Nygmobblepot

Pancakes

"It's your turn to go," said Oswald, shrugging on his coat.

Ed felt an ache in his stomach. "I don't think it's appropriate for me to go. The parents don't like me, and there's bound to be rumors—"

"All the more reason for you to go. You need to get your face ingrained into their minds in a positive way." Oswald put his hands on his husband's shoulders. "All you have to do is make small talk, sit down in the cafeteria, eat pancakes with Eleanor, then go to work. It'll be over before you know it."

Pancakes with Parents was a biannual event at the academy. One that Ed had on his list of reasons why Eleanor would be attending a different academy the following school year.

"I," Ed wrung his hands, "I really don't think I should."

Oswald pressed his lips into a line. "It's an unspoken rule that it is important for one parent to be present for the first and the other for the second. If not, their child will suffer socially. Since we both know you dislike pumpkin flavouring, I went to the fall one." He gestured at Ed. "It's your turn to go to this one."

"Ugh, fine. I'll go."

"Thank you. They're actually pretty good pancakes."

"It's not the pancakes. It's the principle."

"Principle?" asked Oswald. "What principle may I ask is that?"

Ed set down his coffee. "I'm 98.76% certain that the only reason why the name of the event is called Pancakes with Parents and not Muffins with Mom or Donuts with Dad or any other equivalent was due to you and me being the only gay parents this prep academy had seen in a few years."

"The Keans—"

"—are the one lesbian couple GCPA has seen in the last five years. We are the first gay couple to my knowledge. Their twin sons attended a few years ahead of Eleanor, back when the mandatory breakfasts went by more specific names." Ed took a sip of coffee, allowing Oswald time to mull over the facts. "While I am grateful for the academy's push toward inclusiveness, I don't like that the event's name changed the year Eleanor started."

"Did you consider that perhaps the Kean's started it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." Oswald poked his lip out and lifted his eyebrows with a smile.

"What?"

"Part of the reason why they withdrew the twins was due to the children's behaviour—"

"That's a given."

"I know—and because the academy wanted Babs and Tabs to be the faces for their marketing. GCPA welcomes all families from all backgrounds, underworld or not, from all races."

Ed nearly choked on his coffee. "Are you serious—How did I not know about this?!"

"You know, you really should attend brunch at least once." Oswald continued. "Suffice it to say the Kean's were quite unhappy. In fact, they hated it. That offer, on top of everything else they experienced....Tabitha had had it, but wanted to quietly withdraw the kids. And she did, of course. But Babs was shocked and outraged—"

"Well," the taller man adjusted his glasses, "she came from privilege."

"Exactly. It got ugly. Let's just say when Ellie got her acceptance letter, GCPA practically begged me to agree to send her and assured me up and down that, after the turnover, things would be different."