Just Once

"If you're willing, the six of us are happy to step in and help. We want to do what he isn't brave or smart enough to," Jinyoung said.

Avalon sighed, cooking the meat that Kate started, but accidentally burning herself on the pan egde. She yelped and went to the sink, running it under cold water.

She looked over at her, "are you okay?" she asked as she looked at her then looked when she saw Yugyeom walked over and grab a piece of ice from the freezer, "here," he murmured softly.

Kate looked at them then smiled, "I'd appreciate the help, getting the room set up will require muscles that I'm not allowed to use," she said to them lightly as she rubbed her neck. "I don't expect anything from any of you though, just so you know you're not obligated to help me,"

"We want to help," youngjae spoke up with a small smile, "he's a coward - scared, but you don't get to run away so neither should he,"

She sighed, taking the ice from him and putting it on her arm. It stung and she hissed, but looked up at him and nodded. "Thanks," She said softly, turning back to the food she was making.

---

Jackson nodded. "We'll be here, so just tell us what you want to do. We can give you our numbers too- call us whenever. We won't be working for a while anyway."

Kate smiled a little then pulled out her phone, "Just put your numbers in there," she said to them lightly then chewed on her bottom lip, "Ava's trying to teach me how to cook, but failing," she admitted with a small laugh, "so I'm probably going to hire a tutor since I'm pretty sure she hates cooking for me since I eat like eight times a day,"

He looked at her then smiled a little, "Becareful," he said to her, "Burns are dangerous,"

She nodded a little. "Yeah, my mistake,"She said, holding the ice to her arm. "I should be more careful." She murmured.

---

Jinyoung nodded. "I can cook, if you want help, me and Youngjae can come by. We're not amazing, but we can help with some things," He smiled.

She smiled a little, "That'd be nice," she murmured with a small smile, "My mom tried teaching me too before she passed but uh - yeah obviously that didn't work out very well," she laughed making some of them smile a little.

"Some people just aren't meant to cook, what about take out?" Jackson asked and she whined.
"The doctor said, no more taco bell - or take out, it's not good for the baby, the baby doesn't know whats good for it; taco bell is amazing," she mumbled lightly and sighed a little.

He smiled, "Do you need help, what are you making?" he asked as he watched her cook.

"Steak tacos," She said, turning to look at him. "Or at least, thats what she had been trying to make before she butchered perfectly good cuts of meat," She said, stirring it in the pan. "Uh, you can chop the lettuce, it needs to be washed first," She said, pointing at it. "But you don't have to. I can do it," She shrugged a little.

---

Jackson smiled. "Do you need anything moved since we're here? Or we can just keep you company. We're good for that too," He smiled a little.

She looked around, "I don't think so," she murmured, "But I'm gonna need help painting in a week or so," she told them with a small smile, "Want to see the nursery?" she asked and a couple of them nodded, she stood up and walked to the room down the hall , "thats my room, this is the nursery room empty for now but I'll be shopping later in the pregnancy. I don't want to buy anything too early," she said gently.

---

He nodded and did as she asked, "So is she really that bad of a cook? It's steak, how hard could it be?"

"Don't assume," She laughed. "You'll only be surprised," She murmured, finishing up the steak and adding seasoning. "She never learned, because she mostly lives on take out," She explained, pulling out the tomatoes and chopping them up.

He laughed, "sounds like us most of the time, but the guys can cook a bit - does she like korean food?" he asked curiously, "Maybe they can make her something she'll like.

"I'm sure she does, she studied abroad there for a bit," She said, putting the tomatoes into a bowl and then going to put the cheese into a bowl as well. "It'll be interesting to see this, nothing against you, but your leader has a temper. He's just sitting at home waiting foryou to get back?"

He nodded a little,"He doesn't know we're here actually, we'll tell him about it later," he shrugged a little, "We want to help her - shes family now whether he wants her to be or not,"

She nodded a little as she looked at him, before putting everything out on plates. She walked up next to him and took the lettuce, putting it into a strainer and rinsing it once more that it had been chopped. "I guess," She said softly, before calling Kate. "Your tacos are ready!" She called, going to get a glass of water.

Youngjae smiled a little. "Tacos?"

"There's enough for everyone, go ahead," She said smiling a bit.

She walked into the kitchen excitedly, "I'm so hungry," she sighed as she grabbed a plate, "and my appetite is pretty much the same, I actually have to go grocery shopping soon," she snorted, "I have absolutely no food in this house - we just bought this today,"

She took a plate and made a taco, sitting down at the table and eating. "You need to learn to cook so you'll know what to buy," She joked.

Jackson shrugged. "Her cooking can't be that bad, can it?"

She shrugged a little. "I burned water when I tried to cook noodles," she explained with a straight face making the others laugh.

"How do you burn water?" Yugyeom asked furrowing his brow, "You need more than help learning how to cook,"

"I end up taking care of food for her because she's damn near hopeless in the kitchen," She said shaking her head. "She once cooked and it made her sick, I don't know what she did to it, but it made her sick," She said to them. "She needs a miracle, or a live in chef."

"Don't you live here?" Jackson asked curiously.

"Nope, I live one floor up, where I can eat edible food," She laughed a little.

She smiled a little, "She brings me her left overs more often than not, speaking of - at some point can you make those salmon patties again they were bomb and as long as I dont have fresh fish too often I should be fine," she said smiling a little then went to the cabinet to get her prenatals since she had to eat them with food. "And I left the chicken out over night... it was frozen I figured it wouldn't matter so thats probably what did it," she said thoughtfully.

Avalon stood on a stool, on her toes to try to reach the top of the walls. She and Yugyeom was busy trying to paint the nursery since Jackson and Jinyoung went to the appointment with Kate and the others had to go shopping. "Hey, can you pass me some more paint ?"

Kate sighed a little and smiled as they waited in the waiting room, "Thanks for coming with me," she said as she looked at them then wet her lips.

---

He nodded a little and set the paint bucket on a step ladder next to her, "There," he smiled as he wet his roller then began to paint the walls.