“I know, but I wanted to,” she replied with a grin. With the dishes out now, though, she was free to take her seat at the table and smile at her friend. “You want me to serve the sloppy joe casserole?”
Carlos smiled at her. “Only if you would like,” he said and he busied himself with getting their drinks. “Angie? Do you want to get your mom a spoon to help dish?” He then looked at Mia. “Oh – want any ice?”
“Okay, Papa!” Dutifully, the girl got back up to fetch a serving spoon for her mother.
“No ice, but I appreciate it,” came the response as Mia took the spoon from Angie to begin dishing out the food for all three of them. Angie got a slightly lesser portion than Carlos or Mia did, but the girl just took it as adults having larger stomachs.
Carlos gave Angie her juice and Mia her water and sat down with a cup of orange juice himself. After Strex had changed hands, he wasn’t so worried about citrus drinks anymore.
“I appreciate this, Mia,” Carlos told her with a smile. “Though I’m sure you wouldn’t have wanted to eat just plain mac and cheese anyway, huh?”
The Perfect Scientist 