𝘉𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦 ⟢ 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳

5.

A D E L I N E ' S
P O V
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Eventually, everyone huddled around the kitchen island the moment Lucy came back from the restroom and Julien from her smoke break. Phoebe puckers her lips as she starts to read the instructions on the packaging of the pancake mixture while I gather the necessary ingredients.

Lucy giggles, "You can't remember how to make pancakes?"

"I'm just making sure, I don't know if they changed the recipe over time."

Julien snickers and inserts herself, "Phoebe's taking forever, I'm going to lay on the sofa."

"Me too!" Lucy raises her hand as she soon skips to accompany Julien.

Phoebe sticks out a middle finger once they turn their backs and walk over to the living room. "Guess I'm stuck with you." she playfully shoves my shoulder with hers.

I then grab the strawberries and rinse them before placing them on the counter nearby while she keeps studying the instructions. She then plucks up the courage to grab the packaged mixture from the box and tear it open with the help of her teeth.

She pours the mixture from the bag into the bowl that I have given her. Yet, just as I am about to hand her the milk to add, Phoebe groans, "I'm tired, can someone take my role?"

"We haven't even started on the batter yet—"

"JB! Come over here and help Elle." She shouts, refusing to let me finish my assertion. Phoebe approaches the sofa to haul Julien from her seat, where she soon steps beside me to take my sister's place.

Julien's eyes widen over the table crammed with the mess of scattered plates and ingredients, "What'd you need help with?"

"It's fine, really, I can do this myself."

"You're a little stubborn, aren't you?" She chuckles to herself, snatching the bowl I once had in my grip.

I intently observe her rough hands tightly grip the whisk and gently stir the mixture with milk until it becomes a soft consistency. She briefly sets the bowl aside on the table as she prepares a buttered pan on the stove, allowing me to sprinkle the chocolate chips into the batter.

Julien peeks over her shoulder to make temporary eye contact with me, a grin sneaking upon her lips. No words were exchanged between the both of us, just smiles. She turns back to pick up the bowl and ladle to expertly pour a perfect round dollop of batter onto the pan.

"You put too much." Julien stood with her hand on her hip and the other hand pointing to the specks of chocolate chips scattered on the pancake.

"You complain too much." I assert, gently shoving her over and taking over the cooking. She holds back a smile while handing me a spatula to flip over the pancakes and begin placing them on a plate.

As she poured the batter I would be in charge of waiting to flip them over—we repeated the process until we had made enough for all four of us although, breakfast was lightly charred but still edible enough to serve.

I pass down the strawberries after slicing them for Julien to decorate each serving on every plate, her eyes weighing heavy upon the darkened center of the pancakes, "I'll do all of the cooking next time."

I faked a smile, internally hoping that the "next time" wouldn't come anytime soon.