The Good Life

Chapter 125

-February 2019-

Marla felt a small body jump on top of her in the middle of the week. "Umph." Marla moaned seeing Rosie's bouncy messy curls fall in her face.

"Mom! Dad!" she said jumping on the bed. "I'm 7 today!"

"You are!" Marla smiled reaching to hug her daughter. "Happy birthday!"

"What? You're seven? I thought you turned 18 today..." Bruno said sitting up reaching for his daughter.

"No daddy...I have..." she counted on her fingers to eleven. "11 years until I turn 18."

"Well, then, we have lots more pancakes to make..." he said reaching over his wife to his daughter to pick her up over his shoulder making her laugh as he walked into the kitchen. "Do you know what you need for pancakes?" he asked her going toward the fridge.

"We need..." she jumped from the bar stool she was sitting on to point to things they needed. "And we need a cup..." she jumped pointing to the cabinet where the measuring cups were. "And this..." she pointed to the pancake spray. "And then we mix it together and then it's done..." she said. "Mix, mix, mix and stir, stir, stir. And flip, flip, flip..." she sang the song they sang when they made pancakes. Bruno dumped the mix in for her holding his daughter up to mix the pancakes together. "Daddy, the babies can't do this with me." She said watching them walk toward the kitchen in front of Marla.

"They're too small, Rosalia." He told her. "Now help my dump all this in." he reached for a heart shaped cookie cutter dumping the mix into the pan. "Look...a heart.." he smiled at her.

"Will you make the crowns too?" she asked reaching for another cookie cutter. "But Hope can't eat that one...that's for me because it's my birthday."

"Okay, Rosalia. Go set the table and then we can eat..." Bruno said pushing her toward her mother who was placing the twins in their high chairs. Marla turned to hug her daughter sitting her in her chair.

"Mommy, the babies can't have my pancakes." Rosie told her mother.

"Okay..." Marla paused trying to tactfully play with her daughter's selfishness. She still understood it, but she wasn't going to make the babies separate breakfasts just because her daughter was being a brat. "Okay, but on their birthday you can't have any of their cake."

"But mommmm...." Rosie whined taking the orange juice her father was handing her. "Dad said they didn't have to have any....and that I could still have their cake..."

"Oh..." he paused playing Marla's game. "I forgot that. That's the rule. If they don't get pancakes you don't get their cake...."

"Fine...but not the crown." She said making the same upset face Bruno made when he got frustrated sticking out her lip and furrowing her eye brows.

"Here, mama...you gotta hurry so you can go to school..." Marla said placing the pancakes in front of her daughter cutting them into small pieces.

"Mommy..sit down and eat with me..." Rosie looked up at her mother who was frantically trying to get everything ready for the babies and Rosie as the day started.

"In a second, Rosie.." Marla said rushing to another part of the house.

"Stop!" Rosie yelled at Angelo who was throwing small syrupy pieces of pancakes on the table. "Stoooppp!"

"Hey..." Bruno turned to the twins who suddenly stopped what they were doing knowing they were caught. He sat down next to them keeping an eye on them. "That's not nice..." he said handing each of them something to eat.

Marla walked in the kitchen laying her head on Bruno's kissing his curls sitting on the other side of the table taking some of Rosie's pancakes. "Yumm."