Charming and Awkward

Chapter 8: There's No More Room

-Violet-

"Violet."

The voice continued whispering my name; I almost thought I was dreaming. Then there were hands on my shoulders shaking me awake. "Violet, get up. Something weird is going on."

Nic.

"Go away. I need sleep." I grabbed a pillow and folded it over my ears.

It wasn't long before Nic snatched it from my grip and hit me in the head with it. "Mom's making pancakes."

I turned my head to the side and pushed the hair out of my face. "What? You woke me up because Mom is making pancakes? Do you know how crazy that sounds right now, Nic?"

His dumbass was actually thinking about it. To get him out of his trance, I hit him in the side with my pillow. "Okay, sorry, but seriously...why is she making pancakes?"

"Because she's hungry? I don't see any other reason she would be making pancakes, doofus."

He leaned in closer to me and dropped his voice down to a whisper. "She's singing."

Now I was interested. "She was last week too."

"Even Blue is a little freaked out."

Against my own sleeping schedule, I climbed out of bed and followed Nic into the kitchen. Gray and Blue were leaning over the bar that divided the kitchen and the living room, watching our mother sing and dance around the kitchen. Nic joined beside Blue and I stood beside Nic. By no means did our mom have a great singing voice, but at least she was passionate.

She didn't notice us all standing there. Or if she did, she didn't care.

There was an ever-growing stack of chocolate chip pancakes next to the stove where she continued to pile them on. There are four kids in this house, not forty. She cooked enough to feed the whole damn neighborhood. Instead of interrupting her, we all just watched. It brought a huge smile to my face. I've never seen her this happy before. Well, maybe when Nic and Gray graduated. But this was definitely different. The vibes coming from her all felt positive.

"Oh, good. You're all up. I made breakfast." She spoke through her smile and pushed a black curl out of her face.

"You made quite a bit, Mom." I noted with a breathy laugh.

She scanned the giant plates of pancakes and shrugged. "Believe me, they'll get eaten by my two garbage disposals." She smiled lovingly at Nic and Gray. "What do you guys have planned for today?"

"I'm going to Jordan's later." Gray said.

"Mom, you promised you'd take me to Katie's birthday party." Blue piped in.

"Sleep." Was all Nic said.

I nudged my elbow into Nic's side and he hunched over. "We can do something today. I have nothing planned." I threw her a smile.

"Sounds good to me."

She brought plates down from the cabinet and we all made a line to get pancakes. I brought mine to the table and soon everyone else joined. One thing I wish I could get from my mom was her cooking talent. I can make mac and chees and maybe spaghetti, but I get distracted too easily. I've burned so many things in a sad attempt at cooking. One day I would master it. Eh, maybe.