Talking to the Moon

Chapter 5

Morning came and Amethyst walked downstairs to the kitchen to get her breakfast. Wilfred had knocked on her door to inform her. He asked her if she wanted breakfast in bed if she was tired, but she declined as she wanted to see Nolan and ask him about something.

She reached the kitchen and her senses were evaded with the smell of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. A lady was in the kitchen, humming to the small and old radio sitting on the counter and swaying her hips while flipping pancakes. Amethyst smiled softly. She cleared her throat which caused the woman to stop humming and turn around.

"Oh, you must be Amethyst. I must say that it is quite a beautiful name. I am Darla. I am the cook and main cleaner of this household. Hungry, dear? I'll just finish flipping this pancake and serve it. Half a mo'", she said with a distinctive British accent.

"Oh no, that's fine. I can get the pancakes myself. It's alright", Amethyst replied, taking a liking to Darla immediately due to the motherly and warm vibe she radiated.

"Wonderful dear. Do you want anything to drink?", Darla asked, her smile widening at her kindness.

"Orange juice would be amazing right now."

"I'll bring it to you, no arguments. Now go sit your pretty little bottom on the chair and eat", she said and playfully winked at her.

Amethyst chuckled and walked towards the dining table. Nolan was already sitting in the chair situated at the head of the table, reading the newspaper and sipping some coffee. Declan was sitting to his right, munching on some bacon with his eyes dropping as though he might fall asleep any second.

"Good morning", Amethyst greeted.

Nolan replied with a smile and a good morning while Declan mumbled something incoherent under his breath. She sat down and stacked some pancakes onto her place, almost drowning it in maple syrup and picked up 5 bacon strips. She was happily munching on her bacon when Darla came up and gave her OJ. She thanked her. Darla turned towards Declan and saw his head dropping, just mere inches from his plate when Darla clapped her hands loudly in front of his face, jolting him awake.

"Oh, man. I wanted to see his face land on the syrup", Amethyst whined.

Declan, who was still reeling from the sudden disturbance, turned and glared at her. Darla smiled in triumph and walked back to the kitchen. Amethyst put her arms up in surrender and finished off her last bacon and pancake. She turned towards Nolan and asked him, "How old was I when you guys left for Ireland?".

Nolan tensed and Declan looked with wide eyes but quickly schooled his features to a calm facade. 

She had been wondering for a while now because of the memories that Declan talked about and what all she could vaguely remember, indicated that they didn't leave when she was 7. Nolan had lied to her and she wanted to know why.

He looked hesitant but replied, "I don't know exactly when, but I am guessing when you were around 10 or 11"

"Why did you say that you left when I was 7 yesterday?", she asked, genuinely curious.

"I didn't think you remembered us so I said that. I figured that you would feel less guilty in case you didn't remember us", he said.

She nodded slowly. "That... makes sense"

She knew that he wasn't telling her the entire truth, but she knew that he will someday. So, she gave up the topic and started talking about school and Asher. Nolan had left halfway through the conversation for work. He kissed both their foreheads before leaving.

"I want to meet him. He sounds like a hilarious dude", Declan said while wiping away the laughter tears that formed when Amethyst was retelling a particularly side-splitting story. They had been talking for about 2 hours. They moved to the living room after finishing their breakfast.