Dopplegänger
That's it
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It was time for Noah's birthday. The first step: breakfast in bed.
Both parents woke up early, as that was what they were used to, and began preparing everything. Ricky grabbed all the ingredients while Nia read the directions and took the lead on the whole project.
He dug out the grocery bags that were hidden under the sink as well as the small cake and took the candle out. He carefully placed it in the icing so that it was centered. Nia began splitting up the bacon since it was going to take the longest.
It didn't take long until the pancake batter was made either. Nia slowly poured it onto the pan and tried to make them all roughly the same size. Noah was a light sleeper, and the walls were thin, so they had that working against them.
"Ok, cake and candle are ready?" Ricky whispered. "I'll get his gift from the closet after we're done eating."
"Perfect. He'll probably start waking up when I have to flip these, and the sound of sizzling travels down the hall."
"It'll be fine. At least we've managed to make it this far."
Ricky helped Nia with the remaining food: eggs, bacon, and toast. Everything was going smoothly until the smoke alarm started blaring. "Shit, shit," Ricky mumbled, taking a dish towel and fanning the area underneath it.
Luckily, all the food was done by the time the alarm finally stopped. "I guess the bacon set it off?" Nia wondered, putting everything onto three plates.
Noah came out of his room a few minutes later. "What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. There goes the breakfast in bed part.
Ricky went to go pick him up, quickly kissing his cheek and saying, "It's your birthday, bubba. Look." The boy's eyes bounced around the kitchen as he surveyed everything.
"Yay, we're having cake for breakfast!" he cheered, waking up fast.
"Hey, you still have all this other stuff," Nia pointed out, gesturing to the plates. "The cake comes second."
"Fine, fine," he grumbled.
"Pick your plate, bud," Ricky said. Noah chose the one with the tallest stack of pancakes.
"He is your son," Nia muttered, choosing one for herself.
The family sat on the couch together and let Noah pick the TV show; it was a rerun of some cartoon, but the parents didn't mind. Today, they were going to let him do just about whatever he wanted.
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The day continued and consisted of running around town. Ricky tried to remember what all he used to do when he was younger, but a lot has changed in the last three decades, so he didn't quite know the town as well as he thought he did. Nia was referring to a map on her phone to get them around, which was most likely the better option.
They went to the park first (the one thing Ricky knew hadn't changed) and let Noah do what he wanted.
The three of them played in the water, which was a little colder than they would've liked. The three splashed each other until their clothes were completely soaked. Luckily, Nia had planned for this and had towels ready in the car.
After they had dried off, Ricky and Nia watched from a distance with smiles on their faces as Noah jumped around on the playground equipment. "Hey, you know how we planned to have fast food for lunch?" Nia asked. Noah liked associating food with celebrations, something he and Ricky easily bonded over.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go to Slices."
Ricky looked down at her like she was crazy. "What? Why?"
"A few reasons: one, it's fairly local, so it's something he's never had before; two, I don't think it's too far from here; three, I just want to try it."
"Wait, back up. You've never had Slices before?" he asked, astonished. "How are you even alive right now?"
She chuckled. "I know; it's crazy. Anyway, I know there hasn't been a formal introduction with all your friends, but... I don't think it'll hurt anything. What do you think?"
Ricky thought for a second before nodding. "Sure, I don't see why not. I'm just surprised since you're the type of person who likes to have everything planned to a tee."
"Well, I only thought of it this morning."
"Mom, Dad, come watch!" Noah yelled. The parents looked over at him, and he was sitting on top of the monkey bars.
"Dear God, if this boy hurts himself," Nia muttered.
Ricky chuckled as they walked over. "He won't. I trust him."
"I never said I didn't trust him."
"Oh, and yeah, I think he'll like Slices."
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They asked Noah before going if he was in the mood for pizza for lunch; he of course agreed. He kept asking where they were going the whole way there; Nia and Ricky just kept insisting that it was a surprise.
When they arrived, Ricky was instantly shocked by the outside of the building; it still resembled the original look in terms of architecture, but the sheer size of it was much more than a tiny local pizza shop. "Oh my god," Ricky muttered.
"You ready to eat?" Nia asked Noah.
"Mhm!" he nodded eagerly.
The three hop out of the car and walk toward the building, Noah faster than the parents. He pushes the door open and a bell chimes, followed by a person shouting, "Welcome to Slices!"
"This place is insane," Ricky mumbled. Not only did it look huge from the outside, but it was also ginormous on the inside. He began thinking back on the days when the place would be so crowded with a line out the door because they ran out of seats. Now, it'd be impressive if all the tables were taken.
Luckily for them, it appeared to be a slow day as many seats were empty. Someone comes out of the kitchen with menus to greet them and smiles when she realizes who it is. "Ricky!?" Ashlyn exclaimed.
He smiled in return and said, "The one and only."
They quickly hugged before Ashlyn asked, "What are you doing here? Red told me about the job thing, but I didn't think you were coming in today."
"Oh, I'm not here for that right now. It's a, um, a family day," he said, realizing how awkward this might be. Ashlyn looked at the other two and grinned still.
"Well, you're lucky with today; we're oddly slow for lunchtime." She led them over to a table and put two menus down. "I'll send someone over in a minute."
"What do you think, bud?" Nia asked, sitting next to Ricky.
"Smells great," he said, looking around the place.
Ashlyn came back a moment later with a kid's menu coloring sheet and a small pack of four crayons. "Just a hunch," she said.
"Thank you," Ricky nodded. Noah opened the crayons and started on the word search first.
"Are we getting what we usually get?" Nia asked.
"Sure," Noah said, not looking up from his paper.
"Yeah, I'm good with that. Noah, what do you want to drink and before the pizza?"
"Uh, a coke and..." Nia turned the menu around, so he could see the list. "Breadsticks."
"Perfect."
"Hello, my name is Tyler; I'll be your waiter for the day." He was rather young with brown hair and loose curls as well as brown eyes, most likely somewhere around twenty. "What can I start you off with?'
"Hi, yes, we're going to have two waters and a coke," Ricky answered.
"Ok, and any appetizers?"
"Uh, an order of garlic breadsticks."
He scribbled something on their ticket and said, "Got it. Be right out soon."
After he left, Ricky whispered, "You know, you don't have to be so shy in these situations."
"Shush. I hate people," Nia mumbled.
When the two would go out together, it was normally Ricky who spoke for the both of them. It wasn't that Nia couldn't or wouldn't speak, but more of the fact that he was better at lying; she could come up with the most elaborate yet believable backstory, but her delivery wasn't the strongest. She was better than him at thinking on the spot though.
Of course, they had different jobs in New York and were always working, so she was alone quite a bit in public. She could do perfectly fine on her own because she believed it to be easier for some reason.
Ricky was a surprisingly convincing liar, which he got better at over time. The problem was remembering what story he told. Luckily, the basis never changed (in that he was a married man), but it was remembering how to tell it, ensuring everything came out correctly, and that they matched what each other had said.
"I know," Ricky said. "But I think a waiter would be good practice. You'll probably have to talk with clients when you start working for your mom."
"I know; I know."
Tyler comes back and places two glasses of water and Noah's coke on the table. "Have we decided yet?"
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If you haven't seen it yet, I posted a new one-shot on Olivia's birthday (Sunday). Definitely another favorite of mine.