Chapter Six: Dinner with the Family:

Louise and Noiz came back with many bags of groceries. Today had been a busy day. The women went mostly to the fish market. The kitty found herself overjoyed to know that they would be having fish for dinner.

“No sushi, though!” Louise reminded her. “This isn’t Japan!”

“I know, I know!” Noiz mumbled back to her. “You don’t have to beat me over the head with it!”

“Just checking…” Louise replied. The kitty rolled her eyes at her. They made it all the way to the kitchen. Liberty looked at the bags with the whites of her eyes revealed for the world to see.

“Oh my lord!” she cried out. “Are you trying to feed the whole city?”

“Well you didn’t tell us what you were cooking for tonight,” Louise pointed out. “So we just grabbed whatever.”

“Very well, very well,” Liberty replied. She turned to Noizchild. The kitty looked on with a face devoid of emotion. A warm smile came onto the old lady’s face.

“You’re in for one hell of a treat tonight!” Liberty boomed at the kitty girl. Noiz stared on silently. “If I can stomach it!” she thought.

“In fact,” the old lady went on. “Would you care to help me out in the kitchen tonight?” Noiz looked with a little shock on her face.

“S-Sure, I guess…” she replied. Liberty clapped her hands together happily.

“Excellent!” she called out. “Lou-Lou never helps out at all! She’s just too lazy!”

“No!” the granddaughter disagreed. “I just don’t like kitchen work!”

“If you say so!” Liberty spoke up. She turned back to Noiz. “Let’s go to it!” she boomed. The kitty nodded uneasily.

“Yeah…” she replied. Suddenly, Noiz had a bad feeling about this. But the cooking turned out to be much easier than expected. Liberty did most of the cooking while Noiz just handed her different ingredients and equipment. The smell made the cat’s mouth water. She just hoped that she could be able to eat it tonight. “That would be bad if I got sick again like yesterday!” she thought. Louise and Pelagie set the table in the dining room. The sound of them not arguing almost shocked Noiz into non-movement. Liberty chuckled to herself at Noiz over the gumbo.

“Surprised at the silence, huh?” she asked. “They can be civil when it comes to a meal. It’s all just a matter of years of training.” Noiz nodded as if a puppet on a string. Liberty smiled at her as she handed her the huge pot of gumbo.

“Could you take this to the table?” the old lady asked the cat gracefully.

“Alright,” Noiz replied. She carefully carried the big pot of shrimp gumbo to the table. In a few minutes, all of the females sat down at the table with a full meal before them. Tonight’s meal consisted of shrimp gumbo, shrimp creole, jambalaya, and dirty rice, pecan pie. Oh how tasty it all looked and smelled. Noiz couldn’t wait to dig in. She was about to serve herself when Liberty blocked her fork with her own. The kitty looked up at her slightly disappointed. The old woman smiled as she shook her head at her.

“Not yet,” she told her. “Marcus is not home yet. We don’t eat until everyone is here at the table as a family.” Noiz looked at her unsettling.

“When will he be home?” she asked. Liberty looked over at the clock.

“Right about… now!” she called out. The door opened wide as if on cue.

“I’m home!” Marcus called out. “Is dinner ready?”

“In here, dear!” his wife called out. The old man walked all the way to the dining room. The women all sat at the table waiting for him. A dirty grin came onto Marcus’ face.

“Well, I’ll be damned!” he announced. “My dream has come true! I’m eating at a table with all women!” Liberty giggled at that one. Pelagie and Louise rolled their eyes at that one. Noiz looked on confused. The third generation woman leaned in close to her.

“He always tells that stupid joke every Friday night!” Lou whispered to her boss.

“Ah,” Noiz whispered back with a nod. Marcus grinned at his family. He looked at all of the lovely ladies at the table.

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” he asked. “Let’s eat!” He joined all of the girls at the table and they began their family dinner. The whole time, Noizchild watched the three generations interact with each other. Liberty and Marcus flirted with each other at the table. Pelagie and Louise glared at each other as they ate in silence. Noiz herself took her time with her food. She didn’t want to risk getting sick in front of them again. She could at least use a fork and spoon perfectly again. (Lucky for her, she could adjust well in life.) Her mind began to wander back to her own family. The kitty wondered how Rob, Kohana, and Ume were doing back in Japan. Rob could handle himself just fine when the occasion summoned for it. Ume would be fine because she had Rob with her there as well. But, Kohana was a different matter. Seven years and she still couldn’t really fend for herself too well. The sweet little mousegirl still relied on Noiz for almost everything. She still didn’t trust men too much at all either. But yet, Noiz felt a little better knowing Rob would be there to guide Kohana through the summer some. So, everything should work out just fine…

Noiz suddenly paused. She felt as if she had an audience now. The kitty slowly looked up. Louise and her family were all watching her closely. Noiz looked at them slightly worried.

“What?” she asked them. “Am I doing something wrong?” Liberty shook her head at her smiling.

“Nothing,” she said. “We’re just happy that you can finally stomach American food enough to actually eat again.”

“Huh?” Noiz asked she looked down at her plate. Half of her food had already disappeared in a short amount of time. A slight look of surprised came onto her face.

“Oh yeah!” she called out loud. *Sweat drop on her head* Liberty smiled at her still.

“It’s okay, hon!” she said. “We’re just happy to see you eat!” Noiz nodded at bit finally relaxing.

“Yeah!” she said at last. Everyone ate and talked on. For once, Noiz felt great to be in New Orleans. She would have to e-mail Rob about what happened today later when she made it back to bed after her bath.