Robbie grinned as he picked up his son. He'd been looking forward to this for months and now with his latest film done, it was time to work on his family some. Sure Little Robert was only a year old, but that's the most important time to bond with your kid, right?
Italia was off doing one of her own shows and wasn't supposed to be back for several more weeks, maybe even months. The perfect opportunity to practice his newly acquired cooking skill to surprise her with when she got back. In the meantime, he always got a little carried away on his practice dishes.
Not used to cooking for himself, he hadn't learned portion control yet and it was already starting to show. In only a couple months that Italia had been away, his abs had become smooth. Sure, he was still rather toned and had a slim waist, he wasn't about to take his shirt off in public until he started working with a trainer again.
His cook wasn't helping much. Since he was usually practicing on his own, Malcolm, his cook, would still come in and make him meals despite him stating he had to much food as it was and the cook would only take home what he made and nothing else, leaving Robbie with more food than he could eat alone. A problem since he had been taught to never let food go to waste.
The one thing he did admit he'd miss when he did get a trainer again and cut back on cooking so much was how relaxed he felt with his full stomach. He never got to the point of stuffing himself, he tried that once when he first started cooking and it nearly made him sick. At least being relaxed made it easy to play with his son.
Robert was currently asleep in his crib at the moment giving Robbie time to just relax with a game or movie. With the leftovers from breakfast still in his fridge, Malcolm had cooked his a large plate of chicken Parmesan and bow tie pasta with a side of seasoned mixed veggies. As much as he hated that Malcolm wouldn't stop cooking, even though he'd been threatened to be fired if he didn't help Robbie learn better portion control, they both knew it was an empty threat. Italia and Robbie had hired him because of his end cooking skills, fit for a five star restaurant, and his not wanting a large pay. Now he wished that Malcolm would apply elsewhere just so he'd have an excuse to fire him despite his delectable food and without making him feel guilty.
One thing he did find suspicious about Malcolm was even though he was only cooking for Robbie at the moment, he was still cooking as if Italia was still here and was taking home less than half the extras. If he didn't know any better, he'd have thought Malcolm was trying to fatten him up. But that would be ridiculous. They'd hired him over a year ago and had never had a problem before with anything like this. Why would he start now?
Robbie absentmindedly pondered Malcolm's strange habits as he rubbed his full gut, the TV going in the background. It wasn't until he heard Robert crying through the baby monitor that he came to his senses and noticed the smell of baking peaches. Malcolm must have made a pie for dessert tonight. Something else the cook had been doing as of late. Though only once a week and it was normally gone within a two or three days. Shrugging it off, he went into the nursery to check on his son. He'd been fed before his nap, so he shouldn't be hungry for another hour or so. It didn't take but a second for him to realize the problem as he picked up the boy and almost lost the diaper!
"Oh, boy!" He gagged as the smell assaulted his nose. "Time's like these, I wish we had gotten a nanny!" Taking a deep breath, he set out on changing the diaper. It took him two near pass outs to successfully change it, but he managed it.
Robert now cleaned and changed, the two headed downstairs where Malcolm could be heard removing the pie from the oven.
"You know you don't need to make dessert. Or so much at meals. I'm trying to cook myself." Robbie reminded him for the millionth time.
"I know. Just want to make sure you get your fill."
"I've been getting more than my fill. I should actually start cutting back some. My abs aren't visible unless I'm flexing them anymore."
"You're fine, Mr. Amell. If I had your body, even without the abs, I'd have no problem getting a girl."
"I can set you up if you'd like. There's lots of girls around the studios who would love a guy with your personality and skills."
"And dump me for the first guy 50 pounds lighter than me that catches her eye. It's happened before. Sorry, sir, but I think I'll look on my own."
"Okay. If you want. But not all the girls are like that."
Malcolm didn't respond as he started chopping up carrots, potatoes and other veggies to go in a large pot pie for dinner.
Robbie eyed the dish he was using suspiciously. "Malcolm, we have smaller pans. That's going to be way to large for two people."
"I know. But better safe than sorry. I was meaning to let you know that I won't be able to come in tomorrow. My mother called and is making a surprise visit. Her and dad got into another fight."
"Sorry to hear that. That makes what, the third time she's done this since you started working for us?"
"Yeah. But at least she gets to relax some."
"Well, you can bring her by to use the pool if she wants. I don't mind, as long as she wears a properly fitting swimsuit." He shuddered.
"Sorry about that. She didn't realize how much weight she'd lost since the last time she'd worn it. But I'll let her know."
"Anyway, can I help? I can always use more practice on dishes other than breakfast."
"Sure. Go put Robert down and grab a rolling pin. You can work on the dough for the crust while I finish the veggies."
Robbie did as instructed and was soon working on the crust.