BAD IDEA ► SWEET PEA

― n i n e t e e n. Merry Christmas, Ya' Filthy Animal

|| CHAPTER NINETEEN ||

I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn on Christmas morning and went to annoy my brother awake. We decided earlier that we were going to surprise dad with breakfast-in-bed. Dad had done so much for us, especially during the festive times, so I wanted to give back and thank him for everything. I mean the better Christmas gift for him would be to pay off all his hospital bills but dad would never accept that charity.

I wanted to go all out for breakfast which Archie, surprisingly, went along with. I decided to make it complicated by making a big breakfast using fresh and organic ingredients from local farms.

We began prepping for breakfast with Archie on chopping and slicing of vegetables while I cooked and plated. We pickled some red onions in agave syrup and red wine vinegar. Archie used his strength to make some freshly squeezed orange juice, and I made some hot coffee. I made two types of avocado toast on sourdough bread, on one kind, I added the pickled red onion, an egg and sriracha, and on the other, just some jam and an avocado formed into a flower shape. Lastly, we cut up a cantaloupe as a side of fruit.

Regardless of our efforts, our cooking must have woken dad up as he came walking down stairs and found us siblings in the kitchen, scrambling to cook up some breakfast-in-bed.

"Nooooo," I whined when I caught sight of dad coming downstairs. "Go back up," I pointed at the stairs, "You're not supposed to see the surprise."

Dad promptly brought his hands to his face and covered his eyes. "Merry Christmas to you too, Kenna," he joked.

Archie chuckled. "Hey dad," he greeted, "Merry Christmas. C'mon, sit down. We're almost done."

"Are my kids really making breakfast for me?" Dad pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down. "Who are you and what have you done to my kids?"

"Ha ha, dad," I said sarcastically. "Merry Christmas. We were going to surprise you with breakfast-in-bed."

"Aw, you didn't have to," said dad.

"Aw, but we did," I copied. I went over to the dining table and set down a copy of today's newspaper in front of him.

"Wow," I heard him mumble as he took the newspaper into his hands no and rustled it straight. I smiled as I was quite pleased with myself that I managed to make dad happy. He deserves it, I am so glad dad is here.

Archie and I plated the food and tray with edible wildflowers we found outside. My brother then carried the food over to dad on a wooden tray. Dad was ecstatic when we put the tray down. He could not stop thanking us and telling us how grateful he was for us. It made me feel happy and felt all warm inside. We each gave dad a hug before digging into our food.

Mine and Archie's Christmas breakfast included the failed attempts at an avocado toast that we did not use for dad's final meal. The avocado flowers looked ugly but at least they tasted good. I should be happy spending time with family but I honestly could not wait to head over to the Whyte Wyrm later. Sweet Pea texted me last night that he needed me there in the morning, he did not say for what but it made me excited.

After breakfast, we spent some quality family bonding time by cleaning up the dishes and the mess we made in the kitchen before we went over to the Christmas tree and opened up our presents. We got each other really simple budget gifts this Christmas.