Chapter Fifty Four - Baking
Milo's P.O.V -
The two grandmothers have been hear for a day now, I eventually learnt their names to be Rose and Josephine, Jo for short. Rose had been the shorter woman, while Jo was taller. Although no one had explained it to me I could tell that Rose was Bella's mum while Jo was Andrew's mum.
"Your mother called me this morning." Bella told me as we ate breakfast.
Lincoln was still sleeping and Andrew had taken the grandmothers out for breakfast. Bella had said she didn't want to go which Andrew accepted, he offered to stay with her but she insisted that he went with them because Bella didn't want them driving and getting lost.
"She did?" I spoke concerned. "Is Nonno okay?"
"I believe so, but that's not why she called." Bella explained. "She told me that it's a holiday you celebrate today."
"Epiphany? Yeah I know." I nodded sipping from the tea Bella had made me.
"I thought we could celebrate." Bella told me. "You must feel down about being away from your family, so if we celebrate it might make you feel a bit better."
"It's okay, you don't need to do anything." I told her half-heatedly.
"I've already made my decision, I've given Andrew a list of ingredients I want him to buy." She smiled. "There's this cake your mother told me you always make on Epiphany."
"Foccacia della Befana?" I asked and she nodded. "Can we also make carbone dolce?"
"Yeah sure." She nodded although I could tell she didn't know what I was saying. "Do you want to check if we have all the ingredients? If not I'll text Andrew."
I nodded standing up, I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it before looking through the cupboards.
"All you need is black food coloring." I told her.
She pulled out her phone and messaged Andrew.
It wasn't long until they all got back. Andrew placed a grocery bag down on the counter and began to take out all the items and put them away. Bella offered to do it for him but he declined, once he finished they both left to go into the living room.
Jo looked me up and down as I leant against the kitchen counter.
"Do you live here?" She questioned.
"Temporarily." I told her. "My mum is in Italy caring for my grandparents so she sent me to live here for a bit."
"Can't you take care of yourself?" She asked crossing her arms.
Rose was warm and friendly, a stereotypical grandmother, meanwhile Jo was just terrifying.
"I can." I nodded. "But I've injured my leg so my mum didn't feel comfortable letting me live alone."
"How'd you do it?" She spoke as Rose walked over.
"Don't scare the poor boy." She smiled at me.
"I'm not, am I Milo?" She raised a brow as she watched me.
"No ma'am." I gulped.
"So how'd you break your leg?" She repeated.
"Uh, the hunters stomped on it." I answered. "While someone held it up so it snapped inwards."
I noticed that they both froze at my answer. Jo looked surprised while Rose stared at me with sad eyes.
"Did you say the hunters did that to you?" Rose spoke softly.
I nodded not sure what to say as Andrew walked in.
"They took him as well." He explained obviously having heard the conversation.
"They did? When?" Jo asked me with a shocked face.
Rose slapped her arm. "Stop asking questions, it might be difficult for him. He probably doesn't want to talk to strangers about it."
"N-no." I stuttered slightly. "It's okay, what do you want to know?"
They began to ask me questions about what it was like there and so I explained everything to them. I was surprised to discover how easy it felt to talk about, I guess I had recovered from the trauma a lot better than I had thought.
I didn't answer any questions about Bella, I didn't feel like it was right to talk about such a personal and troubling event without her permission.
"I was there for two weeks." I told them. "They got me out the same time as Bella."
"Do you remember getting saved?" Rose spoke softly, she had been cautious with all of her questions. She seemed worried that she would upset me but I presume she is used to this kind of conversation since she most likely would have discussed this with Bella.
"I do, or at least some of it." I glanced to the doorway as Lincoln stepped in with a tired expression. "I remember I was placed on Cole's wolf, and he took me across a field and into the woods. Then I was in and out of consciousness for a bit. I woke up and saw Lincoln watching me with a worried expression so I knew that I was quite badly injured. Lincoln and Cole carried me through the woods but I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was in hospital."
Lincoln frowned at me for a moment but eventually walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"It's too early in the morning to be talking about this." He grumbled into my shoulder.
I smiled at him before turning to face his grandmothers. I looked at them expecting them to ask more questions but they didn't. They watched Lincoln with concern.
"Are you okay to be here while we talk about this Lincoln?" Jo asked him.
He lifted his head from my shoulder and stared at them deep in thought. He seemed to debate his answer for a few moments.
"Um, actually I was going to go back to bed anyway." The way he stumbled over his words told me he was lying. "I just came down here to get some water."
He forced a smile before walking over to the cupboard to grab a glass before making his way over to the sink filling it with water.
"I'll see you later Milo." He forced a smile.
"Sleep well Lincoln." I told him as he left.
"He could've just said no to my question rather than making up a lie." Jo crossed her arms. "We wouldn't have judged him."
"A lot of mates don't like hearing or being reminded of painful moments in their mate's lives." Rose explained to me. "It can be very difficult for their wolves to here."
"Especially with alpha wolves, they tend to be more protective and so feel like they've failed their mate by not keeping them safe." Jo elaborated.
My lips tugged into a frown and my eyebrows knitted together. I looked back at the doorway Lincoln left through. He feels like a failure?
"Are you okay to continue?" Rose spoke cautiously.
I nodded and dropped Lincoln from my mind for the time being.
***
Lincoln walked into the kitchen as Bella and I cooked.
"Finally up?" I smirked as I mixed the bowl.
"I've been downstairs for about ten minutes but my dad was talking to me." He glanced at his mum before hesitantly walking past her to reach me. He wrapped his arms around me and dipped his head into my neck.
"Are you feeling okay about what me and your grandmothers were talking about?" I spoke concerned.
He just nodded and looked around the kitchen. "What's all this?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Your mum and I are just baking." I told him.
"We're celebrating a holiday." Bella spoke quietly but we could hear her.
"What holiday?" Lincoln frowned in confusion.
"It's called Epiphany, it's a Catholic thing, it's a big deal in Italy." I shrugged. "Bella wanted to celebrate with me."
"So," Lincoln stepped away and glanced at the food being made, "how can I help?"
I smiled and began giving him instructions. It wasn't long until we finished baking the two foods. I looked down at the two plates of food with my chest warming at the sight. This reminded me off Christmas with my mum's family in Italy. We used to spend Christmas with them every other year before Anna died.
I focused on the plate of carbone dolce, it was meant to look like coal and was given to kids who misbehaved. Anna used to switch mine with real coal while I was sleeping, one year I fell for it and bit into the coal only to throw up at the taste.
"So there's a bean in it somewhere?" Wyatt frowned at the cake.
Lincoln smiled in amusement as he continued to cut slices for everyone.
"That's what you're supposed to put in, but there weren't any so I used a coin instead." I explained.
"So do you just get to keep the coin?" Cora frowned as she took a plate from Lincoln.
"It's something about good luck for the year." I shrugged.
"It doesn't really look like a cake." Wyatt mumbled stabbing it with his fork.
"Wyatt stop whining and be grateful, Bella and Milo cooked this for us." His dad told him with a slight glare.
"And anything Bella cooks is amazing." Lucy smiled over at Bella.
"Suck up." Wyatt huffed.
Once everyone got there slice they began to eat, Wyatt did so quickly because he was confident that he was going to find the coin. About half way through eating Cole spoke up.
"Bella won." He announced.
We all turned to look at her as she picked the coin from the cake and placed it on the side of her plate.
"Dammit." Wyatt grumbled. "She made the cake, she knew where it was."
We all chose to ignore Wyatt. I looked at her with a warm smile. I really hoped she did get good luck this year, because she deserved it more than anyone else here. After everything she has been put through in the last few months, and the time before that, she needed things to go well for her.
I knew that Bella still had a long road to recovery but she had made incredible progress already. She was beginning to communicate more with Lincoln and had started talking to Wyatt and other males. I wasn't sure how comfortable she was with Andrew but from what Lincoln has told me I knew they slept in the same room at night now, but they didn't sleep in the same bed. I'd assume Andrew sleeps on the floor or in a blow up mattress.
A few days ago, on Boxing day I think, I saw them exchange a hug. The small action between them brightened my entire day because it showed how much safer Bella was beginning to feel with her own husband.
I understood that Lincoln was jealous of my relationship with my mum, about how she feels more comfortable with me rather than him despite me having only met her a few months ago, but he did his best to act as if it didn't bother him because he knew that the only reason she trusted me was because the hunters took me too.
He couldn't be annoyed at me for that nor was he envious. Lincoln had begun to accept my relationship with Bella as a fact now and instead of letting it effect him, he would direct his emotions into rebuilding his bond with his mum. Since then the dynamic of the house has been going a lot smoother because now I didn't have to be cautious of upsetting Lincoln whenever we're around Bella.
Andrew seemed to be thinking in a similar fashion as he gazed at her with watery eyes. He looked down to his plate with a smile. It was clear to see how much he loves and cares for his wife, you could see the longing in his eyes for his mate to be closer to him. He missed her, and slowly but surely she was coming back to him.
"Well done mum." Lincoln spoke from beside me. "Let's hope the cake's right."
She managed to give us all a small smile before she slowly began to continue eating. Everyone took this as their cue to do the same.