Chapter 13: Together Again, Naturally

Same as Chapters 11 and 12.

Back at Simmons Manor Jr., Katrina and Lorraine busied themselves carrying baskets upon baskets of diverse, colorful produce into the kitchen from the backyard. With their husbands working together to catch tonight's main course, it was now up to them to whip up the rest of the feast, agreeing to Rosemary's deal of combining both of their distinctive backgrounds into the meal.

"Alright, we packed the countertops with ingredients. So how exactly do we prepare this Italian crap?" Lorraine asked.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Katrina warned, before switching to a more raspy voice than usual, giving herself a noticeable underbite as she squinted her eyes. "You must show respect to the Simmons family."

"Okay, okay, fine. Calm down, Vito." Lorraine rolled her eyes. "Now how about we each name a few dishes from our background and see if there are any parallels?"

"Glad you asked. We got chicken lombardy, arancini, fried calamari, and not to mention our many breads and pasta dishes," Katrina explained.

"Hmmm... well some of my favorite recipes are for fried chicken, hush puppies, fried okra and green tomatoes, and baked macaroni and cheese," Lorraine stated, before both of their eyes bugged out.

"Huh, that was easier that I thought." Katrina scratched her chin. "...Yeah, dis'll be a piece a'cake. Now c'mon, hillbilly- I mean, Lorraine. Lemme help ya' get more cultured."

"Same to you, Barbie- I mean, Katrina." Lorraine nodded.

"Say, while we're combinin' these dishes, what are we gonna do for dessert?" Katrina continued.

"How about we make things easier on ourselves by each making our own half of the course?" Lorraine replied.

"Fine by me."

---

Meanwhile, Mark Jr. busied himself buckling Primrose into her carseat, before climbing into the front of his old-school Firebird and driving off to the Plum Tree Country Club. He'd just received a text from his father, saying he and Paul were done with their fishing trip and were ready to come back home. While he felt happy that the two patriarchs had managed to find more common ground, he really hated the fact that his car would most likely reek of dead fish for a couple of weeks at a minimum. Though being an infant, it was unlikely that Primrose would care one iota about it.

He eventually pulled up out front, where they were already standing in wait for him, each of them having caught six nice-sized catfish for tonight's supper, a few of them still wriggling on the lines a bit, not completely drained of life just yet. Junior had never eaten freshwater fish before, so he couldn't help but feel intrigued.

"So I'm assumin' we're gonna fry these guys up?" Paul inquired.

"We can, but I was thinking we could grill it instead. Knowing my wife, I'm sure the dishes we'll eat with it will be extra heavy, so we might as well keep the main course light," Mark replied.

"Eh, if you say so." Paul scratched his head.

"Come to think of it, we also have a smoker out back that I've been dying to use all year," Mark continued. "How about this? Since the number of fish we caught was a multiple of three, let's smoke some, fry some, and grill the rest. Sound good?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah, let's go with that idea." Paul nodded.

As soon as they got home, the two got busy in the kitchen, skinning and gutting the slimy, whiskered morsels and shaving the thin, white filets off the flimsy skeletons. Mark took a mason jar out of the fridge, containing a Mediterranean-style marinade which he used to soak every last piece of fish. Paul raised an eyebrow as the plastic bags were placed back in the fridge, before he shrugged and got started in cleaning off the countertops, knowing his new friend probably knew something he didn't.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Mark waited just forty-five minutes for the fish to marinate, as opposed to the recommended two to three hours, before he handed one third of it to Paul.

"Might wanna get started on frying these guys, while I head outside to cook the rest." Mark nodded.

"I'm on it," Paul replied.

"Yeah, things seem to be going fine over here. I'm gonna go check on the others," Junior muttered, heading for the front door with his baby in tow. "Hmm? You wanna see Mommy again, don't you? Yes, you do. Yes, you do! ...Ugh, I'll never get used to talking like this."

---

Meanwhile, back at Simmons Manor, Jr…

"…and they say if it's a boy, you'll be all belly, while if it's a girl, you'll put on weight all over," Lorraine finished her explanation. "And that's how I was able to learn the sexes of all my kids without any of that high-tech medical stuff. I can't imagine how confusing it must've been to have a boy and a girl inside you."

"Yeah, I wasn't able to learn 'em until very late," Katrina replied. "I swear, it felt like every last part a'me had doubled in size durin' that time."

The two were interrupted as Junior arrived home and entered the kitchen. He was shocked to see both Lorraine and Katrina standing around the kitchen, catching their breath and chatting as their finished feast lay spread out all over the counter. Lorraine was already an efficient worker on her own, but having someone else around to help her only sped up the process even more. Junior couldn't help but look around the room, pleased at the smorgasbord of dishes he saw.

Right before him was a large platter piled high with fried chicken, each piece dunked in a spicy buttermilk batter and topped with melting mozzarella cheese, served alongside a bowl of marinara sauce made with yellow and orange tomatoes. A dish of blue-crab arancini sat nearby, but the risotto balls were coated in hush-puppy batter as opposed to breadcrumbs. A third plate had paper towels laying across it, topped with a mixture of fried okra, green tomato slices, and squid rings and tentacles, all of them breaded in cornmeal and served with a homemade red pepper aioli. Another plate simply contained slices of ciabatta toasted with garlic and truffle oil, served alongside a large chunk of sheep cheese and a ramekin full of pesto. Unlike traditional pesto, this recipe was made with some rather unorthodox greens such as watercress and alfalfa. And who could forget the macaroni and cheese, baked with mostly Italian cheeses aside from the sharp cheddar, and topped with focaccia crumbs?

"Wow, this doesn't look half-bad, you two," Junior complimented.

"What's going on?" Rosemary walked into the room, absentmindedly taking her daughter into her arms. "Oh wow, Mom. I think you may have outdone yourself."

"And she couldn't a'done it without me," Katrina boasted, blowing an Italian chef's kiss. "E perfetto!"

"Oh, come off it." Lorraine rolled her eyes. "Though on a serious note, I did have a ton of fun whipping all this up. Y'know, Katrina?"

"Yeah?" Katrina perked an eyebrow.

"You're alright with me." Lorraine nodded with a rare, tender smile.

"Same to you, sister." Katrina smiled back.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's bring this all back to Mark's place. I'm sure whatever they're doing over there is just as interesting," Rosemary said.

"I suppose having my car smell like this stuff would be better than having it smell like freshly-caught fish," Junior mumbled.

---

Gathering the remaining members of each family, the group made their way over to Simmons Manor, where the smell of cooking fish accompanied by the aromatic Greek spices immediately hit them. They found Mark in the backyard, constantly shifting his attention between the naked filets of catfish on the grill, and the foil-wrapped ones in the smoker, prodding them both with the appropriate utensils.

"Smells good, honey." Katrina walked over, kissing her husband on the cheek.

"Indeed. Let's hope this little experiment pays off. I've only ever smoked mammals and birds before, never fish," Mark replied.

"Well it's certainly worth a shot," Justine commented. "And who knows? Maybe come New Years, we can smoke our own salmon for once."

"Say Mr. Simmons, I-" Zeke started.

"Please call me Mark." Mark smirked back at him.

"Sorry. Er, I was wondering what type of wood you used- oh wait! Don't tell me." Zeke stopped to sniff the air for a moment. "...a mixture of Dogwood and Japanese Maple."

"Wow, good nose, kid." Junior nodded.

"A keen sense of smell runs in the family," Paul spoke as he stepped outside. A paper towel-covered platter was in his hands, containing a pile of hot, cornmeal-dusted catfish nuggets and two bottles of hot sauce.

"Whoa Dad, that stuff looks amazing!" Rosemary commented. "Looks even better than I remember it!"

"See Paul? She hasn't distanced herself from us nearly as much as we feared," Lorraine added, putting an arm around her daughter.

"I can see that." Paul set his plate on the table with the rest of the feast.

"Well folks, it looks like the rest of the fish is done. Let's eat!" Mark declared.

---

And so the rest of the evening was spent chatting with one another, sharing jokes, compliments and memories, and enjoying the wondrous collaborative feast. Although not everyone partook in the act of preparing the meal, they each got something out of it. Zeke became more talkative than he'd ever been since arriving up north, while Junior and Justine finally got the chance to taste catfish for the first time, having spent their entire lives exclusively getting their seafood from the ocean. Soon as they tried it, they both made a mental note to try crawfish next. Even the Sterling twins, who would've otherwise gone vegetarian that day, relented and dug into the feast with everyone else. As a result, they both agreed to go meatless for the next two days in order to break even.

Dessert was served shortly after everyone got their fill, but nobody started in on it just yet, wanting to let the entrées digest a bit. Nonetheless, the next course consisted of Katrina's stracciatella gelato, a family recipe especially favored by her sister, alongside the three flavors of pie that Lorraine loved the most: chocolate-bourbon-pecan, lemon meringue, and strawberry-rhubarb. By this time, everyone had spread throughout the yard, checking their phones, taking in the atmosphere around them, or engaging in their own small conversations. In the case of Paul, he made his way back to the bench by the fountain, where he discovered he'd accidentally left his guitar earlier. Mentally reminding himself to take it back to his room later, he sighed and opened the case, placing the steel, stringed instrument on his lap and continuing from where he left off.

"Bus driver, please, look for me~. 'Cause I couldn't bear to see what I might see~," he sang quietly. "I'm really still in prison, and my love, she holds the key~. A simple, yellow ribbon's what I need to set me free~. I wroooote, and told her pleeeeaaassseee~!"

As he sang, the others quickly caught wind of this and started to gather nearby to listen in. Aside from Rosemary, the rest of the Sterlings hurried into the house and back out with some instruments of their own. Lorraine played the banjo, Kendra and Kendall played the mandolin and ukelele respectively, and Zeke took up an electric bass, an instrument he used to play in order to win over girls at the school parties he used to attend.

"Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree~. It's been three long years~. Do ya' still want me~?" the family joined in on the chorus. "If I don't see a ribbon 'round the old oak tree, I'll stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me~. If I don't see a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree~."

The Simmons crew busied themselves listening in as the Sterlings played a brief musical interlude, appreciating the wonderful sound coming from them. None of them could sing particularly well, but they could at least carry a melody, and each of them played their instruments all but flawlessly. It was also refreshing to see them all acting as a single unit, showcasing just how tight-knit they were, maybe even more so than the Simmons. There was just something about farm-work that was more intimate than running an affluent business empire together.

"Now the whole damn bus is cheerin', and I can't believe I seeeee~," Paul sang by himself.

"...a hundred yellow ribbons 'round the old... the old oak tree~!" the whole family sang in unison before they wrapped up the song.

Rosemary couldn't help but tear up at what she saw and heard, a clear reminder of her own treasured background. She wasn't even mad that she wasn't musically inclined, for it was always pleasing to listen to her folks sing. She was glad to no longer be estranged from her family after everything that had come between them, whether it be some of her actions in the past, or the fact that their farm had been torn down by Mother Nature. And she was especially glad that her newborn child would be able to grow up around such a loving family dynamic.