Chapter 32 - Chocolate Muffins

After buying a few snacks that she knew her children dearly loved, as well as the basic groceries needed for a week, Mrs. Brown went to fetch her daughter at her friend's. She dropped her off to that house so often that she knew the way just as well as if she was going home. Sometimes, she even wondered if her daughter knew that Camille's place wasn't her actual house.

Masha had always been close to her childhood friend, so much so that Mrs. Brown often had the impression of having two daughters instead of one. In her eyes, the two girls looked like sisters, the kinds that did everything together. Thus, Mrs. Brown had long since included Camille as a part of her family.

Like every year, she and her husband invited the teenage girl to spend the week with them, but the teenage girl had gently refused, saying that she wasn't good with outdoor activities.

Moreover, the day they planned on coming back from their camping trip coincided with the day Camille's family was leaving the country to travel in Europe. It was a month-long voyage that her parents had carefully planned over the past year, and Camille couldn't exactly say she wasn't going anymore, not when everything was already paid.

Even if Mrs. Brown promised her to come back early in the morning so she wouldn't miss her flight, Camille still said no as she didn't want to take any chance.

In truth, she didn't have to stay at the campsite for the whole week. Instead, she could have kept them accompany on the weekend. Because Alexey couldn't request for a week-long vacation after the few days off he had taken to visit his son at the hospital, he only had his weekends to go out with his family for the rest of summer. Hence, he could have driven the teenage girl back and forth when he traveled back home on Sunday.

However, that didn't change her mind, and Camille still refused their kind proposition. She didn't want to sleep in the middle of a forest, even if it was only for two nights. She couldn't stand the idea of bugs crawling into the tent and then on her skin. It made her stomach churn. She much preferred sleeping in her soft, warm bed.

Thus, because of their own family trip, the time Camille and Masha could spend together was quite limited this summer, which had never happened until now. Therefore, Masha decided to pay her friend a visit before leaving. Of course, Mrs. Brown allowed it as long as her daughter helped packing the car in the evening.

Now, the time was up, and her daughter had to come back home.

Once Mrs. Brown arrived at Camille's house, she was surprised to find out that Gabriel was also there. He had even brought his luggage with him so she wouldn't have to make a detour by his home afterward. This small consideration softened her heart.

***

The moment the group of three entered the house, a sweet smell drifted to their nose. Curious, they walked to the kitchen, only to come across a messy room and a little boy. The child didn't notice them immediately, engrossed in humming a song that none of them recognized.

Slightly leaning, his hands on his knees, the child was happily swaying his head, staring at the oven as if it was a marvelous treasure. His crystal-clear blue eyes seemed to sparkle with a thousand lights while dark brown blots left by the muffin mixture stained his white skin. It gave him a mischievous but adorable appearance.

When Misha finally noticed their arrival, he turned his head toward the doorway. Soon, a broad smile stretched his lips, so innocent and sweet that Mrs. Brown's heart melted while Masha's hands felt itchy. She wanted to pinch those two tender cheeks until they turned red!

"You're just in time!" said the child. "It's almost ready!"

Only then did they realized that Misha was baking something, leaving everyone dumbstruck, especially Mrs. Brown. Her son had never shown any interest in cooking, on the contrary. Yet, it seemed like he had some hidden talents in this field.

Still, she felt a lump rise in her throat when she realized he had done all of this by himself.

Scared witless, Mrs. Brown almost bolted to his side, but after telling herself that such a strong reaction wouldn't do any good to her son's self-esteem, she managed to more or less calm down. Taken a deep breath, she quietly walked to him before crouching in front of him.

Then, Mrs. Brown carefully verified that Misha didn't hurt himself while cooking. She made sure he didn't even have a scratch on him before finally taking back her gaze and let him breathe.

When her inspection was done, she heaved a sigh of relief. Her son was quite clumsy, and she had feared the worst. Luckily, it seemed like he didn't burn his fingers when he put the pan into the oven. His small hands were as smooth as ever. It wouldn't have been surprising as Misha had indeed burnt himself quite a lot when he started to cook in his past life. To make matters worse, back then, he was a young man, not a kid, and yet he still found a way to burn water and mix sugar with salt.

With a gentle smile and a soft voice, Mrs. Brown coaxed, "Next time that you want to cook, you will have to tell me. Okay, sweetheart?"

Misha didn't make things difficult for his mother and obediently nodded. She couldn't let her son, who wasn't even ten, cook whatever he wanted to cook without someone monitoring him. At this age, it was easy to cut himself with the knives or forgot to turn off the oven. Many things could happen, especially with this child who had a slight mental disability.

"But wow!" exclaimed Masha when she glanced at the oven and saw what was inside through the door. "You made them all by yourself?"

"Of course!" replied the child, puffing out his c.h.e.s.t. In response, she ruffled his hair while their mother started to clean up his mess. The kitchen had suffered quite a bit.

Soon, the egg-timer rang, but his mother didn't allow him to take out the muffin pan, afraid he would really burn himself this time. Instead, it was Gabriel who pulled it out under the intense gaze of the child.

After the muffin cooled, Misha excitedly said, "Go and sit! I will serve you!" Before his mother could say anything, he looked at her with sparkling eyes.

In the end, unable to resist the angelic face of her son, Mrs. Brown nodded. "But only one muffin! We still have to eat dinner later." She then called over her husband before sitting at the table with her daughter and Gabriel.

From afar, they observed the little boy's battle with the muffin pan while Alexey came down and asked what was going on. His lovely wife proudly told him their son's feat, making a discreet smile appear on that cold face of his.

A few minutes later, Misha brought five plates with one muffin on each. He placed one plate in front of one person, then sat on a chair beside his sister. Without any reservation, he took a bite of his chocolate muffin, staring at Gabriel, who still hadn't touched his.

After a month of miseries, the teenage boy had become more careful. His instinct told him that something wasn't right, but it couldn't pinpoint what. Watching the rest of the table ate with relish while complimenting the boy's skills, he decided to put the bad feelings at the back of his mind, telling himself that he was paranoid. Thus, Gabriel took a bite.

Surprisingly, it was indeed pretty good. Not too sweet, but not too bland either. It was just perfect. Finally, the teenager let go of his hesitation and took a bigger bite. Then, something seemed to burst in his mouth, and a weird taste spread on his tongue. When he lifted his head, he saw something following and emerging from the center of the muffin. It was stuck between his lips and slightly swung due to the sudden movement.

The time stopped until Gabriel realized that it was an earthworm. His face paled and he abruptly stood up before dashing to the washroom. They could hear him throw up from the kitchen.

While his family looked at their muffin with disgust, Misha kept on happily eating his, not the least bit concerned with the teenage boy. Still, he glanced at his silent sister and said, "Yours is normal. There was only one muffin with worms in it."

Gulping, his mother asked with difficulties, "Sweetie, why did you put earthworms in Gabriel's muffin?"

"Dereck went to the insectarium last week. He said that you could cook insects and that it was actually pretty good for your health. But he didn't have the chance to eat it, so he didn't know how it tasted. Since Gabriel is a teenager and teenagers need to eat a lot of healthy stuff to grow up, especially teenage boys, I thought that it would do him good to eat insects. It just that I wasn't sure if he would want to eat it because it doesn't look tasty, so I decided to put worms into a chocolate muffin! Chocolate muffins taste super good after all. Dereck also said it was an excellent idea."

Without any hesitation, Misha shamelessly put the blame on Dereck.

On the side, Masha was trying hard not to laugh while Mrs. Brown didn't know what to say. Ultimately, she could only sigh, "Next time, ask me first if it's a good idea or not…"

"Okay! But don't worry mom, I cleaned the earthworms under the tap before putting it into the muffin mix. This way, Gabriel can't get sick, right?" asked Misha with his bright blue eyes, completely ignoring the fact that the teenage boy was presently emptying his stomach into the toilet bowl.

"…"