{{sunday...}}

Ishmael stepped out into the nice morning air from the office building. She pretty much had the day to herself and had no idea what she was going to do with it.

She was in no hurry and took a seat outside at one of the benches and brought up her google map of the area. Scrolling around she found a bakery nearby and much to her surprise a small camping and used book store. She turned on her wifi and added them as points of interest. She popped in one of her earbuds so that she could hear the directions without having to constantly look at her phone. Ishmael wasn't familiar with the area so she needed to stay aware of her surroundings, not glued to her cellphone.

Ishmael loved being out and about just taking in the sites. There were so many hidden alleyways with interesting shops and restaurants but she didn't want to be gone too long. She knew her brothers and Seo would start blowing her phone up. Ishmael took her time as she walked to the bakery. Walking inside she was greeted and she politely bowed. Looking in the dessert case, she got something for herself and the guys. The bookstore was close by. She already knew not to pick anything up and open it or she could be there for half the day reading. There was a stand of postcards so she got a few to send to the Thompsons.

She had the idea of sending them a goodie box. She went back to the bakery and got a few packs of cookies and other goodies that would survive mailing. Now she wanted to get to the camping store. Even though it was small it was packed with stuff. Ishmael saw the distinct blue Mountain House #10 cans. Ignoring the rest of the store, she had to check out the shelf. They were having a sale on all of it, 30% off. Ishmael grabbed a hand basket. Not wanting to get too much to carry, she got two freeze dried scrambled egg mixes, two sausages and ground beef crumble. Six large cans were enough for her to carry as she had some walking to do in order to get home. Instead of plastic, the clerk gave her a canvas tote bag for free. She made a note and marked the store as a favorite on her phone.

Now to get to the station. It wasn't hard to find her train so she got an ice tea from the vending machine for later. Navigating through the stations and taking the high speed rails, it took her over an hour to get to her home station. Before she left the last station, she saw a Lawson's and a post office. She stopped by Lawsons to get some unique snacks and dehydrated packs to add to the goody package. Ishmael checked with the clerk in the post office and boxes were available, so she mailed the goody box from there. Filling out all the needed custom forms and getting express delivery, It ended up being an expensive package, but she didn't care. It would get there in three days since she was sending it early enough in the day. Finally leaving the station, she texted Mr. T that a package was on the way and when he should expect delivery. Now she had another 30-minute walk to get home. Curious, she set a walking route from the current office to home. It was over a 5 hour walk. She had seen bikes for rent, but they only went to a certain point before the wheels would lock, and you needed a card or your phone to activate them. That left a 2 hour walk as their new home was outside of the city in what would be considered a suburb.

The new office would take an hour and a half walk. They would definitely need bikes.

The guys put the tables together and enjoyed breakfast and coffee before leaving. They were all grateful for the food and sweet treats that Ishmael had made for them.

"I'm telling you Seo, I've known you for a long time. You don't snatch her up, someone else will."

"Don't worry Seong. They won't have that chance."

"So are you going to take her to meet your parents?" Kim was now grilling Seo on his pending relationship with Ishmael.

"Meet the parents? I thought most of you Japanese guys only dated white chicks. I've yet to see any of you serious about African American women." Josh was busy stuffing his face that he didn't see the looks he was getting. Feeling uneasy for some reason, he looked up and saw them staring at him. "What?"

"Seriously Josh?" Haru couldn't believe he said that in a room full of Asians.

"Oh bullshit, don't give me that look! I went to college here, every Asian guy I knew only wanted to hook up with black chicks to see what it was like. They even told me they wouldn't have a serious relationship with one nor would they take them to meet their parents. You know I'm telling the truth."

Seong and Kim were still giving him a death glare. He put his chopsticks down to lay it out for them. "Come on, you know it's true. My brother's wife is African American and my parents don't want anything to do with her. Asian culture is all about respect and respecting your parents and not disappointing them, they have far more say in your life then parents do in America!"

"So what happened to your brother?"

"Oh we have very, very little to do with our parents, they are super racists. We don't agree with what they believe and they don't agree with us."

"Okay guys, Josh is partly right. Ishmael met my parents on Friday and they love her. Even their dogs like her."

"Josh has a point. Interracial couples aren't that common in Japan and when you see them it's usually white and Asian. You wouldn't believe the jobs I came across that said European/American only, which means white only. They just aren't that blatant about it now." Sean knew how things were just from being her 'brother'. They were constantly mistaken for a couple and the responses were not always positive.

Seo got up to root around in one of the drawers. He came back with tape and a marker. "Mark you bentos and we'll head out to Miura's. Who's car can hold all of us?"

"Mine will, I just have to flip up the rear seat."

"Thanks Sean. Ready guys?"

They all marked their bentos. Ishmael had started another pot of coffee before she left so Seo added it to the carafe, filling it  up. The guys gathered their gear and headed out.

Making it home, the kitchen was a mess. Alone, she turned on her music and cleaned up the disaster she had created earlier. Now was the perfect time to make the chocolate chip cookies for tomorrow. She loved the fact that she had an oven. She opened the patio door so the scent of delicious cookies could fill the neighborhood. Ishmael made four batches of chocolate chips. The cookie scoop made things go quickly as she had a little system all set up. 4 baking trays with two in the oven while two cooled on the counter. The container held all of them perfectly; each layer separated by wax paper. Hungry, she ate one of the savory items she had gotten at the bakery. She enjoyed a ham and cheese bread bun. Chocolate chips done, she started on more peanut butter cookies. These were super easy to make. Three batches was enough to fill the other container.

Cookies done, she looked over what she would fix for the retreat. Monday, since she wasn't fixing breakfast, lunch would be Chinese food. Pork buns, green beans, beef and peppers, yu xiang rou si (shredded pork in hot garlic sauce), and steamed buns. Dinner Monday, she would treat them to soul food, which meant all her favorite dishes. Tuesday she would do another breakfast casserole along with egg toast, roasted potatoes and sausage. Lunch would be the BBQ with her Asian slaw and cucumber salad, grilled veggies from the garden and birthday cakes. Dinner would be simple, katsu curry with some pickled veggies.

Ishmael suddenly realized she forgot to let them know she made it home. She quickly texted Sean, Haru and Seo all together.

Ishmael: I'm home, stopped to get food and visit a bookstore.
Seo: Good
Sean: 😊
Haru: Lock the door behind you.

She plugged her garmin and phone in and set the crock pot on the shoe cabinet and locked the front door. It was going on four and all the baking had made her tired. She went to the living room to watch a movie and relax until the guys returned home. 10-minutes into the movie, she fell asleep.