Children {s.m}

9: In-bed breakfast

It was another peaceful morning, just like any other ones during this time of the year. The sun cast its warm glow upon the rows of colorful houses in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the household living in one cozy white house was quiet, except for the footsteps coming from the wooden floorboards of the children's room.

Lilly, fully dressed in a white dress that you recently bought, jumped onto her younger brother, startling him awake.

"Rise and shine, Jack," Lilly cried enthusiastically, but not forgetting to keep her voice as low as possible.

Gracie, who was also dressed in one of her casual outfits; with the help from Lilly, of course, climbed onto her older brother's bed and helped Lilly to peel off his sheets.

"Go away guys," Jack groaned and buried his face into his pillow, "it's only seven o'clock in the morning,"

"C'mon, it's mommy and daddy's ninth anniversary. Gracie and I are going to make them breakfast to eat in bed!" Lilly exchanged quick smiles with her little sister.

"Do you two even know how to cook?" Jack snorted with his eyelids glued shut.

"Nope, but I had seen mommy and auntie Aaliyah cook, it does not look hard at all," Lilly stated with a strange sense of confidence.

"Fine," Jack groaned again, but quickly pulled himself into a sitting position, I'll just go and make sure you two don't burn down the kitchen."

Lilly clapped her hands together in glee, but Jack only sighed, knowing that this could not go well in any way.

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"What are you making?" was the first thing that Jack asked when they tiptoed into the kitchen.

"We," Lilly corrected in a matter-of-fact voice, "are making pancakes."

Jack stared at her incredulously, but if he wanted to comment on her choice, he didn't. Instead, he made his way toward the stainless steel fridge across the room.

"What do we need?" Jack asked, swinging open the fridge.

"Um," Lilly tapped her index finger against her chin as she searched through her memory, "eggs, milk, flour, and sugar."

"How much?"

Lilly stared at her brother with a blank expression and shrugged.

"Don't tell me that you don't know," Jack groaned.

"Matter of fact, I don't," she shook her head sheepishly, "but we could just make a rough guess."

Jack shook his head in resignation as he grabbed two eggs and a carton of milk from the fridge. Lilly brought a stool for him to step on so he can reach for the flour and sugar.

"Lilly," a sweet voice called behind her, and Lilly whirled around to find her little sister balancing two ceramic teacups on top of a frying pan, which was also on top of a glass mixing bowl. Lilly's eye widened as Gracie's tower quivered and threatened to topple over.

"Thank you, Gracie," Lilly replied hastily, snatching the teacups off the pan.

"Now, what else do we need?" Lilly murmured to herself as she placed the pan on the stove, trying to think of a task for her little sister to do.

"Aha! Flowers! Mommy love flowers!" Her brown eyes glimmered as she suddenly exclaimed.

"Okay, I like flowers too," Gracie beamed before running out into the garden, barefooted.

Lilly smiled after her sister, satisfied with her arrangements. Then, she spun around and took out a bag of coffee beans from one of the bottom cabinets.