She was a woman around the age of his mother and just like her son, she was sporting an amicable smile. She was brown-haired and brown-eyed, with long hair and a toned body due to her farm work. She wore a green dress with white sandals and her hair was let out freely on her back. When he arrived in front of her, she immediately hugged him before kissing both his cheeks.
"Hi, Ben, darling. Did you have a good trip?"
"Hi, Halle. Yes, we slept most of the way so it passed very quickly. Thank you for coming to fetch us."
"Don't mention it. You look indeed very different from this summer. What could have changed in such a short amount of time? Is it a girl?"
"You know I only have eyes for you, Auntie."
"Oh, what a sweet talker! Look at you, you're going to make girls your age crazy with such talks. I bet you get confessed a lot at school, don't you?"
"How did you know?"
"That's because Ray is in the same situation. Ahah, it's good to be young."
They continued chatting and when everyone finished greeting everyone else, they jumped into Halle's truck, the only vehicle she had that could allow six people to ride on at the same time. The town wasn't that large and even going to the outskirt where the farm was located didn't take that long. Soon enough, they arrived at the place, a small homestead comprised of three main buildings. The first one was their home, a large two-floored house. Land and house prices weren't that expensive in a place like this and their family was able to afford such a large house. The second building was the actual farm itself. The good aspect of insect farming was that it didn't need as much space as traditional ranches and everything could be contained within one large structure. The last place was the warehouse, where Halle stocked materials, insect food, and final products, which would then be delivered to the wholesale buyer.
They first went to put their luggage away. The house currently had two unused rooms, one on the first floor and one on the second floor, typically used for them or friends sleeping over. This time, there wasn't much to think about and Benjamin took the room on the second floor for himself while his little sisters shared the other one. Kiana helped Chloe and Olivia sort their stuff and Ray did the same for Benjamin, allowing them to be done quickly. After that, they regrouped on the first floor and Halle, who had been preparing lunch, told them to wash their hands and set up the table. This was a welcome change for Benjamin, who wouldn't have to cook during the whole week. Halle was doing all the cooking in this family and she was pretty good at it. The only downside, if you call it that, was that most of the meals used local products, which meant almost all of their protein intake would come from insects. Fortunately, they were all used to it by now, not like it tasted bad or anything.
Today's menu was fried house crickets with vegetables. The trickiest part when eating insects was their appearance because it was a bit unnatural to put something you would usually be repulsed by in your mouth. The first time was always the hardest, but once one got used to it, these were enjoyable, just like any other food. House crickets for example tasted nutty, kind of like rye bread or popcorn, depending on the person you asked. Another important aspect was to have a good recipe for them. It was much easier for first-timers to eat them if they were not by themselves on the plate and were instead just one part of the dish. As an insect farmer, Halle was also a researcher in this aspect and her meals were always well-balanced, tasty, nutritious, and pleasing enough to the eye.
During the meal, they shared news about everyone. It had only been a little over two months since they saw each other and not much changed in between. They only talked about their new classmates, Chloe entering middle school, and Benjamin entering high school. Kiana and Ray were mostly interested in high school since they would also be graduating from middle school at the end of the year. They imagined high school as a place for people who were almost adults, not like the children that were around them in middle school, and had high anticipation for it. Benjamin knew now that it wasn't that different in reality but he didn't want to crush their hopes too badly and painted his school life in a good way. Since it seemed Ray was very popular at school too, they talked about this part.
"I'm sure high schooler girls are much better than middle schooler ones, right? I have enough of those childish and perverted girls all around me."
"A little bit better, I guess. I think it depends on the people themselves. I've made good friends with some very nice girls while there are a lot of ridiculous ones too."
"Ugh, no way. So it's still the same in the end?"
"I believe it's all about spending your time with the right classmates."
"Sigh, I already have to take care of Kiana here, it's hard enough for me."
"Hey, what do you mean by that!"
"Just saying the truth."
The twin started to bicker and Benjamin hastily changed the subject.
"So, what are your plans for the next week?"
Ray was the one to reply.
"There's a ton of stuff I want to do. We can go shopping in the city, go to a café, or visit some museums. If we're bored, we can meet with my friends who are still around too."
Benjamin still had some of his mentality of the previous world and shopping didn't sound like an activity in itself. Even more so when it would probably mostly be window shopping considering Ray's limited budget.
"The café and the museums sound good."
"Nice!"
This time, it was Chloe who asked Kiana.
"What about us? Do you have any good ideas?"