The dinner party went perfectly, smoother than she could have anticipated. Throughout the meal, Sarah received much praise for her cooking. Of course the real flattery came when she picked up the plates and found them completely empty. One guest even took to licking the plate completely clean. The steaks were cooked to utter perfection, the exterior a dark brown and the interior perfectly pink. The meat was tender, flavored with just enough salt to add the subtlest seasoning so as not to spoil it.

Her guests begged, pleaded to know what her secret was. Sarah only laughed and said that it was a family recipe. No matter how much they prodded, she refused to yield anything. After the main course she wowed them with homemade blueberry pie before they finished their evening with drinks.

After the party, when the dishes were put away and the house returned to a livable state, Sarah took a piece of pie downstairs for her mother, after all it was rude not to share. Her mother lay on the bed, still asleep. The drugs often hit her hard, and if it weren't for the IV she could have easily suffered from dehydration. Walking on silent feet, Sarah walked over and set the pie next to the table. Looking at the EKG, Sarah could see her mother was stable and that the sutures would hold.

There was still so much cleaning left to do but Sarah wanted to stay with her mother until she awoke so that they could share the delicious pie. It was, after all, her recipe and it would only be fair. In fact if not for her mother, the dinner party would have never been as successful as it was. Her mother always had a hand in everything and demanded to be a part of whatever Sarah did. Of course in this instance, it wasn’t a hand that she had in the meal. It was a leg. Sarah never expected that her overbearing mother could be so tender.

As Sarah stared at her sleeping mother, the straps around her body tight, she wondered if her mother’s remaining leg would go well in her stew.