Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Lauren, Saturday (Last)

The kids had already woken up and gone downstairs, and were sitting in front of the TV. Maybe soon they would make their own breakfast. Yeah, sure, and then maybe they'd start bringing her breakfast in bed. She wouldn't get her hopes up.

To her surprise, though, Joe went into the kitchen and started banging around. "Saturday pancakes, everyone?"

"Yay!" Naomi and Tosh called together.

"Yay," Lauren said, more pleased than she needed to be. Joe wasn't a complete stranger to the kitchen, but neither was he a frequent occupant, and it wasn't like he was making pancakes from scratch; they were from the just-add-water mix, bought from Costco in a bag that looked big enough to hold cement, and the resultant batter tended to stick to the bowls like cement when she tried to wash it off after. Still, his offer to make breakfast was some consolation for not giving her what she wanted last night, and she busied herself instead with pouring two cups of coffee from the machine they'd set the night before. She dressed Joe's the way he liked and placed it in front of him, and he kissed her in thanks as he mixed batter with a whisk. She carried hers, black, to sit in the armchair and join the kids, who were zoned out in front of bloody Spongebob Squarepants. Eventually she found herself hypnotized by the antics of Spongebob and his buddies, and she realized she was still waking up. Too many night shifts were fucking with her diurnal cycle, and it couldn't be good for her health.

Joe called them all to the breakfast table, and she pulled out butter and syrup from the fridge, and orange juice for the kids. As they ate, Lauren said, "So, you two know you're going to Grandma and Grandpa's house later, right?"

Naomi rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, Mom. Once again, to the grandparents."

Lauren didn't like the world weary attitude from her eleven year old daughter. It was too early to be that jaded. "Come on, I wish I could take you with us, but it's not that kind of party."

"But it's at Auntie Rachel's place!" Naomi whined, and Lauren understood the source of Naomi's dismay. She knew her daughter worshipped Rachel; she was the cool aunt who'd given her great gifts last Christmas and at her birthday, and to whom she was able to talk about things she couldn't talk about with her own mother, something Lauren knew was common but still stung a little; she herself had been able to discuss anything with her mother, and had hoped Naomi would be able to do the same with her. Maybe if she was home more often... no, she wouldn't feel guilty about being a working mother. Luckily, Rachel relayed to her anything Naomi told her that she should be concerned about, which wasn't a whole lot.

"I know, sweetie, but Harpreet and Ajit won't be there either. No kids will be there, so you'd just get bored."

"Will there be drinking?" she asked with disapproval.

"Yes, but your dad and I won't drink that much. We need to drive home and get you, remember."

"You aren't going to leave us overnight, are you?" Tosh said.

"No, buddy, the party won't last that long," Joe said. "I for one intend to leave as soon as decency will allow."

"What does that mean?" Tosh asked in confusion.

"Yes, I'd like to know what that means too," Lauren said.

Joe shrugged. "You know, say hello to our friends, congratulate the bride and groom, have a drink or two, eat enough to say I've had dinner, have a bite of cake, and then go."

She sighed. "We'll see. I'm sort of a co-host of this party, so I might have to stick around a while longer. But we will come back before it's your bedtime, and, hey, you'll get to stay up a little longer tonight."