Templeschool

29. A Mother's Touch

Sunlight spilled into the living room, bathing its occupants in a warm glow. Priyanka was staring outside the front window with a cup of coffee in her hands. She was surprised this was the first time she had actually visited the Universe household. The view was amazing. A shining ocean with a gorgeous sunrise. After another couple of minutes enjoying the morning, Priyanka set her cup down on the counter. She grabbed several ingredients for a hearty breakfast and got to work.

Soon, she had set plates of banana pancakes, some bacon, scrambled eggs with veggies, and several slices of buttered toast on the table. One look at the clock showed it was 7:00 am. "Alright, time to wake everyone up." She moved over to the couch where she and her daughter had spent the night. "Connie, time to get up. Go wash up for breakfast."

Connie yawned and sleepily rubbed her eyes. "Morning, mom. I'm up." Next, Priyanka walked up the stairs to Steven's bedroom. She smiled at the sight that greeted her. Twoie was asleep in bed while hugging Steven close.

Peridot had been watching something quietly on the TV and turned to face the doctor as she walked up the stairs. She stood with a proud smirk. "Dr. Maheswaran, good morning. I would like to inform you that Twoie did not wake up during the night, and his fever did not increase."

Priyanka smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good morning as well, Peridot. And thank you very much for watching over him last night." She leaned over the bed and placed her hand over Twoie's forehead. Little warm. She'd have to keep an eye on him in case it spiked, but it looked like Twoie would be fine in another day or so.

She gently shook Steven's shoulder, then patted Twoie's arm. "Morning, boys. Time to get up and start the day."

Steven shifted and blinked a couple of times. "W-ha- yawn, what time is it?"

Priyanka tapped Twoie's arm again. "It's a little after seven. Now go wash up for the morning and then go eat breakfast. I'll wake your brother."

Steven became more alert as he realized that it was Dr. Maheswaran waking him up. "Oh, good morning, Dr. Maheswaran! I'll go get ready!" He smiled as he hopped out of bed and headed downstairs. The mother turned her attention to the eldest, who was only now starting to wake.

"Come on, Twoie. I want to take your temperature properly. You also need to drink a glass of water and have some food before you decide whether you want to go back to sleep."

Twoie finally sat up with a whine. "I'm up. Morning, Priyanka." He stretched his arms out as Priyanka readied her thermometer.

"Open your mouth, please." He let her pop the thermometer in his mouth and waited for it to beep. When she took it out, it read 99.6F. "Good, a little lower than before. How are you feeling."

The young man smiled tiredly as he hefted himself out of bed. "Pretty good, actually. Still a little tired, but not like before. I think I'll probably try to get some work done today. Maybe get a class done with Steven and Peridot. I kinda slacked on their schooling with the whole Cluster situation." Priyanka nodded as they headed downstairs. Steven and Connie were already sitting on the couch and eating. As Twoie disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for the day, Priyanka sat down and served herself a plate of breakfast.

"This is really good, Dr. Maheswaran! Thanks for making breakfast!" Steven chirped before taking a bite out of a forkful of eggs. Connie hummed in agreement over a slice of toast.

"You're welcome, Steven. It's always good to start the day with a nice meal." She looked around and noted how much quieter the house was. It was weird considering how many people were around just the night before. "Is the house always like this when you get up?"