The Neighbors

Chapter 5

When I woke up the next morning, I heard the girls padding around, knowing it wouldn't be long before they would come to my room, looking for me. I loudly whispered Harold's name, trying to wake him up. I didn't want to have to explain to the girls why Mr. Styles was in my bed. He began to awaken slowly, but  I whispered again, “The girls!” He knew exactly what I meant and practically leapt out of the bed.

“Um, go into the bathroom!” I told him. Then I quickly intercepted the girls in the hallway and herded them to the kitchen.

“Let's make some waffles for breakfast!” I told them excitedly. I instructed them to begin getting out the mixing bowls and utensils. I quickly went back to my room and let Harold out of the bathroom.

“I'm so sorry. That was probably really rude of me. I just didn't want the girls to-”

“It's all right, Lise. I'm a parent, too. I know you have to set a good example for your children.” His reassurance made me feel better.

“Would you like to stay for breakfast? I will tell the girls you stayed in the guest room.”

“Certainly. You're the best cook I know.”

“I'm the only cook you know here!” I countered.

I entered the kitchen and carefully explained, “Mr. Styles slept in the guest room last night after the alarm went off. He wanted to make sure we were safe. Wasn't that nice of him?”

“Yeah! Mr. Styles!” Rory and Grace began jumping up and cheering. “Yeah! You scared away the bad guys! You're a hero!”

I chuckled but then I felt it important to clarify, “Girls, there was no bad guy. You know how we had a big storm last night?” They nodded. “Well, the wind made our house alarm go off. The police came and said we were all safe. Mr. Styles just stayed to make extra sure.”

But then they started jumping up and down again chanting, “Hero! Hero!”

I just laughed and told him, “You have a fan club.”

I speedily mixed up the waffle batter and heated up the waffle iron. Then I started a pot of coffee brewing.

By the time the waffles were done, the coffee was ready and we all had a seat. We had just begun eating when I heard Rachael crying. It never failed. I hardly ever ate a warm meal, but I didn't complain much. It was almost funny that I could predict the children's needs better than my own.

“Would you mind if I get her?” Harold asked. “That way you can eat before you have to feed her.”

“Sure,” I replied hesitantly, not knowing if she would be happy to see Mr. Styles coming to get her instead of me.

But when he returned holding my sweet baby in his arms, she was all smiles.

“Mommy!” Aurora screeched in excitement. “Mr. Styles can be our new daddy!”

At that moment, I'm quite sure that my face became the color of a fire engine. Harold just looked down at the floor with a funny little smirk on his face.

When I regained my composure, I stuttered, “Rory, honey, Mr. Styles is a good friend, but he has his own family. He's just helping us out a lot.”

“And your mummy is helping me a lot, too,” Harold chimed in.

“Okay,” Aurora said, her face falling. I couldn't exactly tell, but I think she looked a little disappointed.

After breakfast, I sat the girls in front of their favorite morning cartoon show so that I could clean up. Harold informed me that he was going to go home. As I walked him to the door, I felt a little awkward about the last twelve hours.