“How’s Norman doing?” Mom asked when I returned to the apartment. She was in the kitchen, searching through the fridge, trying to find something to fix for dinner.
“The next twenty-four hours will be crucial,” I said, words I might have heard on one of those hospital TV shows, instead of something Dad said. But it sounded right.
“Matt, you know your dad—he can fix anything computerized,” Mom said. “Norman is in the best hands possible.” This time she looked truly concerned for the robot. She didn’t have to borrow any concern from me.
And what she said was totally true. As far as robot surgery goes, my dad was probably the top guy in all of New York City. Maybe in all of the Western Hemisphere! This made me feel better about Norman’s chances.
Much to my surprise, Mom pulled a frozen blueberry pie from the freezer. “Is this okay?” she asked. “We should probably eat it up before freezer burn has its evil way.”
Pie for dinner? I thought I could only dream of living in that world! I nodded quickly like a goof before Mom changed her mind.
She slipped the pie into the oven, and then we watched some TV in the living room. It was still prime kid-TV time, so I was in charge of the remote. Sometimes when I’m watching cartoons with Mom or Dad they can get kind of critical of the shows—“A talking sponge? Really?”—but that day Mom and I were quietly hanging out together like two friends watching cartoons. I liked that way loads better.
I glanced at Mom—she had fallen asleep, I think. Or at least her eyes were closed. Must have had a tough day at work. Oh well, so it wasn’t the perfect mom and son bonding moment. Ninety-five percent perfect was good enough for me.
After the pie cooled down it was time for dinner. Of course Mom and I weren’t having only blueberry pie, that would have been unhealthy. The side dish was a big scoop of organic vanilla ice cream. MADE WITH THE HELP OF HAPPY COWS, said the carton.
“Dive in,” Mom said, smiling at me, then jabbing a fork into her slice of pie. So I dove in, feeling pretty lucky that I had parents who more often than not knew exactly what I needed, even when I didn’t always know what I needed. Like pie for dinner!
Another thing I love? Warm blueberry pie served with a side of vanilla ice cream. For dinner!