come in” Mary said, taking a step back to allow him to enter. He looked utterly surprised to see her and that was when Mary realised that they never explained who Mary was when they meet him. This could be fun, she thought.

“Good evening, Mary, have you been invited as well?” he asked as he stepped inside.

“Why wouldn't she be?” Bettina laughed as she and Kopa came into the living room.

“I think we skipped over the explanation of who I am when we meet the good doctor” Mary smiled at Bettina.

“Oh my, you are correct. Well, you know my husband Kopa” Bettina said gesturing towards Kopa, that smiled and trusted his hand out towards Dr Genict, who shook it. “And this is Mary, our daughter” Bettina continued.

If Mary had thought that the poor doctor had looked surprised when she opened the door, he looked almost comical now.

“Your daughter?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“Not biological, obviously, but yes, we have started the process of adopting Mary” Kopa said with a smile, holding his arm out towards Mary. She walked over to him and was engulfed in a side hug by him. Bettina also added an arm around Mary so that Mary was sandwiched between the two of them.

“I guess congratulations are in order” Dr Genict said, trying to recover from his surprises.

“Thank you, I’m verry blessed” Mary said.

“So are we” Bettina added. “Come on in, the dinner is ready. Mary have made a dessert from Domne that I’m looking forward to trying” she continued ushering them towards the dining room.

“From Domne?” he asked.

“We really skipped all the important information regarding our Mary, didn’t we?” Bettina chuckled.

“I’m original from Domne, Dr Genict” Mary told him as she showed him to his place at the table.

“How original, how long have you been in our city?” he asked politely.

“A little over a month I would say” Mary answered, looking at Kopa for confirmation, he nodded.

“A month? But you speak Salamis fluently” he said.

“How kind of you to say. I have had good teachers”

Mary and Bettina both started to fill the table with food and drink. There was a meat stew, stuffed peppers, fried vegetables, pickled komqer melon and rice with spices.

“Please, eat and enjoy. Both Bettina and Mary are excellent cooks, I’m a lucky man” Kopa said to Dr Genict that was placed opposite him at the table. Mary was sitting on the doctors right and Bettina on Kopas left.

As they started serving food to themselves, they talked about everyday things. The mood was light, and the food was tasty. Mary relaxed and enjoyed the dinner. Bettina and Mary got several compliments of the food both from Kopa and Dr Genict.

As Bettina and Mary cleared the table and prepared for dessert, Mary gave Bettina an encouraging smile. Things seemed to go smoothly.

“Please enjoy” Mary told them as she put the bowl with her dessert on the table. There was a natural silence as everyone served themself and took the firs bite. The silence continued as the others around the table continued eating.

Mary felt uneasy, why weren’t anyone speaking? Was her dessert such a disaster that they were speechless? She started to franticly think of things to start the conversation back up. But her mind was blank, not one topic came to mind. She sat unconfutable in the silence.

“That was amazing Mary” Kopa told her. She looked at him with surprise.

“I have to say I agree, it’s not everyday you are served something that make you speechless” Dr Genict agreed.

“We need to let you cook more often my dear” Bettina said smiling at Mary. Mary was blushing from all the compliments, she still wasn’t comfortable with receiving them.

“Thank you, it really isn’t that complicated. But please, if you want, take another serving” she told them. Everyone took a second serving and Kopa went back for a third, earning him needlings from Bettina.

After everyone was satisfied with the dessert, they sat back, sipping mint tea and chit chatting for a while.

“I must be going, I have an early morning. But I’m thankful for the invitation. It has been a delight and the food has been beyond anything I have had the pleasure of enjoying in years” Dr Genict said, pushing back his chair.

“For a bachelor as myself, it is a rare treat to dine as a family. Next time you need to let me invite you. I can’t promise the food will be as nice, but my cook is decent enough” he continued as they moved to the front door.

“It has been our pleasure. You and Bettina work close together, this has been overdue. I will take some of the blame for that, when I’m not working, I tend to be selfish with wanting to spend time with my family” Kopa said politely.

“And why wouldn’t you. You have a lovely family, you are a lucky man” Dr Genict said with a smile that seemed a bit sad, or maybe longing.

“That I am” Kopa agreed, putting one arm around Bettina’s waist and the other around Mary’s shoulders.

“It was nice of you to come, my friend” Bettina said as the doctor opened the door and stepped outside.

“Goodbye doctor” Mary added.

“It was a pleasure Bettina, and Mary, I hope to see you joining Bettina in the future” he said before leaving.

As the door closed, the family sighed as one. The evening had been a success and Mary thought that the good doctor had gotten the unspoken message. Bettina was a happily married women with a family.

It was a new feeling for Mary to feel so protective. But she had just gotten her family, the need and want to keep what she had was strong. For the first time in many years, she had something that she was willing to fight with tooth and nails to keep. It was a nice feeling.

All three of them helped with the cleaning and washing, Kopa kept pinching food, but now neither Bettina nor Mary tried to stop him. They were all in a good mood and stayed up until late talking and laughing. Kopa and Mary started teaching Bettina to play Kai, she didn’t find it as entertaining as the other two and ended up watching them play instead.