ephemeral [ Conrad Fisher ]

26

IT was a beach day, and that meant an early morning of making breakfast and making sure we had everything we needed so we wouldn't have to walk back to the house for anything.When I woke up this morning, I found Jeremiah in the kitchen, trying to juggle a couple of eggs, a spatula, and a toaster all at once. It was a chaotic sight, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Jere, you're gonna burn those eggs!" I exclaimed, swatting his hand away from the frying pan.He shot me a mock glare. "I've got this under control, Lennox. Besides, you're supposed to be helping me, not making fun of me."

I smiled over at him, taking the spatula from his hands "Helping? More like supervising."

He pouted, folding his arms across his chest. "I thought we were supposed to be bonding here."

I rolled my eyes, unable to hide my grin. "We are, but not at the expense of breakfast."

Jeremiah huffed dramatically, making me laugh. "Fine, fine. You take over egg duty, and I'll focus on the pancakes."

We bantered back and forth, teasing each other mercilessly as we prepared breakfast. It felt so good to have this family, even though we weren't blood-related. Jeremiah and I had our little sibling rivalry, and as the eggs and pancakes sizzled in the pans, we couldn't help but dissolve into laughter as we attempted to make breakfast without setting off the fire alarm.

Belly strolled in, rubbing her eyes and yawning dramatically. "Mmm, something smells good."

Jeremiah gave her a mock glare. "Don't pretend you're not always the first one to wake up on beach day." He shook his head as presented her with a plate piled high with pancakes. "Breakfast is served, Your Highness."

She chuckled, taking the plate. "Thanks, Jeremiah. You make a pretty good short-order cook." "I aim to please." He winked at her, before grabbing his own plate and taking the time to make it look perfect

Belly's face was ten shades of red as she took her seat and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Steven followed her, looking considerably more awake. He grinned and plopped down at the table. "Well, someone's got to get this party started."

"Someone had to didn't they?" I smiled at him shaking my head as I passed him a plate

Conrad sauntered in last, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as he went straight for the coffee pot, ruffling my hair as he passed by "Morning, Nox."

"Morning, Conrad," I replied with a warm smile, secretly pleased by the fact that he'd greeted me first.

Jeremiah smirked and nudged me playfully. "Lennox, don't forget to put extra bacon on Conrad's plate. You know how he loves it."

Conrad shot Jeremiah an amused look before turning his attention back to me. "He's got a point there."