A few days later was a big holiday.
A day of festivities around the nation.
Since they were in Eqitin, they had to celebrate together, so that afternoon, Natalia brought Anne and Joy back to the old household.
It was the holidays, but Archie still had some business to take care of in the office and wouldn't get back until later.
Natalia gave him a call beforehand and had him get back to the old household right after he was done instead of heading back to Pinewood Manor.
The old household was bustling activity. It was rare for them to get back together like one big happy family.
Ariana was overjoyed recently. You couldn't blame her. In past holidays, either Archie was overseas or Faye couldn't make it back. Even if they came back, having only four people there made it feel a bit lonely.
This year was different. Seeing her children and grandchildren surround her, Ariana felt a surge of warmth and appeared younger by several years.
It was the holidays, so as a McCarthy, Faye did have to come back for such a big day.
Considering Natalia, though, Ariana did ask her about it indirectly to the side.
Natalia didn't have too big a grudge against Faye. Faye had only had to leave the country because of the prospecting incident, so it didn't have too much to do with her.
Now that the prospecting scene was about dealt with, it was natural that she'd come back.
Natalia smiled and soothed the old lady. Seeing that she was fine with it, Ariana relaxed.
That afternoon, Faye was on Natalia's heels as they went back to the old home.
The two bumped into each other as they entered. Faye still looked as proud as ever, but with her recent blow, she didn't act out as much. As unwilling as she was to see her, she simply scoffed and headed inside without saying anything.
Natalia didn't bring it up against her.
She felt that it really wasn't easy for someone who was almost forty to still behave like a teenager.
Of course there was the pampering of the McCarthy family, but also because she was pure and believed anything anyone said, her mind often couldn't turn corners.
Getting mad with someone like this would accomplish nothing other than making oneself uncomfortable.
Natalia always treated herself well. If she wouldn't benefit from it, she couldn't be bothered to do it.
The old household hung with festive decorations and looked more joyous than ever.
After going in, Natalia had Anne go play around herself. Helen and another servant in the old household took care of Joy, while she herself went into the kitchens to look for Ariana.
For the most important festival in the year, the old lady had always liked to get down and dirty herself to make something nice for the family. This was a tradition of decades.
And considering Eqitin was far north in the country and cold, at this time of year, it was popular to eat dumplings.
Since Ariana and Faye had grown up in the north, they were naturally no strangers to the dish.
But Natalia had grown up in Julio. Being a city in the south, she didn't have dumplings or noodles too often.
So she was the only person in the entire family who didn't know how to make the darned things while everyone else could.
She was a little embarrassed, while the old lady simply smiled, "If you want to learn how, come over and I'll teach you."
Faye looked at her, wanting to poke fun, but paused, thought of something, and didn't speak.
Not noticing her expressions, Natalia heard Ariana's words and swallowed her lack of confidence as she washed her hands and bit the bullet.
Other than the servants, there were only the three of them wrapping dumplings.
Archie came back at half past five and started playing chess with William.
Ariana slowed down her movements and said, "Look here. Put this meat in here, then pinch it here, hold it still in the center with your left hand like an axis. Follow up with your right hand and circle around it to make a pattern. That makes it both pretty and delicious. Try it."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: My Wife Is So Sweet (Natalia Dawson)