Lara would always make sure her cubs were full before eating. It was an old habit she couldn't get rid of. Not even when at dinner with Nate.
There was so much meat on the table that she wasn't sure how to proceed. In the end, she let the cubs choose for themselves.
While she started cutting the beefsteak for Scarlet, Jaden couldn't wait and started chewing with his bare hands.
Nate didn't react to the show, so she felt less embarrassed. But still, she couldn't let the boy continue like that.
She turned to Jaden and cut the roasted meat, cooked perfectly rare.
When she returned to focus on Scarlet, the girl was biting a bone, nibbling on the same spot until it started cracking.
«No, wait!» she moaned, but the little girl didn't listen. «You'll hurt yourself...»
Nate observed the scene with peace in his heart. After breaking his heart, Lara had turned her focus on the pups and forgot about him. Yet, he couldn't help but smile at their antics.
As Lara took out pieces of bone from Scarlet's mouth, the latter didn't move in fear of hurting her mother. He couldn't know whether that would happen even before. Yet, the little girl's attention on not causing wounds was an improvement to her raging self.
«Why in the world are you cracking bones when you have so much to eat?» she scolded her. «And don't forget the salad! I saw you didn't even try it.»
Nate sighed at the sound of her voice and leaned back on the chair. He didn't feel the hunger anymore, even if he hadn't eaten for the whole day out of nervousness.
«Don't embarrass ourselves in front of your father, okay?» Lara continued.
She couldn't see, yet, how Jaden had cleaned his hands on the shirt and reached one of the dishes in the centre.
The children didn't touch the bread, but they did eat the salad when Lara ordered them. All with a frown, but they did listen.
Nate observed their exchanges and how they chose what to eat.
«Why do you insist so much on the salad?» he asked.
The pups were wolves: they didn't like it. Yet, Lara would be very attentive that the twins had at least enough to avoid stomach problems. But, how could she know it?
She knew her kids needed meat, but about the rest?
«Oh, this... When it started, they would refuse to eat anything but meat.»
«Did they complain about stomach ache?»
«Oh, no,» she sighed. «But I caught them eating grass in the park, once. I figured they needed salad other than meat. And bread too. But they leave bread apart. I don't know how to solve this. Even making pies... They eat the meat inside and leave the rest. Forcing them feels like torture... You should see how they look at you when you give them bread...»
«Have they had a stomach ache after, even when not eating bread?»
«No.»
«Then it's no big deal. Their bodies know what they need. I bet they will eat bread in the future, maybe when they start growing more.»
«It feels like feeding two tigers, sometimes,» Lara murmured.
She stopped talking to clean Jaden's fingers. She did see the stains on his shirt, and her face had turned pale. But she couldn't waste time mourning the clothes.
The cubs had more trouble in store, so she just surrendered and cut the second piece for the boy.
«I told you, Jaden,» she said. «You were still hungry!»
She then turned to Nate to explain.
«He didn't finish his meat for lunch. Pretending to be full, this trickster.»
Jaden pursed his lips, observing the meat in his plate and his mommy's clean one.
He had forgotten about everything in front of so much food. His mommy didn't eat anything yet. Just the slice of ham the man had given her.
That was too much! He had beaten Jaden with the timings. Yet, the boy could try doing better. His mommy was still hungry, wasn't she?
«Here,» he said, using the same tone and expression of the lunch. «For my mommy.»
He moved the best pieces to her plate and looked her in the eye.
Lara couldn't help but be moved. She pecked his head and caressed his face before cleaning it with a handkerchief.
«You don't need to worry about me,» she said. «I'm the mother here. I should take care of you.»
Jaden felt his heart stop. His action didn't work the way he wanted.
Why had she accepted food from that man and not from him?
At the same time, Nate had Jaden's same expression.
Why was Lara so moved when her son gave her a half-bitten piece of meat? She didn't almost react when he was the one offering.
She just smiled shyly and ate in silence. Yet, she was going to cry because of her son's idea.
While he considered what he did wrong, his eyes moved on Scarlet. The little girl was snickering devilishly. The napkin in her hands was stained with the sauces of the various kinds of meat she ate.
She had cleaned her face alone. After all, they were five.
That level of mess was expectable from smaller kids. But his pups should have been able to eat with forks.
«Do they always eat like this?» he inquired.
The suspicion forming in his mind was clearer and clearer. They were doing it on purpose to divert Lara's attention away from him.
And it was working so perfectly that he couldn't believe they were only five.
«Oh, no. Today they're especially messy,» Lara replied. «I don't force them to eat with the fork, though. Only sometimes.»
She then sighed, realising that Nate would have a really bad impression of her. She hadn't been able to teach their children to eat properly. How could she take care of them in other aspects?
«I always think they're young and have time,» she murmured.. «And five years flew away like this.»
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