#duck katjaa brotp

[ericsonclan]

Stop and Smell the Stew

Summary: Duck goes down to the kitchen to see if dinner is ready and ends up helping his mom cook.

Word Count: 1759

Read on AO3:

Duck lay on his bed, his legs lazily kicking as they dangled off the edge. His eyes focused on a weird dot on his ceiling for a second, wondering how it got there before his attention was stolen by the TV as Final Fantasy music began to play on the title screen of the game. He had just finished an intense gaming session of grinding his weaker team members, cheering for them when they leveled up and laughing with Tidus as he did the laugh alongside Yuna.

It was a ton of fun but his stomach had been growling and sadly all he’d had was some Batman fruit snacks. Well, not some - one pack. He had inhaled that like it was nothing and now his stomach demanded more. It gave its usual pleas and angry cries, making Duck wonder if dinner would be ready soon. He knew it was only four but still maybe his mom would have started dinner early tonight or maybe she had made some treats.

With that thought in mind Duck swung his legs off his bed and swayed up to his full height in one awkward movement. Strolling forward, he walked past his bookshelf filled with nothing but comics and mystery novels. Batman, Spiderman and Scooby Doo figures stood proudly by the great reads he had collected over the years. His eyes stuck on the Shaggy figure who was definitely a bit worse for the wear due to being such an old toy. Still his goofy expression was still as strong as ever. With a small smile Duck reached out to grab the figure but accidentally knocked over Daphne in the process.

“Shit, sorry, Daphne,” Duck apologized with a smile and leaned down to pick up the toy when his eyes locked onto a Rubik’s cube. Oh, so that's where it had ended up. He could’ve sworn he had lost it in his pants. Eh, no use thinking about it too hard. Snatching up the Rubik’s cube, Duck began to flick around the colored sections while he put Daphne back on the shelf.

With a grin he turned and began to solve the cube. He had always had a love and a knack for puzzles and this one was one of his favorites. Spinning around the different sections, Duck quickly solved it then blindly reorganized it. His mind was easily distracted by the thought of a new puzzle game coming out and after a few minutes Duck had no recollections of how many spins he had done or what order it was in. The Rubik’s cube would remain a puzzle to solve later. Still holding it in one hand, Duck walked down the stairs with a smile and headed towards the kitchen.

“Hey, Mom, what's going to be for dinner?” Duck poked his head in the kitchen and noticed that Katjaa was busy getting out the dutch oven, carefully placing it onto the stove. The sound of her son’s voice made Katjaa look over with the brightest smile.

“I’m just getting started on it: carbonnade flamande,”

The name of the dish brought back fond memories and made Duck’s stomach growl.

That caused a laugh to leave Katjaa’s lips.“Want to help me?”

“Sure!” Duck beamed and placed down the Rubik’s cube in a spot he would most likely forget about by this evening. Rolling up his sleeves that immediately fell back down, he went to work grabbing all the ingredients. His loud footsteps rang around the kitchen as he grabbed the chuck roast that had been marinating overnight in the sour ale, bay leaves, garlic and some salt and also snatched up the bacon, beef broth and way too many other ingredients to try to carry all in one trip. Yet he still tried.

“Duck!” Katjaa exclaimed then bustled over, helping her son out.

“I wanted to carry it all in one trip,” Duck grinned at his mom who shook her head good naturedly before setting down the ingredients on the counter.

“I can see that and that was a very kind thought but you have to be careful,” Katjaa pulled Duck close to her and placed a gentle kiss on the side of his head.

“Okay, I’ll be more careful. Promise,” Duck gave a smile to his mom then turned his attention to the stove. “So, what’s step one?”

“We’re going to drain the beef and pat it dry,” Katjaa leaned down and grabbed a food strainer from the lower cupboard.

“On it!” Duck was off like a shot after snatching up the food strainer from his mom.

“Wait!” Katjaa called out, making Duck pause. “We have to reserve the marinade,”

“Oops, okay. I’ll do that,” Duck corrected his action and soon the beef was safely drained. Passing it over to his mom, Duck watched as Katjaa patted the beef dry with paper towels.

“Can you get the olive oil heated up in the dutch oven?” Katjaa smiled over at Duck as she sliced the onions. Duck nodded excitedly and was off once more, preparing the dutch oven.

Once the oil was piping hot Katjaa began to cook the beef in batches, careful to not let the oil splatter when she did so, and told Duck to do the same. Even though he was  a young adult sometimes he still got too excited for his own good and forgot things. The two of them worked well together, making sure the beef was golden brown on all sides as the smells started to permeate the air around them. It was a warm, comforting smell that made Duck nostalgic as his stomach continued to growl.

After about ten minutes they removed the beef cubes and went on to the next step. It was time to cook the bacon and Duck had volunteered to take the lead on this one. Being ever vigilant, he made sure the bacon was cooked to crispy perfection while Katjaa hummed a Belgian tune that made Duck bop his head. Both of them shared a soft smile and soon Katjaa was back over beside him giving him hugs and ruffling his hair.

“Great job. You’re such a wonderful cooking helper,”

Duck gave a light laugh at that and grinned. “I had the best teacher,”

Katjaa gave his head another kiss then gave the instructions for the next step. After the bacon was taken out and put to the side, the onions were thrown in with some salt. The smell cut through the deep, meaty air that the beef and bacon had made, adding notes of onions that complemented it greatly. Soon some flour was added to the dutch oven to coat the caramelized onions and after that the beef broth was used to get any scraps off the bottom. Once all of those had been snagged, Duck gave a thumbs up and Katjaa added the reserved marinade, beef, bacon and thyme.

“Is that everything?” Duck asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation for dinner.

“For now, yes. It needs to cook for an hour and a half first before we finish up the last few steps,”

Those words made Duck’s eyes grow big and his smile faltered. “An hour and a half?!? I thought it would be like twenty minutes. I can’t wait that long!”

Katjaa laughed at that; patience wasn’t her son’s strongest suit. “Don’t worry, you can have a snack to help tide you over,”

“I guess,” Duck mumbled, looking a bit defeated.

“Y’know, Duck, sometimes you just have to stop and smell the stew,” Katjaa placed a hand on her son’s arm and smiled, hoping he would get the twist on the saying. He didn’t. Instead he took it literally and began to smell the stew.

“It smells good,” Duck’s nose scrunched up when he saw his mom laugh. “What?”

“Nothing, it's just I was trying to put a twist on that saying. Y’know the one that talks about stopping to smell the roses. Duck, sometimes you need to slow down and relax, okay?” “Okay,” Duck nodded then tried to think of what to do to pass the time. “Wanna watch a movie while it cooks?”

“I’d love that,” Katjaa smiled and watched in amusement as Duck scampered off to put on Knives Out . He knew that his mom hadn’t seen it yet and he wanted to see if she could guess who the killer was.

It was a fun experience. Duck was on the edge of his seat as he munched on apples and peanut butter while Katjaa threw out guess after guess on who the killer was. Many laughs were shared, gasps given and their attention was captured. The hour and a half flew by in no time and even though they were both reluctant they paused the movie.

Duck repeated his same action from the beginning of dinner prep, his sleeves rolled up for three glorious seconds before falling back down as he helped add in the last few ingredients. Katjaa quickly added in the brown sugar, parsley, mustard and fresh pepper, giving the contents of the dutch oven a quick stir before putting the lid back on. The warm, deep flavors stayed in the air though, overwhelming Duck’s nose in the most wonderful of ways. His steps had a bit more pep to them as he guided his mom back to the living room, excited to finish the movie and then have a feast.

It didn’t take long for both of them to get swept up in the movie again and the reveal of the killer made Katjaa gasp. She gave her commentary as the credits rolled, Duck listening with a big smile as he added his own thoughts here and there. The two continued to gush about their favorite parts of the film as the fries cooked and soon dinner was ready. Duck eagerly set the table for three then looked over at the luscious Belgian stew that held a depth of flavor. The crisp smell of the french fries complemented the stew, adding another layer to the smells that danced around the kitchen.

Just as the table had been set and the food placed down the front door opened, revealing Kenny. He gave a big smile as he shifted his jacket off. “Hey there, Kat, Duck, it smells delicious,” He strolled forward and gave Katjaa a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Alright!” Duck sat down a bit too quickly, nearly slipping off his chair but gave a grin to his parents to show that he was a-okay. “Let’s eat!”