"And then if that spaghetti is well-behaved, we'll know the secret to making your dad good at cooking things!"

"Bit of a roundabout way to get them cooked. Sandwiches're fine."

"And I can cook any things that need proper cooking and aren't fish."

"But little tiny rafts," says Elizabeth. "And what about when you're not here? Is it all fish and sandwiches, all the time?"

"He eats fish and sandwiches and microwave things and if I call him to remind him to buy them he'll eat apples, and he eats out sometimes or over with friends."

"Well," she says to Charlie, "if you ever want me to put some spaghetti on little tiny rafts for you, just say."

"'M touched by the offer."

She giggles some more.

"Putting ingredients on rafts sounds like more fun than actually fishing."

"Because putting ingredients on rafts sounds fun, or because you don't like fishing, or both?"

"Mostly because I don't like fishing."

"Y'only tried it the once."

"That was enough."

"I've never tried it, so I don't know if I like it or not," says Elizabeth. "I like a lot of things that bore other people. Math. Literature. Maybe fishing is another one."

"Literature's not boring, and at least math involves... doing things," says Bella.

"Literature bores lots of people."

"That's silly. It's stories. Fishing is sitting and being eaten by mosquitoes."

She turns to Charlie. "What do you like about fishing?"

"Mm - it's quiet. Can be done just so - fiddly bits to do setting up, but once you've done them they're done. And then there's fish."

"Hmm. Okay," she says. "I still don't know if I'd like it. But I might. The fish is definitely a plus."

"I won't argue about that part." Bella takes seconds.

Elizabeth contemplates the quantity of available fish, and then also takes seconds. Yum.

"I made lemon bars yesterday and there are a bunch left for dessert," Bella says, when the fish has been put away into various stomachs and a little in the fridge under plastic wrap.

"Ooh," says Elizabeth. "I'm glad I didn't quite have all the fish I possibly could."

"I can't think of many cases where it would be a good reason to have all the fish you possibly could." Bella gets out lemon squares. They're already cut. She takes two to Charlie's one.