Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

— a new day —

June 11th, 1938

SOMEHOW GISELLE WAS able to convince Will to leave the couch out in the hallway, which was exactly where she found Ajay sleeping the next morning.

"Ajay," she called out in a soft voice, coming to sit on the couch right next to him. She pushed strands of his messy, black hair away from his face, running her thumb along his cheek. "Ajay, wake up," she tried to tempt him away from sleep. "Come on, I can smell someone cooking breakfast."

He groaned childishly, gathering his blanket in his arms and turning away. Giselle tried not to laugh at the action, leaning forward to sling her arm over his torso and set her chin on the top of his shoulder. "Ajay, come on. This family eats like it's their last meal. You won't get anything to eat if you don't hurry."

"Thirty more minutes," his groggy voice pleaded with her. "Go away!"

She breathed out a laugh, standing up. "Alright," she conceded, "but it's your loss." She walked away from him and moved towards the kitchen, the smell of buttery pancakes beckoning her forth. When she entered the kitchen, Frank and the kids immediately perked up from their spots at the table.

"Ellie! You're back!" Barbara was the first to exclaim, barreling out of her seat to wrap her arms around Giselle's hips.

Albert soon followed, trying to shove his sister aside to give Giselle a hug of his own. "What'd you bring us?" he asked, swatting at Barbara's arms as she held firm.

"Barb, let Albert hug her," Frank called from his spot at the table.

Barbara begrudgingly obeyed, and Albert moved in to take her spot.

Giselle smiled. "I didn't bring anything for you two." She pried Albert away from her to take a seat in between Marguerite and Frank.

"Oh, Ellie, I have so much to tell you!" Barbara said, excitement in her eyes.

"Ellie, hold!" A smaller voice sounded to Giselle's left. "Hold me, Ellie!" She turned towards Dorothy, who sat in her wooden high chair next to Marguerite, pancake crumbs coating her cloth bib and chubby cheeks.

Marguerite wiped away some of the crumbs with a napkin before picking her up and handing her off to Giselle.

"Hey, big girl," Giselle smiled as Dorothy wrapped her stubby arms around Giselle's neck. "So, Barbie, what do you have to tell me?"

She immediately started off with things happening at school, Albert chiming in every so often with tales of his own. Once she was bored of that topic, she then went off to talk about her birthday, which was in "two days, Ellie! Two days!" Then, she spoke rapid-fire about all she had planned for her birthday.

She was somewhere in the middle of talking about what dinner she wanted for her birthday when Selene slipped a plate of pancakes and sausage in front of Giselle.

Giselle smiled at the food. It reminded her of a breakfast she'd get back at home in Mississippi.

"Barb, why don't you tell her about your  birthday plans after Giselle's eaten?" Selene suggested, heading back to the stove to flip more pancakes.

Barbara nodded, going back to eating her pancake. Giselle tried to do the same, but Dorothy snatched one of her pancakes and started gnawing on it.

"Heavens, Dorothy, that's not yours!" Marguerite tried to scold through her laughter. "I can take her off of you," she told Giselle.

Giselle shook her head, shooting her arms out over Dorothy's head in order to start cutting up her pancakes. "Thanks, but I've got her."

Marguerite nodded, spearing a square of pancake and popping it into her mouth. "So, last night was quite dramatic," she mentioned.