Village News

Mom prepared dinner with different types of ingredients. The whole family was excited about this dinner. It had unrecognizable smells that Alice and Jonathan could not stop complaining about. Mom was clearly annoyed. I was with dad seated at the dinner table. He was playing with me, but we stopped and watched that discussion.

"Mom, dinner is ready?" said, Jonathan, coming closer to the stove. "Alice said, you got special meat"

"Dinner is not yet, honey. Just a little more time. Meanwhile, Alice, you haven't told your dad what you did, share with them" said turning to Alice.

"I'm so hungry… I don't have the strength to speak" said Alice, putting her hands on her belly.

"I am hungry too. So hungry that I can't keep cooking… Oh, my…"

"Not fair, mom…"

"They will love to hear it from you, sweetheart".

"Alright. Jonathan, sit with dad and Henry" said Alice, pointing demanding.

"Come, Jonathan. It's the boys' table now" said dad, calling Jonathan to come closer.

We are all seated next to each other at the table. Alice stood in front of us, like giving a small lecture.

"First, we went to the bakery called Mrs. Sweet to see the new trends, and they had tons of newer sweets and types of bread. Sadly, we didn't get any of them at the moment, because we had to sell our valuable merchandise"

"What do you mean, didn't get any at the moment? Did you have it at all?" Jonathan said.

"That's not the point right now. Focus on the most important job, Jonathan! We had to sell the merchandise"

"Sweets are important too!"

"Whatever" said, ignoring his complaints. "We went to the grocery shop. Surprisingly, they did not have much meat left. Only the expensive ones". She had her eyes closed and one finger in front of her face, indicating to pay attention.

"No meat left… strange", said dad. "I think Henry must have worth tons of gold right now"

"Dad! Pay attention! Henry is not edible, but we brought some expensive meats from there. I think we will like it because it is beautiful and certainly delicious!"

"Mom, I am hungry!" said Jonathan, looking at mom.

"Mom, I am also hungry!" said dad, imitating Johnathan. Dad grabbed him and messed up his hair. Alice helped him. I giggled. Mom looked at me surprised.

"Since when Henry is giggling like that?" Mom came close and touched my nose.

"I know, right? He is just like me!" Dad put my face touching his face.

"I won't be able to handle two Richards…" Mom faked a cry. I used this opportunity to grab dad's beard and pulled it

"You are getting smarter, buddy!" dad grabbed me and played with me in the air.

"Oh my… I'm glad to hear that. He still has a chance…" Mom put her hands on her heart in a relief expression. Everyone laughed. I looked confused for a moment and laughed at them.

Alice continued explaining what she did with mom until dinner was finally ready. Dad and Jonathan helped to set the table. We had so many dishes, my first time seeing all that food. My siblings were already salivating.

"Mom! What kind of meat are those? There are three of them!" Jonathan said, trying to get his hands on the sauce from the closest one. One of the dishes was covered with a wooden lid.

"Oh… You know already, the two of them." Mom pointed to one. "That's turtle-goose. I bought some different spices from other cities and some flower-truffles". It was a dish full of well-sliced white meat put on top of a turtle shell filled with lettuce.

"It's been a long time since I had flower-truffles…" Dad looked nostalgic.

"I think we had some in Vanean City, no? But continuing, the second one is a corn-fish. Once your dad had a job in Stonebridge, he brought us some. Don't remember? I only added some fresh vegetables and goat cheese from Mrs Hubson". Mom was not expecting the surprised expressions. This dish was roasted to reach the golden point of baked corn with butter. Corn-fish's meat was gummed like corn, too.

"Corn-fish… They all look so different!" Jonathan made a disgusting face. He seemed to not like fish.

"I didn't realize it was corn-fish until you said it". Dad added.

"I helped to make those! I told you they would be surprised". Alice clapped her hands in excitement. "Now the last and the most important one, mom!"

"It's golden-cow barbecue from the Solar Plains!" she removed a wooden lid and showed us.

Dad looked shocked. Jonathan looked at him without understanding. Alice looked proud.

"How did you manage to get it? It's hard to find and so expensive!"

"They didn't have other types there… Also, it's not the finest one or top-rated one. We got it for cheap. I think they were about to discard it… The owner said a merchant was going to Dearborn and had to stop here." It was a rectangular steak two inches thick and three or four wide, with different types of herbs on it. The meat was not regular meat like the one's dad used to bring home from hunting. Instead of the leaning being red, it was all gold, like golden lines all tied together. It seemed to be even shining from where I was.

Dad gave a louder prayer this time. He seemed to be in ecstasy. I had never had solid food until that point, but while the others were praying, I tried to reach the closest dish I could. Dad noticed and shook his leg to keep me in place. I was seated and he sped the prayer. Mom and dad served the food to my siblings; even I got a little taste of the golden-cow meat. Dad did not let me chew it, but, at least, I could lick a tiny piece. They shopped the meat into slices based on who was going to eat them. Dad got the thicker one, mom the second, and Alice and Jonathan got about the same size. Soon the special meat was gone.

"I think he will stop drinking milk. It'll be hard to get anything better than this", said dad, laughing. "He probably will forget the goat's milk bag in no time". Mom asked what happened. Dad told her what happened at Mrs. Hubson's house. "The way Henry was scared, I thought she tried to breastfeed him"

"Richard… you are being mean. If she had milk, she would certainly do that. There is no problem doing so"

Alice and Jonathan were confused. They had no idea what our parents were talking about until Jonathan asked.

"If Henry doesn't like Mrs. Hubson feeding him, why cannot dad breastfeed him?" Dad looked shocked with his question. He even choked. "Dad has nipples to suck milk from them. Mom could give him some of her milk when she has to work"

"Stupid! He has no breasts! Look at mom's breasts. They are big because milk needs space. She cannot give him milk, because dad doesn't have any space to put it", Alice added. "If I had big breasts like mom, I would help", she said, holding her breast with a sad face.

"He has space! His breasts are bigger than yours!"

Dad was speechless and blushed. Mom could not stop laughing.

"Why you cannot breastfeed Henry, Richard? I think that's a valid idea". Mom patted Jonathan's head with a gentle smile. Jonathan and Alice looked at dad, waiting for an answer.

"Err… I-I think men have hairy chest… Henry would choke with mine…" dad stuttered.

"That makes sense…" said Alice and Jonathan, looking at each other.

"You could remove some, no?" Mom said with a gentle expression. Jonathan and Alice looked at him, eager for a yes.

"Clarice! Help me here and not fuel the fire! Stop talking about my breasts. Henry only loves mom's breast and that's enough. I'm not replacing her" said dad, finishing up the conversation. "Soon will be the ninth bell, you two should get ready to sleep. Mom and I will be cleaning the table; you two can get some rest". Dad seemed giving an order rather than a suggestion. Alice and Jonathan didn't complain, noticing his angry tone. They nodded and kissed mom and dad, saying good night. Once they left, dad looked at mom.

"Just what the heck was going on with them?"

"They are just full of energy and too smart for us. Jonathan is in that phase where he asks for everything. Don't you remember Alice asking so many strange things?"

"I remembered once she asked, why you didn't have a beard, and she wanted to have one too"

They looked at each other and laughed. Once they settle down, mom took me from dad and got back to her seat.

"It's time for your dinner, too. Right, sweetie? Dad is selfish who doesn't want to share his breasts". Dad looked at her with an angry face, but changed to a funny one.

"Can you actually imagine me breastfeeding him?"

"Of course, not. You would seem like a jungle monkey feeding its baby", mom said, nodding negatively her head as if she tried to remove the picture from her mind.

"I'd look majestic, but no more than you. Looking at you two, made me feel so happy…" Mom gave him a shy smile. The silence took over for a moment, and mom talked.

"Richard, there is something serious I need to talk about", mom's face had a serious expression. Dad straightened his back, taking a serious pose. "We sold the meat at a higher price because there is no meat available. The grocery shop owner said there is a feybeast attacking the wild animals and the cattle. The golden-cow meat was from a merchant whose caravan was attacked by it. People are afraid to go hunting or even get near the woods…"