Answer:
preparing dinner
object of a preposition
Explanation:
In <em>very simple words</em>, gerunds are nouns (that end in -ing). As nouns, they can function as subjects and objects depending on their position in the sentence.
Roald Dahl's 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is a short story about the murder of police detective Patrick Maloney by his wife Mary. Driven to homicide after her husband's unexpected announcement that he's leaving her and their unborn child, Mary quickly regains her senses after fatally killing him with the leg of lamb.
