She shakes her head, "I'm sorry....I wasn't trying to intrude, just making sure you were okay. I know people have to go away sometimes....as long as you come back, okay?" She tries very hard not to snicker at the conversation between Ylrhea and her midwife.
"Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that," Konstantyná says. "But I will do my best to ensure that I do."
Getting a somewhat strained look on her face she steps forward and hugs Konstantyna, "Please....please do your best okay? I know you said you would but....but I don't want to try and do this without you. I...I know I can be a pain in the butt sometimes, but the truth is....I really need you."
Konstantyná returns the hug. "I won't leave you to deal with this alone, but I must attend to my business first."
She nods, "Okay....I know there are other people in this town that will be here too." She says, giving Ylrhea an appreciative smile."Just be careful while you're out there okay? I know there are things that you guys need to deal with...it's okay." She says before releasing her from the hug, "I just didn't realize you'd be leaving so soon." She says, starting to sound a little melancholy.
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"In a couple of days," Konstantyná says. "There just been a lot going on that needs taking care of. If Laenid didn't need my support, I would stay here."
"Yeah, I know. Maybe we can have lunch sometime before you have to leave? We can eat at my place, or I can take us out. There's a lot going on everywhere it seems. Weddings, family members showing up out of nowhere....clingy children, diplomats coming from other towns to discuss things with Barclay, evil necromancers and their schemes to foil, dragons that need killin', schools that need building...it just never seems to end does it?" She asks rhetorically.
"We're guaranteed that life will never be boring."
She sighs, "You got that right Rhea." Giving the two women a smile she says, "Well, I won't keep you from getting things done. We'll head back, I probably need to check on the meat anyways. I'm practicing some of the dishes that I'm going to be making for Alethia's and Div's reception in a couple of days."
"If the weather's better tomorrow, we might stop by."
She nods, "Okay, you two enjoy the rest of your day. I'll see you later." Arista gives them both a hug before heading back out into the snow with Rhea and head back to the house.
Getting inside she holds the door open for Rhea, "Hey, we're back."
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"Celine's taking a nap," Alethiro says. "Your brother, Pandi and Dau are in the kitchen keeping an eye on things. Well...I'm guessing Theon is keeping his eye on something different than the other two."
She chuckles slightly before giving her husband a kiss, "I better get back in there then. Thanks for getting Celine down, I'm sorry I had to leave her here like that." Turning to Rhea she says, "I guess we better start getting the vegetables ready."
Heading into the kitchen she walks up behind her brother, "So, how's everything going?"
Ylrhea follows after Arista.
"Everything seems to be well," Dau answers before anyone else. "I'm more comfortable cooking fish, myself."
"We've mostly been chatting," Pandi says. "Patrols have been cancelled for today so hopefully nothing troublesome happens."
"I'm just supervising," Theon remarks.
Nudging her brother in the arm with her elbow she says, "I just bet you have." Giving Dau and Pandi a smile she says, "Well, thanks for keeping an eye on my meat anyways. I think I need to take it out and baste it before adding the vegetables. Theon, could you be a dear and get out those pans for me? They're just a little heavy for me to handle right now."
Looking over at Pandi she says, "I'm sure everything will be alright. Someone would have to be pretty stupid to stir up trouble here with so many people that could gut them like a fish." She says with a smile.
"Hope you're right."
Theon goes and gets the pans Arista requested.
Taking out a spoon from her drawer, Arista starts pouring juices over the meat. Once satisfied that they're adequately covered, she had Theon put them back in the oven.
Nodding she gives them a smile, "Alrgiht, we're ready to start the vegetables. After we get them all washed and peeled, we'll cut them up and set them aside to add to the meat in the pans once we're all done."
Going to the sink she starts washing and peeling the vegetables that would go with the roasting chicken and boar ribs.
"What do you need me to do?" Ylrhea asks. "I figured I'd be the one helping since Dau and Pandi are guests."
She nods, "Of course, Pandi, Dau, and Theon...why don't you go relax in the other room? Ylrhea and I can finish things up in here." Giving her brother a "you better behave" look, she waves them off into the other room with a smile before turning her attention back to matters at hand.
Thinking over things for a minute she says, "Okay, first I need you to start by checking on the beef in the soup pot and see if we're ready to add the barley and other things to it for the soup. Then help me with washing and peeling these carrots and potatoes for the roasted chicken. While you're checking on the soup, I'll peel and cut up the onion. Once we have all the vegetables ready and added to the meat, we can take a little break. I'll have to put the biscuits in after we pull out the boar ribs, I also need to cut up the cabbage for the slaw that's going to go with the ribs, and toss the dinner salad." She takes a breath, "Okay, I know that seems like a lot, but we got this."
Going to the pantry, she pulls out all the vegetables she'll need for the dinner as Ylreha goes to check on the soup.
"I think it's ready," Ylrhea says.
She nods, "Alright then, we'll need some of these onions and carrots for the soup along with the barley. Can you get started on the carrots? I think four or five cut up should be enough for the soup, and I'll clean and cut up one of these onions for it as well as get the barley to add to it." Arista goes to the hearth where the soup is simmering and pokes at the logs to stoke the fire a little so that the vegetables won't become mush in the soup.
As soon as they have everything chopped and in the soup, Arista starts getting the vegetables ready for the chicken. Looking at what she has left she says, "If you'll start by washing and peeling the potatoes and cutting them up, I'll get the onions and the carrots ready." She says as she points out the vegetables she's already set aside to prepare for the meal.
"Y'know, I was coming to help, not be slave labor," Ylrhea says, starting on the potatoes.
Getting a distressed look on her face she goes to her gnome friend and wraps her arms around her, "Oh Rhea...I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you feel that way. I can get Theon and Alley in here to help us too. I know it was just supposed to be a simple lunch...but it just kinda...you know, spiraled out of control. Now we're cooking for sixteen people...but at least it'll give me good practice for what to expect when I have to cook for Alethia and Div's reception. I'm pretty sure they're gonna have quite a few people as well. Thank you so so much for coming over and bringing the corn and other stuff, and for helping me with all this. I can get more help in here though if we need it. The last thing I want is for you to feel used." She says, starting to sound emotional.
"Is it still sixteen without Konstantyná and Lucy?" Ylrhea asks while being hugged. "It's okay, though...I volunteered. I just didn't think it was so involved."
She nods her head, "I'm afraid so, between friends and family. I can still ask the guys to come in and help if you want. It might help things go a little faster if we have help with at least the cleaning and peeling of the vegetables, then you and I can concentrate on chopping and throwing stuff into pots and pans."
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"I think Theon would miss watching Pandi if we asked him and Alethiro deserves a break."
She kind of chuckles, "You noticed that too huh? Well, let's get to it then. As soon as we get all these vegetables into the dishes that they belong, we can take a tea and cookie break for a few minutes." She says while starting to peel and chop the onions that they would need for the various dishes.
Dau comes back into the kitchen. "I feel like a third wheel in there, so is there anything I can do to help you two?"
Looking at Dau with an expression of relief she says, "Actually, some more help would be great. I kinda underestimated how much work all these vegetables are to clean and peel. If you could help Ylrhea with the potatoes, she could get the carrots and I can help toss them into things as we get them cut up. I feel bad having you back here helping in the kitchen when you're a guest, but I really appreciate it." She says sincerely.
"It's the least I can do to thank you for letting us use your house and offering to feed us," Dau says. "It's nice that Pandi is getting along well with your brother. She's been a lot less grumpier since meeting him."
She smiles a bit as she finishes up the onions and starts helping them with the other vegetables, "Well, I'm glad that I was able to help you guys out and that they're getting along so well. Theon always had that effect on....people. I don't think I've seen him quite like this before though. I just know that Pandi was pretty lonely before and feeling out of place. I know that Theon is having a hard time with the adjustment to everything, so maybe the two of them can find something common about each other that helps them. I don't know..." She says as they get the vegetables prepared and put into their designated pots and pans.
After a short break of tea and cookies, the girls resume their preparations for the meal. Leaving Rhea and Dau to see to things in the kitchen, Arista goes to get Celine up from her nap and get ready for the family that would be coming over. After letting her use the bathroom and getting her dressed, she has her go play in the living room while she gets back to work in the kitchen.
Right before finishing everything up, Arista has Alethiro and Theon move the kitchen table and chairs into the dining room and set it up next to the large table. She has the men finish setting the table as they put the finishing touches on the meal.
The guests start to arrive as Arista, Dau, and Ylrhea start bringing platters of food to set on the tables.
Arista and Alethiro's family gather around the table, exchanging pleasantries as the food comes out.
Once everyone has been seated and served whatever they wanted to drink, Arista starts everyone off with a small plate of salad, a bowl of soup and some biscuits.
Before sitting down she stays standing next to her husnand, "I want to thank all of you for coming on this rather chilly day. As I told you before, I brought you all here for a reason and he's sitting here at this table with us. I'd like for you all to meet my brother, Theon. We were both lost for a good long time, but....here we are now. I'm just so blessed and grateful to have all of you here, and in our life." Raising her glass she says, "To family, in whatever form it might take, and wherever we might find it."
Everyone raises their glasses and Celenon bellows out a "hear, hear" to the embarrassment of Queten and Marcus.
Arista smiles and takes a drink before sitting next to her husband and digging into the meal.
Everyone else follows Arista's example and starts eating, making minor chit-chat around the table.
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Sitting next to Pandi, Theon feels more at ease and engages Celenon and Lucco in conversation.
Once everyone is finished with the soup and salad, Arista clears thed dishes tho make room for the main dish platters. There's plenty of boars ribs dripping in a tangy sweet sauce, corn on the cob, slaw, axnd roasted chicken with vegetables to go around.
Arista happily refills drinks and encourages everyone to eat their fill.
After finishing off the delicious meal, everyone thanks Arista and excuses themselves to go back home.
"Pandi and I will help with all the dishes before we go back home," Dau says, looking outside. "The weather's a lot better now."
"Maybe we can find someone to help with the pipes too," Pandi says, going into the kitchen to start cleaning up.
"The sun's starting to go down," Theon points out. "Why don't you two stay the night and then see about fixing it in the morning? Can they, Ari?"
"I thought he was the older one," Ylrhea mutters as she sweeps the floor, competing with Honey to see who could collect the most scraps. "Shoo, you!"
Alethiro nudges Theon and they move the tables back where they belong.
Looking from the girls to Theon she just sort of laughs, "I thought he was too....but he's always been a very kind and considerate kind of older brother, so I have nothing to complain about."
Taking some dishes to the kitchen she says to Pandi and Dau, "Thank you all so much for all of your help, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help with your pipe problem. If you would like to stay the night here, you're more than welcome to, but it's completely up to you."
Stepping over to the door she calls out, "Celine Milocathe, come get this puppy and take her outside. Right now!"
Hearing her mommy hollar for her, Celine runs out of her bedroom where she had been playing, picking up the puppy from the floor where her auntie was trying to sweep, Celine carries the puppy to the front door. Opening the door she calls her puppy to go outside.
Arista goes back in the kitchen to help the girls with clean up, satisfied that her daughter can handle the puppy.
"I'm fine with it."