Breakfast for Two

Catherine cooked a mean breakfast, and certainly not a Japanese one. With a deft hand and a quick snap of the wrist, she single-handedly cracked her eggs one at a time on the countertop and with a flourish released the yolk and white into a bowl one after the other. With a pair of long chopsticks she stirred them and with the help of some butter and crème turned them into a pile of fluffy and light scrambled eggs. In a cast iron pan she crisped bacon and cooked sausage allowing it to fry in the grease. There was something, Natsumi felt, authentic about this American breakfast. It made her stomach growl and filled her nostrils with what a sense of an American household smelled like on a typical morning.

When she finished, there was enough to feed a family of four placed on serving dishes and Catherine went one step further and plated up a dish for Natsumi and set it before her.

"Hash browns, eggs, bacon, breakfast is served!" Catherine said. "And, eat some fruit too, Natsumi!"

"Yes, mom," Natsumi said, rolling her eyes.

"That's mommy to you."

Natsumi stared at her in response.

Catherine smiled at her and placed a fork aside her plate.

Natsumi thought it rude to begin before her host and watched impatiently as she also put together a smaller plate for herself and sat across from her in the small dining room table.

"Itadakimasu," Natsumi said before digging into her plate. Catherine took a forkful of eggs and put it in her mouth and the two sat in silence for a while as they ate. Natsumi didn't want her to know how much she he enjoyed the food, but got the sense that Catherine knew anyway.

"What happened after I collapsed?" Natsumi asked. "The last thing I saw was the old lady. What did she do?"

"Oh, right. Well…"