Perfect poster for a chapter that begins in the kitchen. Thank you @_tv.158!

I almost don't believe it. We're already at chapter 50!

Chapter 50: Bake, not roast

The last time I looked in a breadbasket, I found a pound of weed – courtesy of my mom's new boyfriend.

Orange juice was only ever in the fridge when mom planned on drinking screw drivers. And pop tarts were a staple.

But the Dawson household was very different. Bowls overflowing with fresh fruit. Their fridge packed with cheese, greens, protein, salad, milk, juices. And sourdough bread in their breadbasket. Not weed.

"Everything ok, Millie?" Luke asked me from behind the countertop.

His arms were leaning against the marble surface as he watched me. He was in a t-shirt and the fabric cut off just around the level of his biceps. 

I'd opened the fridge five times now, gaping at it each time.

"Look! Avocado yogurt," I pointed.

Luke smiled. He was about to say something when his sister walked into the kitchen. She wore jogger pants, a matching tank top and appeared flushed.

"Just did an hour on the bike upstairs," she told us, grabbing a bottle of cold water from the fridge.

She twisted the bottle cap open and drank ice cold water. "I've always wondered what people think about staying friendly with exes."

"Where do you keep the banana bread?" Luke asked, changing subject.

This was a sore subject for us.

"OK, let me rephrase," Charlotte responded, putting the bottle down, "How does everyone here feel about staying friends with exes who want more?"

She may have said everyone but she was looking at Luke.

"How's your ex, Char?" Luke responded, "He traded places with your boyfriend yet?"

"Luke!" I gasped.

Charlotte glared at her little brother and fixed the cap back on her water bottle. I almost expected her to throw it at him. If she didn't, I will.

Luke walked past her, "Hard to keep track when you're seeing two at the same time."

Luke searched for banana bread in the breadbasket and the oven, like he hadn't just roasted his sister.

"If you want something, you'll have to make it," Charlotte told him, "And you never bake, Luke, so I guess that'll be another chicken sandwich as a snack."

He does not bake but apparently he knows how to roast.

**

We found an easy bake recipe for chocolate chip cookies that only required a few ingredients. And in Mrs Dawson's magical kitchen, all those ingredients were present.

We'd already laid out a bowl, spoons and a mixer. I found it surprising that he was helping me bake. Maybe I should take a sneaky picture and send it to Chad...

Luke pulled out a carton of milk and eggs from the fridge. "Don't even think about it, Minnie."

It's like he knew.

I found a frilly apron beside the cabinet and offered it to him. Luke rejected it.

"But it has nice strawberry pictures on it," I insisted, "You don't want to get your shirt dirty, do you?"

"I'll take it off then."

"Alright." I wasn't going to complain about that. He can take his shirt off any time.

I know I'm in a kitchen, but I still think Luke is yummy.

He poured the dry mixture into a bowl. I picked up the bag of chocolate chips and dumped them in.

"Wai-" Luke looked into the bowl, "OK, I guess we're skipping a few steps."

"Egg?" I asked, picking one up.

He nodded and watched me crack the egg against the side of the bowl. It landed onto the dry mixture with a plop.

Luke noticed the little white pieces that had accidentally fallen into the bowl, "Eggshells will give it the crunch. Next up-"

"Oh, I'll try to take it out," I exclaimed, not wanting our delicious cookies to be ruined on my account.

"Not with your hands," he tried to stop me, but it was too late.

My grubby fingers emerged from the bowl all gooey and white. I reached out to touch him and he grabbed my wrists to stop me from getting the mixture on him. I laughed and he slowly pulled my wrists further apart, pulling me closer in the process. His eyes gazed down at my lips and slowly his mouth moved towards mine.

I felt my heart skip a beat as we kissed. I missed his kiss. Our argument from earlier today made me miss him even more. I felt so far apart when we fought and so close when we... were like this.

I could tell he felt the same way because his kiss deepened, hardened even, as I felt the passion flow through him. He even let my hands go and I rested them gently on his cheek.

Oops.

"I never thought I'd see this," Charlotte exclaimed, standing at the kitchen door, "Luke Dawson actually baking!"

I thought he looked adorable, even with the little baking mixture stuck to his cheek.

**

~15 minutes later~

All three of us stared at the mixture slowly rising within the oven. The heat of the oven made the cookies widen and darken as they cooked. The chocolate melted under the oven glow.

"Mom moved your college party to after the new year," Charlotte mentioned, while standing next to her brother.

"When did she decide that?" Luke asked.

"Today."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't make it," she said.

I still found it surprising that Mrs Dawson was throwing a college acceptance party for her son when most of his friends hadn't gotten into college yet. Will Jake get a party too when he gets accepted?

"But I'm sure you two don't care," Charlotte continued, "You have your exciting Dubai trip to prepare for."

"I still need to book flights," I said, hiding my fear at googling the ticket prices.

I've been putting it off for days now because I can't face the blow to my bank account. I can already imagine it now – a giant 0 staring back at me. A donut, and not the yummy kind.

"Chad hasn't talked to you about that?" Luke asked me.

Does Chad expect us all to book the same flights? Because I'm taking the option with the craziest layovers – anything to bring price down. If I could check myself in as baggage, I would.

"No," I squeaked.

"He's booked us all on the same flights. Let me text him," Luke said, opening his phone and texting.

"He booked?" I asked, watching Luke send the text, "Already?"

"Luke," Charlotte interrupted, having watched this entire exchange, "I think you should probably tell her that Chad is paying for the flights."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

Luke looked up, "Did I not say that already?"

"She was missing that little detail," Charlotte said smugly.

"Really?!" I exclaimed again, "For Cearra too?!"

"Yeah, he doesn't want to force people to spend out of pocket," Luke said, looking surprised that he hadn't told me already. "But we have a rule in Dubai: Chad doesn't pay when we go out and we split the bill amongst the rest of us."

"That's really generous of him," I said.

Charlotte answered, "Not really. He gets so bored over there by himself, so he pays for friends. Don't give me that look, Luke!"

**

I placed the freshly baked cookies into my old tupperware. I left some out for Luke, Charlotte and me to enjoy. The cookie crumbs around me was proof that I have already enjoyed.

"Millie!" Charlotte called out from the living room.

"Yeah?" I asked as Luke was putting on his jacket at the front door.

We were getting ready to brace the cold weather and trek up to number 34 again: Our return encounter with Winnifred's former owner. The gentle lady with the cane.

Charlotte called out, "I'm guessing that since you didn't book the flights, you haven't picked outfits for new years, right?"

I peered into the living room and saw her sprawled out over the couch, earphones dangling from her phone to her ears.

"No, I haven't," I hesitated to respond.

"She hasn't," Charlotte said into the phone, "I know. It's crazy." She then pulled out one of her earphones and said to me, "I'm on the phone with Nicole. Do you want us to help you?"

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

"Um... I don't want to disturb," I said.

"We love projects!" Charlotte assured me, before speaking into the phone again, "Nicole, she said yes. Come over with some sexy outfits. Yes, sexy."

Luke once warned me about Charlotte and her 'projects'. But this time, he didn't seem too concerned.

"You don't have to take any clothes you don't want," he told me, pressing his hands against my shoulders, "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"What about the cookies?" I asked, holding up the tupperware, "We were supposed to bring them-"

"I'll take them," he said, kissing me on the forehead, "Have fun."

**

Nicole arrived not too long after Luke left. 

She stepped out of her car with sunglasses on and car keys in one hand, "Call me a fairy godmother."

Nicole had dyed her hair pink since the last time I saw her. 

I remembered the day she came to my house to tell me about Winnifred. I was suspicious. I wasn't used to girls being nice but now, Charlotte and Nicole were helping me choose a new years' outfit and Cearra has been so supportive...

Maybe for the first time I was really seeing what it was like to have girl friends.

"This means a lot, thank you," I told her, "You don't really know me, so I really appreciate this."

She dismissed my comment with a wave, "You don't know this, Millie, but I practically owe Luke and Charlotte my life. They're family, so you dating Luke brings you into the inner circle."

Nicole flung open the back seat of her car and I stared inside, where stacks of clothes were piled onto each other. They were covered in gray garment bags, zipped up to the top with hangers sticking out.

"Not to mention, Nicole's closet is the size of this house," Charlotte added, heaving a pile of clothes out of the car, "She won't even notice these are gone. And you're going to need our help. Oma and Bianca treat every holiday like a runway."

Nicole handed me an armful of clothes as well and we traipsed into the house to lay them all out on the living room floor. 

She explained, "Now I brought over a few different styles. This is a fun, playful white dress that has a Coachella vibe..." she waved an outfit in front of me, before casting it aside in favor of another, "here's a sexy black number that says I'm girly, but not too girly and yet sophisticated.... oh, and this one is the cutest red dress that'll bounce a bit when you move, perfect for dancing."

"Now I can't say I like your style Millie," Nicole said, looking me up and down, "But when we're done here, the only sound you'll hear is Luke's jaw dropping to the floor."

"Ew, that's my brother you're talking about," Charlotte cringed.

Nicole said, "He's hot, get over it." 

**

~Several days later~

3 AM

I couldn't sleep. My ears were buzzing from excitement and every time I was about to sleep, I sat up straight to stare at the luggage on my bedroom floor.

I was ready for Dubai. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but I was going to Dubai. This was a dream come true. I was grateful to Chad, to Luke, to Austin, to Charlotte, to Nicole, to Cearra.

My heart was almost exploding from happiness. I had friends and a wonderful boyfriend. I'm so glad Luke couldn't see me right now because I was too cringeworthy for my own good.

4 AM

The giddiness hadn't subsided. I crept over to my window and peered through the curtains to see if the sun was coming out.

It was still dark and cold. In 24 hours, I would be in a warm desert environment. I thought about how Austin had described Dubai while pretending to be Cearra's dad. The Swedish-German-Italian Hans Magnus the senior, sans moustache.

I texted Luke: Awake?

5 AM

I headed downstairs, seeing a light on in the living room. The floorboards creaked as I took each step. I crouched lower to see who was down there. At 5AM, I didn't expect that anyone was up.

"Mom?" I asked, seeing the shape of my mom, wrapped in a black coat, "Are you OK?"

She looked at me with tired eyes, seeing past me. "Hi Flora."

"It's Millie, actually. Why are you wearing a coat inside?"

"I'm cold," she answered.

Her laptop was open, and papers cluttered the dining room table. I saw four empty mugs.

"Have you been up all night?" I asked her, "It's 5AM."

"Is that right?" she sighed, running her hands through her hair, "I've been working. Having two teenage kids, a full-time job and some minute semblance of a dating life makes it hard to compete with the Stepford men of my workplace."

"The what?" I asked, not used to her speaking like this to me.

"Stepford. You know, those men who get to have it all. The promotions, the nights out with the boys, the family life because their wives are at home raising their kids," she sighed, picking up her heels and throwing them into the shoe cupboard.

"You got a promotion recently though," I said encouragingly. I set the glass of water onto the dining room table for her, making sure it was far from the computer.

She was singlehandedly bringing more financial stability into this home. Emotional stability, not so much. 

"I did because I poured my sweat, blood and tears into it," she answered, gulping down the glass of water, "And now it's the holidays and what have I got to show for it?"

Dad left us around the holidays. I don't remember the exact day, but I remember that the garden gnomes outside were still wrapped in faerie lights. 

I stopped wrapping gnomey in snowflake faeries lights after my dad left. We haven't really been festive since.

"Who's basting my turkey, huh?" she snapped, shutting her laptop.

The glow of the screen disappeared and left the living room a little bit darker.

"Turkey's not all it's cracked up to be," I said.

"What does that even mean? You're still a kid, what do you know?" she asked me, "You're dating a boy who is going to dump you the minute he finds something better. You don't know what Stepford is but you're dating one of them. His whole family is wrapped up in this fake ideal of perfect. Life is not perfect and it's not fair and it's people like us who bear that burden."

"Life isn't perfect, mom, but why do we have to give up?" I asked, tears coming to my eyes now. I tried to push them back, "Fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why can't I enjoy the good in life, instead of fearing what's to come?"

"Because you haven't seen it yet," she answered, "You didn't see when that family called social services on us and tried to take my kids away from me. You didn't see when your father left without any means to take care of this place and they threatened to kick us out of the house. We were almost homeless until your grandpa, may he rest in peace, stepped in."

"Who tried to kick us out?" I asked, "And who called social services on us?"

"The bank tried to kick us out when I couldn't pay the bills," she said, "and the Dawsons called social services on us."

"Luke's parents?"

"Did you not hear me? Yes!"

A/N: Poor Millie, hearing this just before she goes to Dubai. Please vote if you liked the chapter and want more! In honor of the 50 chapter mark, I made this one EXTRA long.

This chapter was hard. That last conversation between Millie and her mom is so heavy... but let's see how they deal with it.

Next chapter... Dubai! Any suggestions??

<3 Natalie