Tri-Force

Tri-Force (plus two) - Breakfast and a show

5. Breakfast and a Show

Kim was always the first one up in the morning. She showered and changed into a light purple top (with holes in the sides, of course) and a tattered denim skirt. She ruffled her wet hair as she walked down the hall, toward the kitchen. Something smelt like… waffles. Confused, Kim followed the sweet smell.

‘Good morning!’ chimed Nicole, standing by the stove. Behind her, on the island counter, sat a large plate of waffles. Lined up on the marble were syrups, jams, ice-cream and sliced fruit. With oven gloves Kim presumed were new (Maddi always handled the hot pots), Nicole bent down and pulled another four waffles from the oven. There were now 12 – 2 for each person. ‘I wasn’t sure what everyone liked, so I got a bit of everything.’ Nicole swept a petite hand over the assortment of toppings. Kim sat down at the counter, gaping at the set-up. ‘Nicole, this is amazing!’ she smiled, picking up a large strawberry. ‘Wait – did you go down to the shops? We don’t even own oven gloves!’ Kim held up the bright red mittens and laughed, putting them on her second hands. Nicole nodded. ‘Yeah, well, I thought I should make you guys breakfast as a mini thank you. I know it doesn’t even begin to cover what you’ve done for us – but thanks. This is all a really big deal for me and Dani.’

Kim tilted her head, looking up at Nicole. ‘You are most welcome. Believe it or not, I am extremely glad we met last night. It was meant to be!’ Kim finished her sentence dramatically, jumping out of her chair with all four arms spread out. Nicole giggled as Kim danced stupidly around the kitchen. A duplicate went up to the little radio next to the microwave and turned it onto a retro-style station. Kim laughed at the cheesy song that came on, and retracted into her core, who was now sitting at the table across from Nicole. ‘Time to eat!’ she cried, as duplicates brought the food onto the table. Kim grabbed a waffle and smothered it with mangoes, strawberries, syrup and ice-cream. Nicole went crazy with bananas, syrup, sugar and ice-cream. When a duplicate brought her a tall glass of orange juice, she accepted it, shaking her head. The clone retracted into a bemused-looking Kim. ‘What?’ she asked, her mouth full of food. 

‘I just don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,’ she talked into her glass as she took a large sip. Kim’s shoulders shook as she laughed. ‘What – this?’ a clone asked, as it scooted its seat closer to Nicole’s. Another appeared on her left side, grabbing a piece of banana from her plate and popping it into its mouth. Nicole gasped in shock, pushing her chair away from the table. She put her head in her hands and began to chuckle. ‘Yes, that.’ She moved back to her breakfast, flicking Kim’s clone in the shoulder. ‘How rude!’ exclaimed Kim, retracting both the clones. Both girls laughed and continued to eat their breakfast, chatting about random things. 

‘Holy moly. I am liking this!’ Maddi waltzed into the room, wearing grey exercise shorts and a purple ‘Team Damon’ t-shirt on. She sat next to Nicole and began to help herself to the waffles. Kim looked up at Maddi, and noticed what she was wearing. ‘So that’s where my shirt went!’ she yelled, gesturing at Maddi’s top. Maddi looked down at her chest and sighed. ‘But this is my one!’ she whined, haphazardly throwing things onto her waffles. Kim raised an eyebrow and duplicated into the seat next to her. ‘I don’t think so, buddy.’ Kim pointed to the large holes on the sides of the material, almost identical to the ones her second arms were sticking out of now. Maddi sighed in defeat, took it off and placed it in the hand that Kim wasn’t using to eat her breakfast with. She now wore a simple blue singlet instead. ‘Thank you,’ Kim said happily, gripping the shirt protectively. ‘Then where’s mine?’ asked Maddi, pointing at the t-shirt with her fork. Kim rolled her eyes and faced Maddi. ‘I don’t know! You got an orange one, and I got two purple ones. It’s probably under your bed or something,’ she sat back and drank the rest of her orange juice.