Yesterday's Tomorrow

Chapter One

Something landing on my chest startled me from my sleep. I gasped and brought my hands up. Through the haze in my vision, a familiar small face looked up at me. I blinked a few times to clear the blur. Her hair was in a nest on top of her head and her eyes were bright and curious as always. Just like Tony's. I reached my hands out and smoothed her hair down and pulled her into me.

"Vivianne, honey, what time is it?" I whispered, looking over at the clock on the side table. 7:23 AM.

"Mommy, I wanted to make daddy breakfast but I can't reach the toaster," she whispered back, kicking her legs back and forth, her little hands folded under her chin.

"Did you ask J?" I asked. She nodded her head a few times.

"Yeah, but he told me that it was not safe for me to cook by myself and he would not turn anything on until I had an adult," she explained. I laughed.

"Well, that's a good idea. Come on munchkin, let's make some breakfast," I said, pushing the covers back on the bed. She hopped off the bed and scurried in front of me toward the kitchen. I stretched and cast a look back at Tony who was sleeping in bed, breathing heavily. I smiled before turning to follow Vivianne down the hall. When I got to the kitchen, she was climbing up on a chair to reach the counter, "What do you want to make for breakfast?" I asked, leaning on the counter across from her.

"Daddy likes pancakes, we should make him blueberry pancakes," she said.

"That's a good idea, do you want pancakes too?" I asked. She nodded.

"With chocolate!" she shouted excitedly. I laughed and started getting all the stuff out from the fridge and pantry to make pancakes.

"Honey, do you want to mix all the ingredient together?" I asked. She nodded vigorously. I passed over the bowl and the spoon and she waited patiently as I measure out all the ingredients into it. She began stirring it together, the bowl spinning around on the counter and threatening to spill the contents all over the counter, "Careful Viv, you don't wanna spill any," I reached over and steadied the bowl. Vivianne put her free hand next to mine and held onto the bowl. I let go of the bowl and turned to get the pan out from one of the cabinets. I placed it on the stove between Vivianne and me. She pushed the bowl over to me.

"All done?" I asked. She nodded. I smiled, "Alright, they are gonna be so good," she laughed. "Do you wanna put the berries and chocolate in?" I asked.

"Yeah!" she said hopping in her spot.

"Can you reach?" I asked. She leaned over and showed she could reach. I poured the batter into the pan and started cooking. Vivianne reached over and put chocolate into the pancakes. They took a few minutes to cook before they were done. The rest of the pancakes were easy enough to make and soon they were all complete. "Do you have your card for daddy?" I asked. She jumped off the chair and ran down the hall to her room. I heard her feet hitting against the floor the entire way down the hallway. I put the pancakes on the plates. Soon her footsteps were coming back down the hallway toward the kitchen. "Honey, can you grab the tray from the cabinet over there," I asked, pointing at the cabinet at the mouth of the hallway. She handed to me and I placed the plates of pancakes on it.

"I wanna carry it!" Vivianne said excitedly. I looked down at her with the tray in my hands.

"Do you think you can hold it?" I asked. She nodded feverishly. I handed the tray down to her. Before she took it in her hands, she placed her handmade birthday card on the tray. I collected the glasses of orange juice and followed her down the hallway toward the back bedroom where we'd left Tony sleeping. She bounded into the room and made her way to Tony's side of the bed. She put the tray down on the ground before jumping up onto the bed and landing on Tony. He jumped, let out a surprised and slightly pained groan.

"Happy Birthday daddy!" she yelled, completely tackling him back to the bed. His laugh made it through Vivianne's sentence. I walked up to the side of the bed and set the glasses down before I dropped them on the ground. Tony managed to turn his face from under Vivianne's shoulder and looked over at me. A bright smile crossed his face as he held his daughter against him. He mouthed a hello as reached out with his free hand to run his fingers along my cheek.

"What are my girls doing up so early?" he asked.

"Somebody wanted to make you a birthday breakfast," I said, raising the tray from the ground. Vivianne rolled over and lay her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her protectively out of habit. I set the tray over him and he peered up to get a better look. He smirked and looked over at Vivianne.

"Are those blueberry pancakes?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.

"Mommy let me mix up the batter and put the blueberries in for you!" She said.

"You did? Now I know they're perfect," He said, kissing her cheek. He pushed himself up on the bed so he could sit up. Vivianne crawled into his lap and leaned back against him.

"I made you this!" Vivianne snatched her card from the tray and shoved it in his face. He laughed and leaned away slightly so he could grab the card. He opened and smiled at the picture she'd drawn for him last night before bed.

"It's like looking at a Picasso," Tony said.

"What's a Picasso?" Vivianne asked turning to look up at Tony.

"Well, experts say it's art, but I'm not so sure," he muttered as he looked up at me with a wink. I laughed. I crawled onto the bed across from Tony and crossed my legs in front of me. I passed the forks over to Tony and Vivianne before they started eating. Tony took Vivianne's plate in front of him and cut her pancakes into smaller pieces. Vivianne stabbed her fork into one of the pieces and reached up to give it to Tony. He opened his mouth to take the bit but before he could, Vivianne moved the fork and shoved in her mouth. Tony laughed and wrapped his arms around her, tickling her sides. She kicked her feet and howled with laughter.

"Be careful! Don't kick the table!" I laughed, pulling the tray back before they threw it all over the bed. They both laughed, Tony, leaning down and kissing Vivianne on the cheek. Tony pulled the tray back toward him and Vivianne and they both began eating again. Vivianne curled into Tony's chest as she ate. Tony looked up at me with a soft smile over his breakfast.