Harem Apocalypse: My Seed is the Cure?! Chapter 327: Meal at Carmen’s [2]

Truthfully, Carn was sothing else when it ca to cooking. I don’t know where she’d learned it or how she’d kept the skill sharp through everything the world had thrown at her, but the woman had a gift. An honest-to-god gift. The kind that made you close your eyes after the first bite and just sit with it for a second. I’d eaten Rachel’s cooking more tis than I could count, and Rachel was good, really good but sitting there at that table with a plate of food Carn had put together from whatever scarce ingredients they had lying around, I had to admit it, even if just to myself. Carn was better.

Then again, she had years on Rachel. Experience had a way of showing up in unexpected places.

"You seem to like it, Ryan," Shannon said next to , grinning. "My mom cooks amazing, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing another bite before I’d even finished appreciating the last one. "No wonder Maribel and Sumr co here every day squatting just to eat her food."

"Don’t exaggerate!" Maribel shot back imdiately, her cheeks flushing.

Her reaction said I wasn’t that far from the truth.

"Is that so bad though?" Sumr said with a small shrug, completely unbothered, like she’d already made peace with the accusation.

"At least Sumr’s honest," Shannon giggled.

Maribel just grumbled under her breath and went back to eating, dropping the argunt like it wasn’t worth her energy. Stubborn as ever.

Carn laughed softly at that.

"I really don’t mind cooking for both of you every day, you know?" She said, setting her elbows on the table and folding her hands together. "Just bring the ingredients and I’ll always have sothing ready for you."

Sumr tilted her head. "Well, every day might be a stretch. I don’t want to impose that much."

"Indeed," Marlon cut in from across the table. "Sotis I also need my private ti to eat with my daughter alone."

I blinked.

What kind of obsession was that?

Though, sowhere in the back of my mind, I turned the thought around, imagined myself, years from now, with a daughter of my own. And honestly? I wasn’t so sure I’d be any different. Probably worse, if I was being real about it.

"Gross," Shannon said, her expression twisting like she’d bitten into sothing sour.

"Shannon, that’s rude!" Carn frowned at her.

"I an it is gross though!" Shannon turned toward , dragging into it without warning. "Right, Ryan?!"

I was mid-bite, barely paying attention, chewing on a piece of the fish that was too good to be distracted from. Without really thinking, I nodded. "Gross and embarrassing sohow..."

The words left my mouth and landed like a dropped plate.

Silence fell following that.

DAmn.

I looked up slowly. Every single person at that table was staring at . Carn looked mildly surprised. Sumr had her lips pressed together. And Marlon, Marlon was looking at with eyes cold enough to frost over glass.

"Hahah!" Shannon burst out laughing so hard she nearly knocked her chair back. "I knew it! That uncle is truly creepy with Sumr!"

"Hey, Shannon!" Sumr called out sharply.

"Aren’t you even a little embarrassed, Sumr? In your position I’d be dying right now," Shannon managed between laughs.

"Of course I am," Sumr replied quietly, and the look she shot Marlon was sharp enough to cut. He caught it, blinked, and had the grace to look at least mildly bewildered before clearing his throat and pivoting hard.

He turned toward , like the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened.

"So then, boy, how was the work this morning? I hope Maribel didn’t make things too difficult for you," he said, voice settled back into its usual even tone.

"What is that supposed to an?" Maribel’s eyes snapped to him.

"Well, you’ve always been a little rough on the people around you, Maribel," Sumr said lightly, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"That’s...that’s not true! I’ve been kind, right?!" Maribel’s gaze cut straight to like a blade, daring to say otherwise.

I looked back at her. She was watching with those eyes that sohow managed to be both piercing and anxious at the sa ti, waiting. I thought about it for a half second, then smiled a little.

"Yeah," I said. "Maribel’s been very good to . She took care of really well this morning. Very kind, very thoughtful. I’m very grateful."

The words ca out almost robotic. Even I could hear it.

Shannon’s smirk stretched wide across her face. "I cannot believe it. Maribel being this kind to soone?" She glanced sideways at Maribel with barely contained delight.

Maribel looked like she wanted to disappear under the floorboards.

Maybe I overdid it.

"Looks like Maribel’s taken a real liking to Ryan," Sumr added with a soft, knowing smile.

"Oh my, finally, Maribel," Carn chid in, pressing a hand to her cheek.

Maribel’s fists were clenched on the table. She wasn’t saying a word. Just sitting there, trembling slightly, drowning in it.

What was even happening right now?

It felt like everyone at this table had found a shared hobby, and that hobby was Maribel. I had to admit, quietly, to myself that she made it easy. Every reaction was right there on the surface, unguarded, imdiate. She couldn’t hide a thing despite on the outside looking very tough.

"Hm." Marlon set his fork down thoughtfully, like sothing had just occurred to him. "From what I’ve seen, he already has a woman. That little blond one."

I nearly choked.

Why was this old man getting into my love life at the lunch table?

Every head at the table rotated toward at the exact sa speed.

"N...No way!!" Shannon was on her feet before I could even open my mouth, staring at with an expression sowhere between shock and betrayal.

Now I felt the heat creeping up the back of my neck.

I wanted to keep things vague. Between Cindy and , nothing was simple, nothing was fully defined, and honestly, I didn’t think either of us was ready to put a label on sothing out loud yet. There was too much world in the way for that.

"It’s... complicated," I said.

Shannon leaned closer. "So you don’t have a girlfriend?"

"Shannon!" Carn stared at her, visibly at a loss.

I stared down at my plate, at the last bite of Carn’s excellent fish, and thought very sincerely that I would like this lunch to be over now.

Thankfully, Carn had a way of smoothing things over without making it a whole event. A word here, a gentle redirect there, and just like that the table settled back into sothing resembling normal. Forks picked up again, the tension dissolved into the sll of good food, and lunch continued the way it was supposed to.

"So Ryan," Carn said after a mont, folding her hands around her cup and looking at with that easy, warm curiosity of hers. "How are things going with your group? We’re practically neighbors at this point, aren’t we?"

"We are," I said, nodding. "And honestly, I hope we’ll be proper allies down the line, once things settle a bit more. Helping each other out matters in a world like this. Probably more than anything else."

"Of course." Carn smiled like the idea pleased her. "I’d be glad to help however I can."

"Then can I visit your place?" Shannon jumped in, already leaning forward like the answer was obviously going to be yes.

"Shannon," Carn sighed.

"What? We’re allies, right?" Shannon pressed. "Aren’t you curious to et them too? Co on —" She turned to the others. "Maribel? Sumr? What do you think?"

Sumr tilted her head slightly, turning it over. "Well... I don’t know."

"We don’t have ti for that," Maribel said, not even looking up from her plate.

She wasn’t wrong, technically. But a short visit wasn’t exactly a military operation either. If they wanted to co, it probably wouldn’t hurt anything.

"If you’re up for it, I don’t mind at all," I said. "I’m sure Margaret would be happy to welco you. She’s good like that."

It was a little strange to think about, actually. Despite everything, despite us practically living in each other’s backyard at this point , Marlon’s people and ours had barely crossed paths. Most of them had only ever seen my little group, nobody else.

Marlon set down his fork and looked across the table at Carn, unhurried. "It’s up to you. If you want to go, go."

Carn went quiet for a mont, thinking it through. "Well," she said finally, "if the others want to go, I’ll co with them. Shannon too."

"Yes!" Shannon’s face lit up imdiately. Clearly she’d been starving for new faces.

"Then I’ll co as well," Sumr added, glancing at with a look that sat sowhere between curiosity and sothing more careful. "I’m honestly a bit curious. I just hope they’re good people over there."

I thought about Brad. About Kyle. About Billy.

"At the very least," I said, keeping my voice even, "I can promise no one’s going to point a gun at you the second you walk in."

Maribel’s eyes cut to instantly. "You are such a petty man," she said, reading the jab for exactly what it was.

"I’m just being honest," I replied with a straight face. "Anyway, just let know before you co so I can give the others a heads-up."

They nodded. Fair enough.

After that, lunch wound down the way good als do, slow and comfortable, nobody rushing. By the ti I pushed my plate back, I was properly full for the first ti in longer than I wanted to think about. I made sure to thank Carn more than once, because honestly once didn’t feel like enough.

"You can co eat with us any ti, Ryan," she said warmly.

"Yeah, any ti!" Shannon echoed with full enthusiasm. "Please co, actually, wait, shouldn’t you just move in already? Maribel stuffed you into a abandoned store without even giving you a decent bed." She shot a pointed look across the table.

"Why am I the villain here?!" Maribel’s voice jumped an octave.

"I really do appreciate the offer but—" I glanced at Carn half-expecting her to politely close it down, but she just sat there with that sa soft smile, perfectly still, perfectly okay with it.

Huh.

Was she genuinely fine with that?

"I’ll think about it," I said carefully.

"That usually ans no," Sumr said drily, not looking up.

"No, please, really think about it." Shannon’s voice dipped a little, sothing quieter slipping into it. "It gets lonely here."

The words landed differently than I expected. I looked at her for a second, then nodded, feeling slightly guilty for sothing I hadn’t actually done yet. "Yeah, I an it. I’ll really think about it."

I started gathering myself to leave after thanking Shannon again, already ntally mapping the walk back, when Marlon’s voice cut across the room.

"Boy."

I stopped. "Yeah?"

"This afternoon, you’re with ."

I blinked. "Huh... okay?" I nodded slowly, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to but also not feeling like I had much of a choice.

Marlon let a beat pass, then shifted his gaze across the table. "Hope that doesn’t bother you, Maribel."

"As if!" She fired back without missing a single beat. "Just take him already!"

I stood there for a mont after that, staring at nothing in particular.

What exactly had I done to earn that kind of response?