James knew that if he wanted to avoid sleeping on the couch tonight, he had better come to his wife's defense.
"What? No way, your mum has the best cooking there is." That said he reached out for a blueberry muffin. The other kids started dishing up whatever interested them and sampling the cuisine.
Harry watched them with interest. He was curious to see what they thought of his culinary skills. In short, everyone was shocked.
"Say, Harry… did you use a potion you used to make it taste this good?" Rose asked while munching.
"No kidding. This tastes like heaven," Shelia exclaimed, stuffing her face like a monster.
"Good!" Sylvia chirped.
"Yeah!" Little Lily giggled.
"Wow, Harry you're a great cook, but mum's French toast is better," Leon said amazed at his brother's cooking.
James was just speechless. His son Harry's cooking was awesome. He hated to admit it, but it was way better then his wife's. He just couldn't comment. Not if he wanted to avoid that damn couch. So he just continued eating.
Lily was speechless as well. She had started cooking ever since getting married. Her mother had stressed it many times that a happy marriage was made in the kitchen. Lily loved to cook, and knew she was very good in the kitchen but there was something extra special with Harry's breakfast, something that she hadn't achieved. He was a prodigy. That was it. A genius.
Or just plain lucky.
No, not lucky. She watched him move around in the kitchen. He moved with a fluid grace as if he had been doing it for more than just a few weeks. A savant? "Harry, this is wonderful! Would you like to cook breakfast for now on?" His mother said excitedly.
Harry blushed at the comment while he was feeding little Lily. "Honestly, it was just a one-time thing and…"
"One time thing my arse!" Shelia said annoyed that Harry didn't want to cook every morning. This was her chance to escape that drudgery!
"Shelia! Language! Harry your cooking is really, really good. Almost as good as mine… James, are you alright? Did you get something caught in your throat?"
"mrably… cough-cough, no, I'm good. You were saying? About Harry?"
"Oh, right. Harry, this is very good for a first try but I don't want you to think you owe it to us to make breakfast all the time."
Harry looked relieved. She wasn't mad at him for taking over her kitchen, and that was a plus in his book. "It's ok mom, I'll help you cook, but I won't cook all of it; I liked your cooking as well," Harry said.
Lily smiled and kissed Harry on the cheek.
"My sweet little boy. I'm sure the girls would go crazy when they find out you know how to cook." Lily smiled.
Harry blushed again.
Ding
"You still have something in the over, dear?" Lily asked while everyone was giving him hungry looks.
Harry nodded. "Chocolate chip biscuits. Little snacks for the little kids," Harry said casually while getting up to the table and heading to the oven.
"Biscuits? But we didn't have any batter!" Lily said in surprise.
"Didn't need it; I made these from scratch," Harry said not noticing his family awed looks.
Harry quickly pulled out a pan of chocolate-oozing biscuits. Off went the oven after making sure they were done and he let them cool a few minutes while everyone ate. When they were cool enough, he spatula'd them onto a plate and set it down between his family mob.
As one, they all reached forward to grab one, regardless of his warning of hot food.
Lily was simply astounded. He had made these from scratch. Even she had problems getting her cookies so good on the first try. Yes, he certainly took after her. A chef in the making.
"These are to die for!" Shelia said, buttering him up to take over the morning chores of making breakfast.
"Yeah, this is great," Rose added between chocolate-teeth.
"You poisoned these, didn't you?"
"Shut it, you," Leon's dad reproached with a grin. Leon grinned back.
"Well, Harry, as much as I appreciate this fine repast of yours," his father said, then turned deadly serious. "I need to talk to you about something. It's been coming on for some time and I wanted to let you know what we know, you know? Lily, if you would, please?"
Harry didn't know what to think. Did they know his secret? Were they going to toss him out? Send him to prison? Interrogate him?
His mother, stern looking now, went to a drawer and started pulling various items out. Thumb-screws, mace (the ball & chain variety), quills, sticky notes, until finally finding something. "Ah, here it is. Someone put their work on it," she said smartly, looking at her suddenly-innocent husband.
"This is for you, Harry," she said, handing him a blank envelope. As soon as he touched it, words began appearing. He opened it and pulled out his first ever family birthday card. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOSER - LEON was written in the upper left corner. Smiling, he read the rest of the comments from his family. They were typical of his family. Little Lily's was simply a scrawl that seemed to go all around the picture of a kitten surrounded by its family. He gulped down a sob that threatened to escape.
Harry looked around the room. "But my birthday isn't until tomorrow," he said to his mum.
His dad replied, "True, but what better way to surprise you than by giving you a party a day early. So as much as I appreciate you making breakfast today, don't think you need to do it only on your birthday, son. You have my permission to make me as many of these delicious biscuits whenever you want."
"Daddy's silly," little Lily said as only a 3-year old could.
"That he is, honey," her mum agreed. "That he is."