Well Done
Well done.
Luca’s bright smile and vigorous babbling made everyone’s faces bloom with laughter.
I scooped him up as he wriggled in Greg’s arms, straining to reach me.
“Is our Luca congratulating Daddy too?”
“Yeah.”
I kissed the forehead of the boy beaming up at me, then waved Greg over so that he, Reni, and I could blow out the candles on the cake together.
A flush of heat rose to my ears at the burst of applause that followed. I offered everyone a simple word of thanks.
“Really, thank you all. Let’s do well from here on out.”
It was a plain greeting, but I felt the sincerity land well enough.
Starting the business had left me as anxious as I was excited. Having reliable people around me, though, felt like gaining an army of ten thousand—my heart was steady.
There weren’t enough chairs, so we stood, but a simple morning party of cake and coffee got under way all the same.
“I’m truly grateful. One of these days I’ll pick a date and treat everyone here to a proper dinner.”
Everyone present had tasted my cooking or cakes at least once, so their eager acceptance was plain.
Every ability the Manito App unlocked was useful, but cooking helped more in daily life than anything else.
Feeding the kids food that was both delicious and nourishing, and being able to give that same joy to myself and others—I thought of it as one of the purest forms of happiness.
Cooking happened more often than baking, every single day, so even if the app vanished it would stay with me for life as a solid skill.
Once the modest celebration ended, everyone’s busy day began.
Evan congratulated me again, promised to email soon about the book curation, and headed off to work.
The way he talked about yet another project while already leaving for one job made him look so fired up I felt both reassured and a little worried.
Rachel, on the other hand, clearly didn’t want to leave. She circled the table in the living room a few times, stopped in front of one spot, and declared:
“This is my seat!”
With that she pulled a lipstick from her handbag, set it down with a decisive tap, and left. Greg’s opinion wasn’t required, and Cassandra luckily seemed to have no strong feelings about seating.
“All right, shall we get to work?”
Greg and Cassandra started editing yesterday’s playroom reveal video together.
I played with the kids in the playroom for a bit, managed to put them down for an early nap, then stepped into the room that had once been Evan and Grace’s master bedroom.
“Hmm.”
Knowing it had belonged to a divorced couple left me with a slightly strange feeling.
No—better not think about it. Even Evan hadn’t shown the slightest interest in looking around to see how the house had changed, though he easily could have.
If I set aside the previous owners, the room itself was quite nice. Deep green walls and herringbone hardwood floors.
Only a small chandelier hung here, so extra lighting work would be needed, but the windows were tall and wide; the natural light was excellent.
I filmed the empty space first, then set up the camera. Walking through the freshly cleaned room, I started planning how to divide it.
Today I intended to bring everything currently scattered through the hallway and living room in here.
The room already had a walk-in closet, so I placed the sewing machine beside it and began storing everything sewing-related inside the closet.
At the closet entrance a full-length mirror and lights were mounted on the wall, just like a department-store fitting room. It occurred to me that I could use this space for content where I made and wore clothes myself.
While organizing, I idly struck a pose in front of the mirror, then felt embarrassed and glanced around. No one had seen me—hopefully.
Next to the sewing area I set a table for leathercraft and woodworking.
It sat right by the window, so I could work under natural light by day and simply place a long arm lamp on the table for nights.
That left the pottery space. It would have to go near the door, which meant the pottery wheel and tools would be the first things anyone saw when the door opened.
Clutter never looked good on camera, so I decided to put storage cabinets beside it and create a kind of corridor effect.
If I was already using cabinets as room dividers, I might as well make partitions or storage units between the woodworking table and the sewing table too. Or maybe a pegboard partition for hanging tools would work.
Furnish each zone to match its mood, install lighting…
That would give me three spots here, one in the kitchen, plus the small room for recording songs—five filming locations in total.
Even shooting the same kind of video, the results would feel richer and higher quality. The thought alone made me excited.
I measured the furniture I would need and sat in the middle of the floor sketching floor plans when the chairs arrived.
“Oh, this is great. Super comfortable on the back.”
Greg spun around and around in his new chair. I wondered when he would ever grow up, then immediately thought, That’s exactly why the kids love him.
In any case, once the computer chairs were in, the place really started to feel like an office.
“Then I’ll take this spot.”
I dragged a chair right up to the playroom window. That way, whenever the kids called, I could simply turn around and show my face.
Even now, turning the chair to face the glass, I met Luca’s eyes as he blinked open, as if he’d sensed my gaze.
He smiled at me, then yawned softly and stretched.
I looked at the empty wall that could use a clock, then checked my wristwatch.
“It’s lunchtime.”
“Already?”
“No way—I feel like we barely did anything!”
Cassandra checked her own watch in disbelief.
I stood up smiling. It was nice having two employees working so hard. Once Rachel—who was practically a workaholic—joined, the atmosphere would liven up even more.
As their new boss, it was time to make something tasty.
“I’ll head upstairs and whip something up. Anyone craving anything in particular?”
I’d been thinking of making chicken sandwiches for the first time in a while, but Greg and Cassandra shut the idea down flat.
“We’ll take care of our own lunch. We’ll go out or take turns cooking.”
“Exactly. You can’t look after our lunches every single day. Not that we wouldn’t be thrilled and grateful every time.”
“Hmm…”
They had a point. Unless it was a big company, employers didn’t usually cover employees’ meals.
Still, cooking was far cheaper. Even if I couldn’t pay high salaries, I could at least lighten the food bill.
But cooking every meal was work too.
“Ah, how about this then.”
I already made desserts for James’s café twice a week and filmed cooking videos three or four times at least.
“On regular days you handle your own meals. On baking and cooking video days, I’ll make extra so we can all eat together.”
“Wait, that’s an incredibly kind offer?”
“I love it!”
It worked out better for me too. For the camera I always made generous portions so things looked abundant, which often left me eating leftovers for days by myself.
“Then today we each fend for ourselves. I’ll just go upstairs with the kids for a bit.”
“Take your time. No one’s looking over your shoulder anymore.”
I nodded and stepped into the playroom. There was Luca, wriggling his bottom and stretching one leg backward, trying to climb down from the rattan bed.
I’d set up a little staircase so he could get on and off easily, yet even that gentle slope had him glancing back again and again, debating whether to come down. The sight was so cute and funny I couldn’t help smiling.
“…Dada!”
The “Dada” was packed with stop laughing and help me energy. I burst out laughing, which woke Reni.
Reni rubbed his eyes once, stretched his arms and legs long, then sat bolt upright and asked:
“Lunchtime? Going home?”
“Yeah. Let’s go home and eat mama.”
“Mama.”
“That’s right, my baby. The only word you catch perfectly is ‘mama.’”
I scooped up both sons and carried them upstairs.
I cooked the foods they loved, fed them lunch, then sprawled on the living-room floor for a short rest.
“Aigoo.”
The moment my back hit the floor, the sound slipped out on its own.
“Aigoo!”
Reni grinned wide, copied the sound, and flopped down beside me. Luca rested his head on my stomach and stared up at the slowly turning ceiling fan.
I savored the free moment for a while, then said half-jokingly to Reni:
“Being the boss is pretty nice, huh?”
We could take long, easy lunch breaks like this.
I’d meant it as a joke, but Reni’s eyes went round and he sat up straight, as if he’d just heard brand-new information.
“Daddy is the boss of our company?”
“Uh… yeah, Daddy’s the boss.”
“Wow.”
Wait—had he really not known until now?
Thinking back, I’d never actually said the words “Daddy is the boss.” I’d only ever called it “Daddy’s company” or “our company.”
It didn’t matter much, but Reni’s astonishment was adorable and funny.
“So who did our Reni think was the boss at Daddy’s company?”
“Uncle James! Because he’s the oldest.”
A perfectly logical guess for a four-year-old. I stroked his hair and explained.
“I see. Uncle James is the boss of the café downstairs. Daddy is the boss of our company.”
“But Daddy is the youngest. Is that okay?”
“Yep. Being the boss doesn’t really have much to do with how old you are.”
“Ohhh!”
Reni made a sound like he’d just made the discovery of the century, then nestled snugly against my chest.
“Then how did Daddy become the boss?”
“Well, Daddy makes cakes, and dolls, and clothes for Reni and Luca, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I film all that with a camera and make videos. Daddy does that the most, so I became the boss.”
It was a clumsy explanation, but the child accepted it.
“Daddy’s good at everything, so he’s the boss!”
I laughed and nodded at his simple, clear conclusion.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Our daddy is amazing. Right, Luca?”
“Yeah.”
At the same time Luca turned, grabbed my stomach, and pulled himself up to standing.
“Look at our Luca standing so well now.”
I gently stroked the little hands of the proud boy clinging to me. Then Reni spoke up.
“Daddy, Luca can walk a little now too.”
“Hm?”
“Earlier, just the two of us walked together. Watch!”
As if he couldn’t wait to show off, Reni hopped up. He stepped over my legs, took both of Luca’s hands, and said:
“Okay, Luca! Walking time! One, two, one, twooo!”
Reni walked backward; Luca toddled forward, one careful step at a time.
“Alright, big brother Reni’s letting go!”
Reni gave Luca’s hands a couple of little shakes, then slowly released them. And then… and then…
I couldn’t believe it.
My mouth fell slightly open as I watched Luca take six whole steps on his own before plopping down.
Just the other day when we practiced together he hadn’t walked like that.
When I let go of his hands and held my arms out right in front of him, Luca would carefully find his balance and manage only one or two steps toward me!
I stared at them both in disbelief. Reni stuck his chest out proudly, hands on his hips, and asked:
“Pretty good, right?”