Steel Rose

Chapter 74

Isabelle Pov

The sun bleeds into the living room as I gently try to burp Darcy. The sizzle an smell of bacon makes my stomach growl, as I watch Mora in her sleep shorts, messy bun, and t- shirt hover over the stove. She and Ken bicker as she shoos him away from the skillet he keeps picking from.

"Would you quit it," she whisper shouts at him. "Save some for Belle."

Ken only laughs and snatches up another piece of bacon from the side. He chuckles as he bits into it, and Mora raises her spatula as if threatening to hit him. I feel a deep panging of loss for my own brothers. Ken eventually leaves Mora alone to finish, as I watch her begin to pour the pancake mix into the skillet. "Would you like blueberries in yours or something?" She asks me.

"Chocolate chips, please." Kenneth grins as he plops next to me. The bounce is enough to pull the burp out of him. Kenneth pats Darcy's back.

"You get nothing," Mora says although I see her pull a bag of chocolate chips out from the cupboard. "How about you, Belle?"

"Just plain pancakes is fine, thanks." I tell her as I shift Darcy in my arms. His eyes are wide open and alert, cooing to himself as he plays with his fingers. Saliva builds at his mouth, and with his bib a gently dab at his lips.

Ken watches silently, his mood, thankfully, lighter and easier compared to last night. "Sleep well?" He asks me.

I nod, "Sure. If you take out the half a dozen times I woke up to make sure Darcy didn't roll off the bed. Or the other times I work up to feed and change his diaper."

"How is he doing with that?"

"Better," I tell him as I watch him wave his fingers at Darcy, who reaches out to catch them, giggling.

"He is beginning to sleep longer," I tell him. "And soon, I'll be able to introduce baby foods." Ken nods. "Do you want to hold him?" I ask as I realize that in all the times that Mora has held Darcy, Kenneth has never done so himself.

Ken raises an eyebrow and hesitates. His shoulders tense and his eyes tick back and forth between me and Darcy for a still moment. "Uh...sure."

Gently I hand over Darcy to him and with a couple of awkward shift of his arms and shoulders, Kenneth takes him, placing him in the position I had him in. "Got him?" I chuckle, noting how tense he is.

"Uh, yea." Ken gulps. "Sure. Easy."

"Breakfast!" Mora calls from the kitchen. "Kenneth come help me set the table."

Kenneth rises from his seat beside me, Darcy still in his arms. "My arms are full sis," he says. "Looks like you're on your own."

Mora rolls her eyes at her brother, and pulls down a couple of plates and cups. She mumbles something under her breath as she places them with a loud clatter on the island. She turns to the fridge to pull out milk and the cabinets to get the syrup. I walk over and begin to unstack the plates, and set them in the proper places with the cups.

"Attitude," Ken mutters rolling his eyes. After fixing the table I begin to look for the forks and knives. "Drawer by the stove Belle," he tells me.

"Thanks," I say back. I pull out the needed utensils and place them on the table.

Eventually, we all find ourselves sitting around the table eating in a peaceful silence. Ken balances Darcy in one arm, as he uses his fork to cut into his chocolate pancakes. I eat slowly, breaking the crispy piece of bacon in half before taking a bit. Mora spreads a concerning amount of syrup on her stack of pancakes.

"So," she starts. "I think that I want a new pair of shoes?"

"Shoes?" Kenneth and I question in unison.