Family Dinner
By six-thirty, everyone was tired. The dining room was warm and bright against the March evening, and for once Merry had managed to get everyone seated before anyone had wandered back outside.
Otto dropped heavily into his chair. "I'm never moving another box again."
Stefi looked across the table at him. "You said that about the hay last week."
"That was different."
"How?"
"It was hay."
Merry put the serving bowl on the table. "All three of you did enough today. It's time to eat."
The afternoon had been spent at Eddie's new quarters, turning what had begun as a collection of trunks, boxes, furniture, and equipment into something vaguely resembling a home.
Otto had carried the heavier boxes. Stefi had taken charge of sorting the kitchen things, despite repeatedly announcing that she was the only person there who knew where anything belonged. Fritz had been assigned smaller jobs and had somehow managed to make each one take twice as long. Merry had spent most of the afternoon trying to keep all three children from doing something reckless while simultaneously helping Eddie organize the new space. Mike had been there from the beginning, driving back and forth from town and helping Eddie with the heavier work.
Now he sat at Merry's table with a glass in his hand, looking considerably more comfortable than he had that afternoon. Eddie sat beside him, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He looked tired, but happy. Merry noticed.
"More roast beef?"
Eddie looked up. "Please."
She passed him the dish. "Are you going to admit that you would still be standing in the middle of an empty room tonight if we hadn't helped you?"
He smiled. "I was making progress."
Fritz snorted.
"You had one chair."
"I had more than one chair."
"Two," Stefi said.
"Three," Eddie corrected.
"One of them was broken," Fritz said.
"It wasn't broken."
"It had a leg missing." Stefi replied. "That's generally considered broken."
Mike laughed. "I tried to tell him."
Eddie looked at him. "You weren't exactly helping."
"I was supervising."
"You were sitting on a trunk."
"Supervision requires a good vantage point." Mike smirked.
Merry laughed.
"Well, whatever you call it, you were all useful."
Otto leaned back. "I carried the big trunk."
"You did."
"I think I deserve extra dessert."
"No."
Otto looked betrayed.
"I knew there was a catch."
Stefi smiled. "You only carried it because Eddie told you where to put it."
"I still carried it."
"You complained."
"I did not."
"You said, and I quote, 'Why does he own so much leather?'"
Fritz burst out laughing.
Merry snorted inelegantly.
"That was a reasonable question."
Eddie shook his head. "It's mostly harness."
"That's worse," Otto said.
"Not remotely," Merry said with a very adult smile.
Mike lifted his glass. "Now you understand what I've been dealing with."
Eddie gave him a look. "You've been dealing with it for years."
"And yet somehow I've survived."
The children laughed.
Merry watched Eddie for a moment. He seemed different tonight. Not dramatically. Not enough that anyone else would necessarily have noticed. But there was a looseness to him that hadn't been there when she'd first seen him that morning. He was no longer standing in the middle of an unfamiliar room surrounded by boxes, trying to figure out where his life was supposed to fit. He had spent the day surrounded by her children. And now he was sitting at her table. It felt strangely natural.
Stefi reached for the bread.
"Eddie?"
"Hm?"
"Are you going to put the pictures up tonight?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm exhausted."
She nodded approvingly. "Good answer."
Merry smiled. "You've finally learned something."
Eddie looked at her. "I've learned several things today."
"Such as?"
"That Fritz is incapable of carrying a box without looking inside it."
Fritz immediately protested.
"I only looked once."
"Twice," Otto said.
"Three times," Stefi added.
Fritz looked around the table. "Everyone is against me."
Merry reached over and ruffled his hair.
"No. Everyone knows you."
Fritz ducked away, laughing. Eddie watched them. Merry caught his eye.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You keep looking at us like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're trying to memorize everything."
His expression softened. "Maybe I am." The words landed more quietly than the rest of the conversation.
Merry looked at him for a moment. Then she smiled. "There's plenty of time."
He nodded. "I know."
Across the table, Otto looked between them.
"So are you staying for dessert, Mike?" Merry asked.
Mike looked at her. "Am I allowed?"
"You've already eaten half the roast."
"I'll take that as a yes."
"You can stay."
Mike smiled."Excellent."
Eddie laughed. Then the conversation turned again.
Fritz wanted to know whether Eddie's horses had all settled. Stefi wanted to know which horse was the quietest. Otto wanted to know how long it would take to get the new driving course completely finished.
Eddie answered every question. He didn't seem bothered by any of them. In fact, Merry thought, he seemed to like it.
Eventually Fritz pushed his empty plate away and sighed dramatically.
"I'm full."
"You've eaten two helpings of everything."
"I know."
"Then you're done."
"Can I have cake?"
Merry looked at him.
"That was not the question."
"It was the question I wanted to ask."
Mike laughed. Eddie shook his head.
"You've got a good one there," Mike said.
Merry glanced at him.
"I do." There was pride in her voice.
Eddie smiled. "I can see that."
The evening continued in that easy, slightly chaotic way that Merry knew so well.
By the time the plates were cleared, Otto and Stefi were arguing over who had done more work that afternoon, Fritz was trying to convince Mike that carrying one of Eddie's trunks had permanently injured his back, and Eddie was laughing so hard he had to put his glass down.
Merry stood at the kitchen counter watching them. It occurred to her that this was exactly why she'd invited them. Eddie had spent his first day at Riverside surrounded by people. Not alone in a half-unpacked house. Not eating something hurriedly bought from town.
Here. At the table. Part of the noise. Part of the family evening, if only for tonight.
Eddie looked over and caught her watching him. He smiled. A small, private smile.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Merry knew he wasn't talking about dinner.
"You don't have to thank me."
"Aye, I do."
She held his gaze. "Then you're welcome."
From the dining room came Fritz's voice.
"Mutti! Otto took the last piece of cake!"
Merry closed her eyes. "Oh, child..."
Eddie laughed.
"I suppose that's my cue."
"Probably."
He stood to help clear the table. Merry handed him a stack of plates.
"You don't have to."
"I know." He smiled. "But I've been fed. The least I can do is wash something."
She smiled back. "Fair enough."
And as they carried the dishes into the kitchen, the children still arguing behind them and Mike laughing along, Merry realized that Eddie no longer looked like someone who had just arrived.
He looked as though he might actually belong there.
(1194 words)