Peaky Blinders Collection

Pancakes

            Alfie's wife was a machine in the kitchen. She worked fast and turned out amazing meals like no one's business. It was just one of her many gifts. From the start of their marriage, through the birth of their five children, she always kept the home smelling like heaven.

He was always grateful for Marian and did his best not to take her for granted. Still, it was quite the bombshell in the household when she got the flu. It put her completely out of commission, she was barely strong enough to sit up in bed.

The morning after she started to feel ill, Alfie got up early to wake the kids. Marian rolled over.

"Call my mother. She'll come over to help with the kids." She spoke weakly, her voice scratchy and faint.

"I can take care of them." He promised her as he got dressed. "You just rest, I'll come check on you in a bit."

"Alfie..." Marian sighed. "Alright, alright." She was too tired to argue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were five Solomons children. Clara was the oldest and was turning thirteen in a month. Esther, their second born, was ten. Lewis was eight, Jeannie was six, and the youngest was Henry at only eighteen months.

No one said having five children was easy. But it was something special in the Jewish community. And that, Alfie, embraced. Still didn't erase the sleepless nights, but he adored his children. They were the light of his lives. He and Marian were stopping at five, though.

Alfie went about waking the children like it was a battle strategy. He helped Marian wake them up every morning before he left for work, but he'd never done it on his own before.

Clara was the first. Turning into a teenager, she wasn't keen on waking up for school. That meant knocking on her door first. The first attempt of many to wake her.

No doubt Lewis was already awake, the little boy never liked to stay in bed. So, Alfie opened his door and herded him out to the kitchen, telling him not to bother Marian.

Esther and Jeannie slept in the same room together even though the two often bickered. Alfie got them both up and helped Jeannie get dressed. He instructed Esther to go knock on Clara's door again while he got Henry up and dressed.

Esther ran back into the nursery and said Clara was yelling at her. Alfie sighed and picked up Henry. He knocked on his eldest's door again.

"Go away!"

"Time for school, up 'n at 'em." Alfie couldn't understand why they went through the same routine every morning. Clara knew she never won the argument. "I have to get breakfast started for your siblings, so you better be up soon." He warned before carrying his son downstairs.

"Right, breakfast time." He searched through the 'fridge. "What do you kiddos want, aye? Bagels? Toast?"

"Pancakes!" Jeannie banged on the table.

"Pancakes?" Alfie frowned and checked the clock on the wall. He supposed they had enough time although he wasn't too confident about his cooking ability. "Alright..." He searched through the cabinets and luckily found a box of mix. Usually, Marian made her pancakes from scratch, but there was no way Alfie was attempting that.

"Esther go make sure your sister's awake, tell her she's in big trouble if I have to go up there." He said as he began to prepare the mix.