you're just as far in as you'll ever be out

maybe we're just pretending

 Este awoke to the shrill sound of her smoke alarm. She popped one eye open and groaned when the clock told her it wasn't even 8:30. Begrudgingly dragging herself out of bed, she stopped short in the hall when she met Danielle and smiled at how cute her sister looked with her bed head and slight pout.

"Was that you?" Este asked with a yawn.

Danielle just looked at her sister oddly. "Yes," she began sarcastically, her voice raspy and laden with sleep. "I'm just so hot I set off smoke detectors."

"You wish," Este teased with a grin. She led her sister down stairs and felt her eyes widen at the sight of her smoke-filled kitchen. "What the hell!"

Alana sheepishly appeared from the thin smog, frantically opening the windows and waving kitchen towels to waft the smell away. Danielle was trying to contain her laughter at the sight of burnt eggs sitting unhappily on the stovetop.

"Are you trying to burn my NEW house down?"

"Sorry," Alana immediately replied once the smoke started to die down. She was relieved when Este stood on the island in the middle of the kitchen and turned the smoke detector off. "I was trying to be nice and make you guys breakfast but I got distracted and..."

"How did you get distracted?" Danielle couldn't help but ask.

"Well," Alana looked down at the floor. "I put the eggs on and then I found an episode of Maury with paternity tests. You guys know how much I love those! Anyway, I was waiting to see if Chauncey was the father of Chauncey Jr. and totes forgot about the eggs."

"So seeing if Chauncey was the father of Chauncey Jr. was more important than the sanctity of my kitchen?" Este made sure it was clear she was joking due to the fear and terror in Alana's eyes.

"Yes..."

Danielle playfully rolled her eyes and dutifully began cleaning everything up, much to Este and Alana's relief.

"We'll have D make us breakfast."

Danielle stopped what she was doing and rolled her eyes. "Not even a please?"

"Please," Este said dully, pushing Alana toward the attached living room. "Was Chauncey the father?"

"I paused it!" Alana squealed, following her sister to the couch. "I don't think he is because Chauncey Jr. doesn't have the same nose."

Este studied the TV and shook her head. "There is no way Chauncey is the father."

"Right?! It's so obvious."

Danielle chuckled to herself as she listened to her two sisters. It was beginning to sound like old times. After she cleaned away the burnt eggs, she put the pan back o the stove and carefully watched them...unlike her sister who had the attention span of a goldfish.

"What!"

"There's no way!"

Danielle rolled her eyes and focused on stirring the pancake batter, sneaking in a few chocolate chips. Just enough so Este wouldn't go into diabetic shock. That was the last thing they needed.

"Was he the father?" Danielle called out as she carefully poured the perfect sized pancake into the sizzling pan.

"Yes!" Alana called back in amazement. "You should have seen them side by side, D. They looked nothing alike! I call bullshit."

"Let's relax now," Este told her youngest sister with a laugh. "How much longer?!"

"Well, if one of you helped me it would go faster!" Danielle complained. She flipped the pancakes and added in more chocolate chips to the uncooked side for Alana. That was her way of bribing her sister back into the studio just in case for some reason she had changed her mind in the span of seven hours.