Modern Fairytale ~ #Wattys2015

Neighbors

On Saturday, Henry woke up bright and early, excited for his first job. Regina was already awake sitting on the bar stools at the island drinking her first cup of coffee for the day. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose bun at the top of her head and she was still wearing her matching blue, satin pajamas. When she heard her son go into the bathroom to get ready for his busy day, she stood up to start cooking him breakfast.

She placed the skillet on the stove and turned on the flame to heat it up while she opened the refrigerator for the turkey bacon. She spread coconut oil (much healthier than vegetable or olive oil) onto the pan and placed the bacon on the side with the lower flame. Next she pulled out the box of pancake mix and a bowl, adding water to the powdery substance. Normally she'd be against the boxed mixes, but for whatever reason, Henry had a fondness for the Cracker Barrel mix that she could only ever find online (her mistake for taking him there on their ski trip to the Poconos a few years ago). She filled the ladle with the batter and poured it into the skillet in perfect silver dollar circles. She grabbed the chocolate chips from the baking cabinet and added them to a few of the pancakes, a special surprise for her not-so-little working boy.

She timed it perfectly, for when she flipped the last of his pancakes onto a plate with his extra crispy bacon, Henry was walking down the hall toward the kitchen. She put his plate in front of his seat which was already set with utensils, maple syrup, and a glass of chocolate milk (the only proper breakfast beverage when one eats chocolate chip pancakes, according to him). She set her breakfast next to his: two pancakes topped with banana, one slice of turkey bacon, and a small bowl of vanilla Greek yogurt with strawberries.

"This is perfect, mom. Thank you," Henry said with a bright smile, not hesitating to pour an excessive amount of syrup onto his plate.

"Anything for you, my Prince," she smiled back, watching him dig in before starting on her own breakfast. Unlike her growing son, she took her time eating; her glasses resting at the edge of her nose as she scanned through the morning paper and sipped her coffee.

"What time will the UHaul be arriving?" She asked, still speed reading an article about the upcoming Presidential election while scooping some yogurt into her mouth.

"Robin said they'd be getting here around ten, but I wanted to give myself enough time to eat something and maybe even pack myself a lunch. I'm not sure how long it's going to take so I want to be prepared," he said, pausing every so often between words to take a bite and swallow knowing his mother would scold him for talking with his mouth full.

"I packed you a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich on wheat with an apple. There are a few water bottles packed too. I don't want you to get dehydrated from all that heavy lifting," she said, flipping the page of the paper before adding, "It's in the orange lunchbox in the fridge."

"You're a superhero," he said with a laugh, dipping a slice of bacon into the puddle of syrup on his plate and shoving it in his mouth. Regina looked over the top of her glasses at him, admiring how much her son had grown and feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and appreciation that he was starting to become a respectable young man. "What are your plans today?"

"I have some cleaning to do around the house. The perks of raising a teenage boy," she joked and took a bite of her pancakes, making sure to get a piece of banana for every forkful. "I'd like to try and make it to my yoga class later on. Then I have a few things to look over for work, but overall it's not as busy a day as you'll be having, that's for sure. Are you excited?"