Caelyn

“Pancakes?” Mia asked hopefully as she entered the kitchen.

My mouth curved. Never had I been happier to get that question. Griffin and I had sat the girls down a few nights ago to tell them that Mom had passed away. Mia had been confused, but Ava had been angry, slamming doors until she finally broke down and had a good cry. They’d both been quiet since.

Nothing could break my heart more than knowing that my tiny terrors were hurting. Worse, there was nothing I could do to fix it. But Mia asking me for pancakes said that at least she was on her way back to life as normal.

“Sorry, Mi. You’re going to have to settle for egg bake and muffins.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “Bran muffins or yummy muffins?”

Griffin choked on a laugh as he lifted his glass of orange juice. I turned, pointing my spatula at him. “Don’t encourage her.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, taking a swig of his juice.

Will grinned. “Yummy ones.”

Mia let out a little squeal. “What kind?”

“My bran muffins taste yummy,” I argued.

Ava appeared in the doorway. “Sorry, Cae Cae. They taste a little like cardboard.”

I scowled at all of them. “If my muffins taste like cardboard, then maybe I shouldn’t share these snickerdoodle ones with you.”

“Snickerdoodle!” Mia shrieked.

“Did you go to The Mad Baker this morning?” Ava asked.

“Nope. Jules shared her recipe with me so I could make some for you hooligans. But I guess I’ll just have to eat them all myself.”

“No!” Mia cried, tugging on my free hand. “I’ll eat all the vegetables you want if I can have one.”

I grinned down at her. “I’m going to remember that at dinner tonight.”

She scrunched up her face. “I shouldn’t have said all. I should’ve said I’d eat one vegetable.”

Will popped a piece of egg bake into his mouth. “Rookie mistake.”

I huffed as I brought the basket of muffins to the table and took a seat. “You’d all probably be vitamin deficient if it wasn’t for me.” I handed the basket to Griffin. “And you’d probably be halfway to a heart attack with all the crud you put in your body.”

He brushed his lips across mine as he took the basket. “Thank God I have you to keep me alive.”

“Are you guys gonna get married?” Mia piped in.