Divergent Elements

Chapter 47

A week later

I'm awoken abruptly to two sprightly little ladies jumping on top of my stomach. "What are you little monsters doing?" I laugh, sitting up. 

Ashlen hands me a bouquet of tiger lilies, "These is fum Bwake! He bot tem tis morning." 

He's been getting me all sorts of little gifts lately, flowers, chocolate, stuffed animals, you name it. 

"What time is it?" I ask, stretching out my arms. 

"Noon. You seep a wot." Ash responds, still spinning in a circle. I sigh, rubbing my temple with two fingers, "You should've woken me up hours ago!" 

"Mommy says you gotta make wunch." She adds, walking out of the room. 

I go downstairs, set the flowers in a vase with water, and set it on the kitchen island, as decoration. "Natalie! There you are!" Mom exclaims, bouncing a crying Carter in her arms. 

"Need help?" I inquire, rubbing his cheek. Whenever I touch him, he calms down a little. 

She sighs, "I really need you to make lunch for everyone, I've got to go feed Mr. Fussypants. Your father is at work, so you're all I have right now." 

I nod, moving away from Carter, "That's alright, I'll just make some mac and cheese and hot dogs, the girls love it, and it's easy enough." 

She let's out a breath, "Thank you so much darling, I'll be back down as soon as I can." Mom head's to Carter's room as I grab a saucepan and a pot for the meal. Being too lazy to wait for the tap water, I just hold my hands over both pots and fill them with water. These abilities are becoming more of a help than a nuisance. 

"Who wants to help cook?" I call to the girls as they chase one another. 

They both parade over to the kitchen, and Ash speaks up, "I wanna put hot dog in!" Eliza spins her hand around, which most likely means she wants to mix up the mac and cheese. 

"Alright, Ash, come here. I'll hand you the hot dog, and you can put it in the water." I explain, grabbing the pack from the fridge. 

"Otay Nat." She takes them carefully, setting each in the water with extreme precision. Too bad she can't be this good at not running into walls. 

Once we finish getting them in the water, the pasta water has started to boil. After tossing the noodles in, I turn to the girls, "Alright, while the pasta boils, how about you watch some cartoons?" 

The two race to the living area, and I switch it to some old cartoons. While they are occupied, I stir the noodles once more, and run upstairs to change out of my pajamas. Hoping I can keep today a lazy day, I just throw on some spandex shorts and a black tank top, a Dauntless outfit, if you think about it that way. 

When I'm back downstairs, there is only a minute left on the noodles, and the hot dogs are done. I turn down the heat, and cover the sauce pan. Then, in the last minute, pull out a strainer and place it in the sink. In a few minutes, Ellie and I get the mac and cheese all finished in the bowl, and I cut up their hot dogs. 

"Can you go get Mommy and Carter?" I ask, dividing the food onto plates. 

She nods, her tiny pattering footsteps following her up the stairs. They all gather around the living room, wanting to keep the cartoons on. I serve all of their plates, the girls eating on the coffee table, and Mom with a TV tray on the couch, and Carter in one arm. 

"I'll take him Mom, he's tired anyways." I insist, leaning down to my little brother. 

She sighs, "Fine, be careful."