Breakfast With Charlie
Charlie works right along side his crew prepping, pouring, smoothing, etc. It is back breaking work. He does take privileges like having a nice company truck, and not working when he pleases. Being true to the construction worker mentality, if a big job is scheduled, he shows. Even if he is not at his best from the activities of the night before. There are a couple of guys on his crew that have been with him a long time and can handle most jobs without him.
Having showed up at my house drunk last night and been able to sleep it off better than usual, he is up early. He is fixing breakfast. The kids awake to the smells of good food. I linger in bed awhile, shower and then appear. The kids are already eating. He has insisted they are cleaned up, dressed for school and that their homework is all accounted for before he serves them. Charlie is good in the daddy role. Charlie is an accepted entity to them. They like him. He is one of the few men in my life they let play the daddy role. My kids know about his kids, they've met on a couple of occasions. They've even met his wife Jan. Being kids of divorced parents, they don't think much about extras in a family relationship. They however, at least not as far as I know, don't know he is still married. Actually as I think about it, they are sharp and insightful, so they probably do know.
I am glad I went grocery shopping so there is plenty for Charlie to work with. His specialty is omelettes prepared in a manner that I'd never seen before watching him cook over the months we've been seeing one another. He scrambles the eggs in a bowl, with milk and spices. He cooks bacon in an iron skillet. Then sets aside the bacon, pours the egg batter in until it is at the perfect height on the walls of the skillet. He waits till the egg mixture is bubbling up ever so slightly. On one side he mounds vegetables, onions, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and lots and lots of grated cheese. He includes other surprises depending on what is in the fridge. He flips the other half over it, like a calzone. He finesses the edges a bit and flips the whole thing one more time. It is a hit with both me and my kids. Unlike Jerry, Charley isn't a coffee fan. He sees that the kids have both milk and o.j. I don't argue, it is such a staple in most homes but I limit the milk intake at my house. I use skim, which limits their wanting to drink it outright anyway. I do usually have some 2% around to cook with and when I'm really flush, a carton of half & half for my coffee.
The breakfast activities have us running a little late, so Charlie piles them all in his new truck to take them to school. We live plenty close to walk, as they usually do. Charlie's shiny new Silverado has a family size cab with a full back seat. They would've preferred riding in the back bed of the truck like they did in his old one. He insists they ride inside. This pleases me.