A Chef's Life

December 2028 - Arcadia, North Carolina

Zared Smith is 44, Carol is 43, Adam is 18, Ethan is 18, Isabella is 15
(Lily Gates-Watson is 18, Charlotte Craig is 18)

Winter has set itself in Arcadia with snow everywhere.

Zared Smith is busy with his work as a chef, but he’s not too busy to overlook making cookies his family will love.

And the Christmas dinner.

Being a professional chef has its advantages. A delicious Christmas dinner will soon fill the dining table.

 

Zared’s work at Christmas dinner is a success. The family fills their stomachs as much as they can with all the great food.

 

“I can’t make myself eat anymore,” Isabella says, forcing herself to get up from the table, even though the cookies and pies are still calling her name.

Ethan’s girlfriend Lily Gates-Watson joined them for Christmas dinner. Ethan eats a lot of the food too, but he’s more focused on Lily than how good the food is.

After they eat, Ethan and Lily head outside to play in the snow.

“You’re being slow building the snowman,” Lily says as she bends over to gather more snow.

“That’s okay,” Ethan tells her. “I’m enjoying another view right now.”

Lily laughs as she rolls her eyes. “You high school guys are all interested in the same views, aren’t you?”

They’re in their senior year of high school and have been together for almost three years now. This feels like the way his life is meant to be, Ethan thinks whenever he’s with Lily.

“The view is always nice,” Ethan tells her. “From any level.”

“You’re just trying to talk yourself into my pants,” Lily says with a smirk.

“No, really,” Ethan says, reaching into his pocket. “I have something else I wanted to tell you.”

He reaches for her hand, with a small ring in his fingers.

“Ethan?” Lily asks. “What are you doing?”

“We’ve been together most of high school,” he says. “And we only have a few months left before that’s over and the next round begins. It’s not an engagement ring, I don’t have the money to buy that right now of course. It’s just a little promise ring. A promise that no matter what happens in the next few years, I’ll always love you.”

Lily looks at her ring for a long time, not saying a word. Ethan shifts from one foot to the other. Her silence makes him nervous.

“Lily?” he asks.

She leans forward, pulling him close. “I love you too,” she tells him before moving into a long kiss that leaves them both breathless.

“Well,” Ethan says when they finally break apart. “If my parents weren’t home, I’d show you just how happy I am.”

Lily laughs and punches at his arm lightly. “I swear you teen guys are all the same.”

“So do you think he’s actually doing it?” Isabella asks her brother.

“Probably,” Adam answers. “You know Ethan is crazy when it comes to thinking he’s in love.”

Zared moves over to the couch to get a closer listen to his kids. But Adam and Isabella get quiet as soon as he sits down.

“What is Ethan doing?” Zared asks them.

“Don’t know,” Isabella says. “You should ask him.”

“Ethan is still out front, isn’t he?” Carol asks as she walks into the room to clean up dirty dishes scattered everywhere. It’s been an hour since their Christmas dinner, but the family is still leaving dessert dishes all over the house, even if they claim to be full.

“He probably is,” Adam says, not looking up from his book. He’s certainly not telling his parents anything about what his brother might be doing. Maybe Ethan got his sense and backed out from this crazy idea of a promise ring. They may be twins, but that doesn’t mean Adam thinks the same way his brother does.

“What do you think Adam and Isabella meant about Ethan?” Carol asks a few minutes later in the privacy of their room.

“I don’t know,” Zared says. “But Ethan is a smart boy. We can trust him.”

“I don’t want him to do anything crazy,” Carol says. “You don’t think…do you think there’s a possibility Lily might be pregnant and they’re talking about getting married?” Her eyes widen as this thought hits her harder. “I can’t imagine that. Please tell me it’s not that.”

“It’s not that,” Zared says. “Ethan knows what he’s doing.” He takes her hand and leads her toward the bed. “Come on, let me help you think about other things.”

***

“See you later tonight,” Zared says as he walks past his son.

Adam just grumbles in response. He’d gotten his grades back on a test in his trigonometry class. Adam hates trigonometry and his test proved just how much he hates it. What is the point of trigonometry anyway? When will he ever need it after high school?

He’s sat in the house grumbling to himself for a while before he hears a shout outside calling his name. Adam opens the door to find Charlotte Craig standing at the bottom of the steps.

“What do you want?” he asks.

Charlotte smirks. “I heard you grumbling about failing that test. So I thought you might feel better with a little time away to forget all about it.”

Adam lets out a frustrated growl when his bowling ball falls into the gutter at the end of the lane, not hitting any of the pins at all.

 Charlotte laughs as she picks up her ball. “Let me show you how it’s done, Adam.”

But her fingers slip out of the ball just as she’s about to throw it. She turns back to look at Adam, laughing in embarrassment. “Oops. I think someone got it all slippery inside. Must have been really sweating with nervousness.”

The bowling trip had been Charlotte’s idea as a way to distract Adam from his failure at the trigonometry test. But it didn’t seem to be working.

“Did you know you really suck at bowling?” Adam asks.

Charlotte scowls back at him. “Did you know you really suck at everything?” she snaps back.

Why does she even bother wasting her time with a guy like this? It’s not like they’re dating or anything, she just gets bored now that her cousin Violet is away at college. Adam needs someone to hang out with too, so why not drag him out to things like this?

Except for the fact that he’s annoying to hang out with sometimes. Maybe most of the time, Charlotte reminds herself.

After the attempt at bowling went bad, Charlotte headed off toward the restrooms, leaving Adam alone. When it had been awhile and she still hadn’t returned, he set off to find her.

Charlotte is in one of the stores there at the mall in which the bowling alley is a part of. And there she is talking to some guy. Clearly some guy that must be in college or something, definitely older than they are. And Charlotte gives a little laugh and smile at what he says to her.

When she finally spots him, she says good-bye to her new friend and joins Adam.

“Who was that?” Adam asks.

Charlotte shrugs. “Just some guy asking what I think his sister might like as a birthday gift.”

“Obviously you thought more than that of him,” Adam says. He poses, speaking with a high-pitched voice. “Oh, definitely, I’m available for any of your questions. I can imagine heading off with you to show you everything in the mall. Maybe we could explore the changing rooms?”

Charlotte rolls her eyes. “You are stupid, Adam Smith. Come on, lets get something to eat.”

She might think he’s stupid, but he’s not the one talking to random older guys just to get some attention.

 ***

“So I heard a rumor about you and Charlotte,” Ethan tells his brother with a small smile on his face.

“A rumor about what?” Adam asks.

“That you and Charlotte are sneaking around the mall, hooking up in the fitting rooms,” Isabella says.

She shrugs when Adam shoots her a dark glare. “Hey, I’m just the messenger.”

“Whoever said that is an idiot,” Adam tells them. “We’re friends and that’s all. She dragged me out to the mall, it’s not like I planned to spend an afternoon with her.”

But Ethan just smirks back at his twin. “I’ll remind you that you said that one day when you two do hook up somewhere.”

Adam rolls his eyes. “You’re as much of an idiot as Charlotte about some things.” He thought maybe he was getting over the bad attitude he’d had earlier, but now it’s all coming back again. Everything is putting him in a bad mood lately.

***

“So tell me about your brother,” Carol says as she stares down at her children.

“Tell you what?” Adam asks.

“How serious is his relationship with Lily?” she asks.

“How should we know?” Isabella asks. “Well, Adam night know because they’re twins and could read each other’s minds, but I’m out of the loop.”

“I just want to make sure that they’re not moving too fast,” Carol says.

“Trust me, Ethan doesn’t move too fast at anything,” Isabella says. “Maybe a little faster than Adam, but they both have snail genes.”

Adam shoots her a deep scowl. “Do you really want help with your homework, or are you just going to keep up the insults?”

Isabella shrugs. “Just telling the truth, big bro.”

Carol knows she hasto talk with Ethan to make sure everything isas it should be in his life and no secrets are being kept.

“So how are you doing these days?” Carol asks. “How are things between you and Lily?”

“Everything is good,” Ethan says.

His phone buzzes with a text from Lily, saying yes to their night out. Ethan smiles at the phone in his hand.

“Is that Lily?” Carol asks. “Do you have plans tonight?”

“Just going out to eat.”

“Well,” Carol says, her voice trembling a little at all the thoughts that race through her head. Just how close are Ethan and Lily now? “If you ever need help with anything, you can come to me. If you find yourself in a situation you don’t think you can handle…”

Ethan gives his mom a confused look. “What kind of trouble are you talking about?”

“Well, like if you find yourself in an unexpected situation. Like if Lily…if you find out she’s suddenly pregnant and you don’t know what to do.”

Ethan gasps, staring at his mom in shock.

Then he begins to laugh. “Is that what’s making you so crazy? You think Lily is pregnant?”

“You two do spend a lot of time alone together,” Carol points out. “It’s every parent’s worry about their kids. Are you two…woohoo active?”

Ethan holds up his hands. “Mom, I really don’t want to talk about this. But trust me that I know all about woohoo safety. She’s not pregnant, I swear.”

Carol lets out a long sigh of relief. “Okay,” she says. “I believe you. But I’m serious about what I said. If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation, I’m right here for you.”

Ethan gives his mom a wide smile. “Thanks. I promise I’ll come to you if I need help with anything.”

Later that night, Ethan and Lily had gone out to a movie and Lily had sat there quietly the whole time, just holding his hand. She didn’t even try to make out with him like usual.

And now they are sitting quietly at a table at The Willow. Lily’s parents own the restaurant so it is always a good place for a free date night dinner.

And Lily is still quiet, barely even looking at him.

“Lily? Is everything okay?” Ethan asks, fighting back the worries that now fill his head.

“This year is moving so fast,” she says. “Soon it will all end and we’ll go on new routes.”

She takes a deep breath, like she’s about to say more, but he puts his hand over hers to try to reassure her. “We’ll still be together,” he says. “University is just a new door along the way. And we can see each other all the time between classes. We won’t even have our parents watching us. It will be the best years of our lives.”

But her eyes are full of more tears now. “I need to go home,” Lily says suddenly, jumping up from her chair and not looking back at him.

——————-

Notes:

Lily is keeping quiet about something, which will be revealed in the updates about her family. But there are a few other families whose updates will come before Lily’s.

I actually managed to write the whole update for this family within just a few days! I’ve been telling myself for a few weeks now that I needed to post it on the blog but I kept being lazy about writing that whole thing. Posting just bits and pieces at a time here made it feel easier for me. 

This is the last update in the round for this household, so all of these will be put together into one post at my blog too. Next we move onto January 2029 and the birthdays/anniversaries and families played through that month.