Back in the Saddle

Breakfast of Champions

Nick's POV:

The next morning, I wake up to a light knocking on my door. I try to sit up but can't because there's a weight on my chest. I look down, remembering the way Karl and I fell asleep last night, and smile to myself at how cute he looks while sleeping. Not wanting to wake him, I whisper to whichever of my moms is at the door that she can come in.

"You need to get up soon, hun," mom--or Tony--says as she enters. She sort of looks taken aback, looking at Karl cuddled up to me. "Whoa, what's going on there?"

"Nothing, mom. He just had a nightmare last night and I wanted to comfort him."

"Sure, sure," she says with a knowing smirk. "Well, you need to get up soon. Whether you wake him up or not is up to you, but no matter how sore or exhausted you are, you still have work."

"Mom!" I whisper-yell, throwing a pillow at her.

She catches it, of course, and tosses it back on the bed while laughing to herself. She then tells Ash to follow her, which she does happily as she gets off the dog bed that she's been in ever since we started movies last night. Mom waves at me and I glare back; she shuts the door with one more smile.

I groan, letting my head fall back and hit the head board. Karl stirs in his sleep and for a moment I'm afraid he's going to wake up, but instead he just moves around a bit so that he's pretty much entirely on top of me.

Damn it, how am I supposed to get up without waking him?

I carefully roll so he's on his side and remove the arm that I have underneath him, making sure that his head is securely on his pillow and the blankets are covering him. Fortunately, he doesn't wake, and I am able to slowly crawl off the bed with him remaining soundly asleep. The clock on my nightstand reads six a.m. and I groan, cursing my military mother for forcing me to get up an hour before I have to leave for work. I really want to wake Karl up, but, looking at his sleeping face, I can't bring myself to do it.

I'm not entirely sure why she woke me up so early today. On a normal day, I only get up an hour or so before work and she usually trusts me to get up on my own. Maybe she thought... no, she wouldn't think that. Actually, would she? No... wait yes, it is probable that she thought that, yes.

"Morning, sweetie!" mom says as I walk into the kitchen. "Excited for some breakfast?"

"Yes, whatever you're cooking smells amazing," I answer, sitting on one of our bar stools and taking a big whiff.

She's standing in front of the stove, pushing a piece of bread in a pan around in butter. That means she must be making some type of toast: based on the avocado on the counter and the smell of bacon drifting from the microwave, I feel safe in the assumption that she's making avocado toast.

"Where's mom?" I ask, noticing that she's not here but Ash is sitting just outside the kitchen, watching mom take the bacon out of the microwave curiously.

"She's just getting ready for work. She'll be out soon."

"Speaking of, do you have to work today?"

"I'm showing one house, I believe. Why? Do you need something?"

"Well, I was just thinking that we could go out to eat like old times since mom will be at the base till later."

"Sure, baby, I'd love that. Would Karl like to join us?"

I feel my heart light up at that idea. Eating dinner with two of my favorite people? That sounds amazing. "I'm not sure if he's free but I'll definitely ask him if he wants to when he wakes up."

"Perfect."

Not long after, she's setting a plate in front of me with delicious looking toast on it: avocado, cheese, bacon, and everything bagel seasoning. Who would've guessed that such a simple combination of ingredients would be so good? My mom is an incredible chef, all because she puts effort into what she makes and will wake up early just to prepare a breakfast like this for us. Karl being here means that she went all out, since she always does this with guests and especially those who have never stayed here before.

I love her so much.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of the chair next to me being dragged back. I look over, confused, to see a tired yet happy looking Karl sitting down. He smiles at me, so of course I have no choice but to smile back.

"I didn't expect you to be up so early, and without an alarm, too," I say.

He raises an eyebrow. "I did have an alarm? We set one last night for seven fifteen, remember?"

"Yeah I remember, but it's not seven fifteen, it's six fifteen."

"What are you talking about?" he says, laughing a little and pulling out his phone to show me the time.

"Nick, have you not reset your clock since spring forward?" mom asks.

"Ohhhh, no I haven't. I guess I just haven't had the time to yet."

"It's July," Karl giggles.

"Your laziness will never cease to amaze me, sweetheart," mom teases.

"Oh so I guess it's bully Nick day now, huh?"

"It is when you forget to change your clock for four months," Karl laughs.

"Whatever. Anyways, Karl, if you don't have any plans tonight, would you like to go to dinner with my mom and I? She'll probably pick us up after work and we'll go straight there, then she can drop you off on our way home."

"I would love to join you guys! As long as I'm not imposing."

"Not at all, honey," mom answers.

He gives her his signature smile and I can see in her eyes how much she adores him. She hasn't met a friend of mine since George, which was a few years ago, which means she's really happy to have met someone else. I had no idea that they would like him this much, but I'm definitely glad that they do, because it means that Karl and I will be able to be friends much easier.

"Karl, would you like something to eat?"

"Yes, please, give me some of what he's having: it looks delicious."

"As you wish, sir," she says, setting down another plate of toast. Karl grins and his eyes light up when he sees it, and he immediately begins to devour it, pausing only to take sips of the coffee she also gave him.

"Dang, Karl. You'd think I didn't feed you anything," I tease.

"Sorry. Breakfast is just my favorite meal of the day."

"Don't worry, I get it. Oh wait, you got a little something right there." Looking to be sure that my mother is otherwise occupied, I reach over to Karl and use my napkin to wipe a bit of avocado from the corner of his mouth. His face instantly grows red and I smirk, having accomplished my goal. "There, got it."

"I strongly dislike you," he mumbles, going back to eating.

I burst out laughing, which obviously gains mom's attention. She turns back to us, a confused and slightly startled expression on her face as she asks: "What's so funny?"

In sync, we say, "Nothing."

Word Count- 1216

a/n- this chapter is pretty short, kinda boring, but its ok because we love saps moms.