Loose ｡ Henry Mills [2]

33 - A WELL-DESERVED HAPPY ENDING

Teresa Holmes was woken up by the smell of pancakes the following morning. As she made her way downstairs, she peeked into the living room and noticed that Henry was folding up the blanket he had used to sleep on the couch last night. She offered him a small smile as she walked by the couch, heading towards the kitchen where she found David attempting to make breakfast while also holding a red-face, screaming toddler. He was clearly struggling to do both at the same time without his wife at his side, as the two usually worked together to make breakfast and calm Neal.

She frowned and entered the kitchen to lend a hand, Henry not far behind her. David heard their footsteps and turned around, noticing that the two teenagers were finally awake. He immediately smiled at them in greeting as he continued mixing the pancake batter one-handed.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Morning, Grandpa," Henry greeted tiredly.

"Need any help?" Teresa offered.

"Honestly?" David said. He turned around to look at them and they could see how stressed out he was. "Yeah, that would be great."

Teresa nodded and walked over, holding out her arms and taking Neal so that David could focus on making breakfast for everyone. She began bouncing the toddler in her arms, trying to get him to calm down.

When he continued fussing, presumably for his mother, Teresa placed him in the high chair and got to work making Neal something to eat for breakfast. As she did that, Henry moved to set the table. He got some plates and cups from the cabinet, placing them in front of their usual seats. Then he grabbed some silverware and napkins, doing the same with those. Afterwards, he walked over to the refrigerator and started pouring them each some orange juice.

"Hey, David, where does Snow keep those breakfast oatmeal packets that Neal really likes?" Teresa asked after checking the cabinet with all the baby bowls and foods and not finding them there.

"They should be in Neal's cabinet."

Teresa looked again just to be certain, but shook her head. "I don't see any."

"Uh, maybe try the pantry," David replied after a moment of thinking. "Snow might have moved them if she needed more room in the cabinet."

Teresa nodded and scurried off towards the pantry. At the same time, Henry sat down at the table and gave Neal a sippy cup filled with watered down apple juice. The toddler eagerly grabbed the sippy cup and leaned his head back as he took large gulps, obviously thirsty. But when Neal lowered the cup, his lip still quivered slightly.

David turned to look at Teresa over his shoulder when he heard the door to the pantry close a few moments later. "Did you find the oatmeal packets?"

"Yep," Teresa replied, holding up the brown packet as proof. She walked over to the counter, grabbed a bowl, and tore open the packet, pouring the contents inside and combining it with some water. She then put it in the microwave, and once it was done, she immediately stirred it and placed it inside the freezer so that it could cool down.

The moment the apple flavored oatmeal was ready, Teresa grabbed a spoon and bib, and walked over to the hungry toddler. She set the bowl down in front of him, secured the bib around his neck, and gave him the spoon. The toddler looked down at the food, and while still fussing only a little bit, he began to messily eat his breakfast.

By the time David had gotten done with the first batch of pancakes and set them down on both Henry and Teresa's plates so they could start eating, Neal had completely calmed down. The toddler was enjoying his food and apple juice while talking gibberish in Henry's direction.

Teresa reached for the butter and syrup, spreading both over her pancakes, before she dug into her breakfast. Henry did the same from across the table, and David joined them after a few minutes, sitting down at the head of the table. It was quiet for a little while before David spoke.