Gourmet Mac & Cheese from Super Spy Mom

Her favorite game was her sneaky solo act of listening to mom on the phone. Her name is Molly (the girl’s name, not her mom. Molly didn’t know her mom has a name other than Mom, Mommy, or Mama). Molly would sit around the corner in the hall as she’d peak at her mom on the phone. Her first goal was to hear her mom clearly as she spoke. Her second goal was to imagine who she’s speaking to (A superhero? A villain? Some spy for a secret organization?). Her least important goal was to not get caught, though she’d sometimes step on a creaky floorboard or clear her throat when it tickled, and Mom would turn toward her. Molly always played it cool with a plan B. Sneaking?  Nope… just coming into the kitchen for a glass of milk. Overheard anything super top secret? Nah, just going to watch tv. She’d nonchalantly avoid eye contact and act as naturally as she could. It felt like the best acting gig of all time. Mama’s buying it… she’d think.

…

“Molly, dinner’s ready!”

One of Molly’s favorite things came on warm dinner plates at home. Breakfast usually is boring: eggs, pop tarts, cinnamon sugar toast. Same few options each day. Lunch was quick and easy: boxed mac & cheese with mini hotdogs, the thickest pb&js known to humankind, or the occasional McDonald’s Happy Meal. But dinner was magnificent. Mom would make this creamy, cheesy mashed potato with chicken dish, or a saucy spaghetti with frozen meatballs, cooked nice and hot. It didn’t matter what it was, there always seemed to be the craziest amount of food between her and Mom. Molly was always fullest after dinner, and the meals were the most satisfying. Dinner usually would be followed by a tv show, washing dishes with Mom, then brushing teeth and going to sleep in her comfy bed.

…

There are no pets at home, nor any siblings. Molly’s dad died when she was two and now she’s seven. Mom has entertained, protected, and loved Molly so well. It’s all Molly knows, life with her and Mom. They’re best friends. Her dad is only familiar in photographs. No memories come to mind. But she’ll sometimes enjoy Mom talking about how great her dad was… “He was bigger than life itself. Messier too!” she’d often say. Molly chuckled at the messier part. It motivated Molly to not worry so much when she made messes and to simply make life as much fun as possible. Her dad apparently was a soldier. He met her mom 10 years ago and they married 6 months later. “When you were born a couple years into our marriage, it was the shiniest, most special gift we’ve ever received.” Mom also said that a lot… It’s not that she didn’t like hearing it. It just made her feel a little embarrassed, though she could never figure out why. Maybe it was trying to imagine herself as a baby all shiny, like a metal thing or diamond or something.

…

There’s a big family next door. It’s a mom, a dad, four kids, and two dogs, though Molly feels like there’s 10 people in that house compared to her tiny duo with her Mom. It’s not bad, just the two of them, just different. The Walten family moved in a few years ago. In those few years, Molly has made friends with the two youngest kids and gotten really close to the two dogs. She walks over all the time! Sometimes Molly and Mom will have dinners over there. They get invited a couple times a month, sometimes more. Though Mom has to work late here and there, so sometimes it’s just Molly eating over. Molly’s mom is friends with Janet Walten and calls her weekly or so, and will hang out with her sometimes too, when Janet’s husband works late.

…

“Janet, hey, how are the kids today?” Mom asked.

Molly imagines what Janet is saying since she can’t hear, and sometimes she backtracks what she thought was said based on what Mom says, so it’s a challenging game.

My kids flew a rocket into space today. No big deal. But they’ll make some rockets to share with your family soon.

“That’s wonderful! You’re so funny, Janet. Always a joke with you!”

Our dogs somehow ate an entire house too!

“Oh no… are Rocko and Gypsy okay?”

Molly retreats to her bedroom since this conversation ended with a simple “Okay, well have a good night. Any chance we could come over for dinner tomorrow?” It was weird Mom seemed to ask before being invited this time, but it seemed like Janet said it was going to happen. Mom said, “see you then.”

…

THE NEXT EVENING

The Waltens had a pretty good dinner spread here too. A pile of rolls; a steamy, cheesy, meaty casserole with tons of broccoli; some sort of pie with a crumble on top. The middle had various berries inside, all mushed up like jelly. But nothing beats Mom’s dinners, Molly thought. 

About 20 minutes after dinner, as Molly played with the kids upstairs as the dogs chased them up and down, Molly played her secret spy game. She heard Janet say “how stressful…” and Molly thought she might be talking to Mr. Walten. Is her family in trouble? Molly pondered for a few seconds.

But when Molly peaked around from a lower step, with dogs trampling around her up and down the stairs, she saw Janet speaking with her mom on the couch, and Mom was tearing up a little, choking out the words “I worry about giving my girl three square meals each day. I don’t even eat half of the food I make because I want to make sure she gets the most. Being able to come over here for meals helps so much. I was embarrassed asking to come by when you hadn’t invited us yet… but I risked it since you invite us so much already. It’s just been a slim week…"

Mama gets embarrassed?

“Don’t ever feel bad for wanting to come by for dinner. We LOVE your company, and the kids love Molly. Heck… our dogs love her more than they seem to love our own kids. So really, you’re doing us a favor.” Molly felt glad to know Mrs. Walten and her family.

Mom seemed to cheer up a little at that with a smile as she wiped one final falling tear.

…

THE NEXT MORNING

Over some cinnamon sugar toast, with some of the topping covering Molly’s lips, she asked Mom “Are we okay? Do I need a job?”

Mom stifled a laugh as she wiped off Molly’s lips, “What do you mean job? You work by going to school and by helping me with dishes and other stuff.”

“I don’t know, Mommy… I just heard you tell Mrs. Walten about not eating sometimes.”

“I didn’t want you to hear that… I didn’t realize. It’s not that I don’t eat, but I want to make sure my Molly girl gets healthy and strong. I eat, I promise.” 

Molly is silent for a long minute as she thinks of how her Mom seems healthy and strong even though she doesn’t always eat as much. She tears up thinking she barely noticed how much Mom ate before.

As if by some superpower, Mom read her thoughts and said “It’s okay if you didn’t notice. It’s because I didn’t want you to.”

…

She didn’t realize for those first seven years, but Molly realized she was on a path of thinking her mom was a secret spy who had phone calls with heroes and other spies, and who had endless money and the best dinners. But after that conversation, the morning after that dinner with the Waltens, Molly’s trajectory became more human and real. Her mom’s dinners were still the best, but she knew now it wasn’t the food that made it so, but her mom’s love and effort. Molly realizes they were never rich, and her mom is just a person, but it is even better than what she imagined. Her mom does have a superpower though, not only reading her thoughts but making mac & cheese seem gourmet and pretending she never noticed Molly sneaking and eavesdropping on her calls all that time.