Whatever It Takes {Two | Alaric Saltzman}

Gods and Monsters

Abigail woke up before everyone else, she usually did. Especially on weekends. The time she spent alone was quiet. It passed by with a cup of coffee, a journal entry, and a chapter of a book recommended to her by a colleague as she watched the news.

Her mornings with Jenna made it into her thoughts often. The ones that were so similar. And, instead of dwelling on that she would never have those again, she looked back on them fondly.

She woke Lizzie and Josie sweetly, slowly. There was a lot about their personalities that were alike, and that was most clear in the morning, but their matching pajamas did nothing but remind her of how different they really were. They followed her down the stairs, the pitter patter of their feet behind her leaving her with no guesses as to how many times they would ask her to play while she made breakfast. They did, of course, leading to the kind of multitasking she didn't know a human could manage while having so much fun.

They sat at their places at the table as she portioned eggs, bacon, toast, and sliced fruit into separate sections on divided plates. Their sippy cups, pink for Josie and purple for Lizzie, were already full of orange juice and waiting in the fridge, so she grabbed them too. Her superpower, the girls called it as she served them.

"Thank you," they said at the same time.

"You are so very welcome."

She walked back to the fridge as their chatter was replaced with the silence that came mid meal for the orange juice she knew they would ask for more of. There wasn't much, only enough for Alaric to have a full glass and her to have half of one before she topped theirs off, so she poured it for them before sorting out cups of coffee.

Josie smiled at her. "This is yummy."

"Yeah," Lizzie agreed. "Daddy can never make it right."

Abigail chuckled. "Oh, really?"

Together, they said, "Yeah."

Alaric shuffled into the kitchen, his voice thick with sleep. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Daddy!"

"Hi, babies." He rubbed at his eyes with a smile. "How'd you two sleep?"

Lizzie caught herself before moving to stand up in her chair. "I dreamed about being a princess."

"Wow!" He knelt between them. "Josie, what did you dream about?"

"I dreamt that I slept in the bathtub instead of my bed." Josie reached out to hug him. "It was weird."

"Ah..." He patted her back. "Well, when you're old enough, I'll tell you about the time I actually slept in my bathtub instead of my bed."

Abigail looked up from her task. "I've never heard that story."

He walked toward her. "Then I'll tell you all about it during naptime."

"Good morning." She reached out to hug him. "Sorry if we woke you, I wanted to let you catch up on your sleep."

"Well, there aren't many other ways I'd like to be woken up." He kissed her. "Thank you for breakfast, Bea."

She kissed him again. "Mmhmm."

Into her ear, he whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Good. I'm good." She smiled as she sat down across from Lizzie. "So, today, we don't have to do much but we do have to run some errands."

"When is Aunt Caroline coming home?" Lizzie asked.

Abigail's smile faltered. "Uh, Aunt Caroline is helping Aunt Bonnie, remember?"