Chapter 55: What Party – Riko V.3 – May

When I woke the next morning, I was again snuggled around Kate. It wasn’t until showering with Kate that I remembered last evening. I was washing her back when I suddenly laughed and said, “Damn.”

Looking over her shoulder she asked, “What?”

“Just remembered last night,” I said.

Ignoring my comment, she told me to turn around and she did my back. I dropped the whole topic and began the day as usual. We finished showering, dressed, went to the kitchen where Daphne had breakfast waiting. That’s when Daphne told us we were hosting a dinner party that evening. I had to give Kate credit, she didn’t flinch. Just asked, “Formal or casual?” Her tone, however, said everything. Daphne replied, “Casual.” There was nothing extra indicated in her tone.

With breakfast finished, Kate and I made our way out. Once we were through the door, we saw Mary and Sam walking toward the apartment. Kate greeted them with a hug, telling them Daphne was waiting to take their breakfast order. We continued on our way to the elevator to start our respective days.

The day was typical, except I did receive an email from the ambassador’s wife in Washington. She was asking me to pass along her thanks for the Fukumi Shimura kimono. The display would be done in a couple weeks and she was inviting all of us back for the unveiling.

That evening I made it home before Kate. The house was already bustling. All three Barrington children were there. The boys greeted me in Japanese, even CJ. The twins were happily drawing and coloring at the dining room table. CJ was at the kitchen island with Daphne. She was mixing what looked like salad ingredients in bowls while Daphne, speaking Latin, seemed to be explaining something.

Cassie was in the kitchen. She was by the stove which was covered with pots and pans. The whole apartment smelled wonderful. In Japanese, I said how wonderful everything smelled. I repeated the compliment in English for Cassie and CJ. CJ especially seemed happy to hear that — she looked very proud helping.

Daphne said people would start arriving about six-thirty. So I had plenty of time to clean up and dress. I went over to the boys, speaking Japanese, asked what they were drawing. I could tell they got most of the sentence, so I broke it down for them. Remembering Daphne making the boys repeat new Latin words and phrases back, I did the same. I swear, they were starting to develop a Japanese accent.