Short on Time

Chapter 139

"I didn't think you would be making breakfast," I said to Iris as I worked on the orange juice. "When I texted you last night and said it would be great if you brought over breakfast, I thought you would pick it up."

"Oh, well I thought this would be better," Iris said. "I know the twins love pancakes, and I'm sure you've been craving them."

"You're right about that," I said as I finished the orange juice. "And look, there's my wonderful husband with our little monsters."

"Georgie didn't sleep very well," Barry explained as he got the kids in their seats. "Wow, this is a wonderful selection of food." 

"Surprise, Barr," Iris said brightly. 

"Yeah, wow," Barry said as I sat down next to him. "This is not a banana."

"I know Valentine's Day isn't for a couple of days, but I thought why not?" Iris said as she poured us some orange juice. "Let me surprise my family before some crazy meta-of-the-week strikes." 

"Here, wait, I got it," Barry said. 

"How's your arm?" I asked her. 

"Oh, um, I mean, it stings, but it's a bit better," Iris said. 

"Yeah?" Barry asked as he starred at the food suspiciously, even the twins were eyeing it nervously. 

"You know, if you really want a banana, I could always go in the kitchen-" Iris began. 

"No, no," Barry said. "No, I don't need a banana. This all looks awesome. I mean, the pancakes are really round."

"They look amazing, Iris," I told her honestly as the twins started to dig in. 

"Mom, did you make breakfast?" Henry asked as he walked in.

"No, you Aunt Iris did," I told him as Barry stared at the food. 

"Wow," Henry said nervously. 

"Excited to taste 'em with my mouth," Barry said loudly before taking a bite. "Oh, my God.When did you learn to-" I elbowed him. "I mean, these are really good."

"It's a miracle," Henry mumbled under his breath as he dug in. 

"Thank you," Iris said. 

"Yeah," Barry said as he took a sip of the orange juice. 

"Is this fresh-squeezed?" Henry asked. 

"Mm-hmm," Iris said. 

"Oh, um we may or may not now own a very expensive juicer," I told Barry. 

"Gotta say, you two are full of surprises this morning," Barry told us. 

"Well, the day is young," Iris said. "And it was Ginger's idea."

"Iris did all the work," I told her as I stood up to help toddler-Esther with her orange juice that wasn't coming out of the bottle. 

"Wait, how did you have time to get a spread like this together?" Barry asked Iris. "I mean, it sounded like yesterday was insane."

"Yeah, it was, which is why Team Citizen is regrouping before we go after Carver again," Iris said. "And as for all this, thank God for 24-hour grocery stores."

"Amen," Barry agreed. 

"This is your reminder," Alexa chimed, and I jumped out of my skin. "You have a reservation at Giovanni's February 14th at 7:00 p.m."

"You know what?" Barry asked me. "If we also made a reservation for tonight, we could up our chances of having an emergency-free Valentine's Day dinner."