Chapter 5 River #2
Pixie nodded up and down, looking too proud to speak.
“Shall we cut them out and bake them?” River asked.
“Me,” John-John said. “I want to cut them out.”
River turned to Pixie, expecting her to argue and already wondering how he might resolve it.
“Okay,” Pixie said, smiling at her brother.
That was unexpected. Pixie had helped with the hard part of the preparations. River would have thought that cutting out the biscuits would be the fun part, and she wouldn’t want to give it up. At her age, he and Edward certainly would have put up a fuss.
“Why don’t you both help with the cutting?” he suggested. “You can take turns.”
“Okay,” John-John said.
“That’s a good idea,” Pixie said, looking pleased.
River glanced over at Nora, who was giving him a grateful look.
He wondered if maybe this type of scenario was normal between the kids. He could always ask Nora about it later. For now, it was time to make biscuits.
“How can I help?” Nora asked.
“Oh, we’ve got this, right kids?” he said. “Your job is to fix a cup of coffee and watch.”
That earned him a brilliant smile.
He grabbed her a mug and got the milk out of the fridge for her just to have a reason to stop noticing those blue topaz eyes.
A few minutes later, she was sitting at the table with a steaming mug of coffee, smiling as she watched him show the kids how to use a glass to cut out a perfectly round biscuit.
“Do you have a cutter?” Pixie asked.
“Well, my mom’s got one at her place,” River said. “But I haven’t bought one yet, and this works just as well. You just have to be careful since it’s glass.”
“I can be careful,” John-John announced.
“Okay,” River said. “I thought so. But let’s have your big sister test out the first one.”
John-John nodded, and Pixie beamed and stepped up onto the crate to give it a shot. She made a perfect biscuit on her first try, and they all admired it.
Then John-John got up on the crate for his turn. He didn’t press down hard enough the first time, so River had to help him a bit, but they wound up with another great-looking biscuit to add to the tray along with Pixie’s.
Before he knew it, they were putting the tray in the oven.
“Now what?” Pixie asked.
“Now I need to scramble up some eggs as fast as I can,” River told her. “That way they’ll be done at the same time as the biscuits.”
“Can I help?” Pixie asked.
John-John had gone over to cuddle on Nora’s lap, so River figured there was no harm in letting Pixie try and help out.
“Have you ever cracked an egg before?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she said, looking a little sad. “But I always get shell in there and we have to get it out.”
“That’s okay,” he told her. “Do you want to learn my special technique?”
“Okay,” she said.
He took an egg and smacked it on the counter, then held it over the bowl and pulled it apart, releasing the insides neatly into the bowl.
“You cracked it on the counter,” Pixie laughed.
“That keeps the shell from getting smushed inside,” he told her. “Do you want to try?”
“Okay,” she said.
He handed her an egg and she looked at it for a moment before smashing it down.
Everything seemed to melt into slow motion as River watched, realizing too late that he should have explained that it should be a short, sharp smack and she should immediately lift the egg over the bowl.
But it was much too late for that. The egg hit the counter and exploded, sending gleaming yellow yolk flying out sideways in all directions before it rained down on the floor.
There was a moment of stunned silence and he saw Pixie’s expression turn to horror.
He opened his mouth to tell her that it was okay, and that he should have explained better. But all that came out was helpless laughter.
John-John started laughing next, and then Nora joined in.
Finally, Pixie’s shoulders went down and she giggled a little bit before finally breaking into real laughter.
“That will happen sometimes when you use my method,” River joked as he grabbed a rag and cleaner from under the sink. “Let me clean up and we’ll try again. Really, I just didn’t do a good job explaining how I was doing it.”
“Why don’t you let me get that?” Nora said, hopping up and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
“How about you and Pixie do the eggs, while I clean,” he offered.
“Fine,” she said.
“You crack them,” Pixie said, eyeing the remaining eggs with suspicion.
“No, no, Pixie,” John-John chuckled. “You do it again.”
“You just want me to explode it again, don’t you?” Pixie said.
“Yes,” John-John replied.
That got everyone laughing again.
They all got down to work, and soon the kitchen was sparkling clean again, the eggs were scrambled and cooked, and the biscuits were cooling on the rack.
Everyone washed up, and River poured out glasses of water, grabbed the butter and apple butter from the fridge, and they loaded up their plates with a nice big breakfast before bowing their heads.
“Thank you for biscuits,” John-John said.
“Thank you for good helpers,” River ventured.
“Thank you for making River patient in the kitchen,” Pixie said.
“Thank you for things that make us smile,” Nora said, the smile in her voice clear as day.
They all dug in, and River thought the simple meal was incredibly satisfying, if he said so himself.
“What do we do next?” John-John asked around a large bite.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Pixie told him softly.
“Sorry,” he said, his mouth still full.
“I thought if you two still wanted to ride horses, maybe we could go do that,” River offered.
“Yes,” Pixie said.
“Are they friendly?” John-John asked, looking a little nervous.
“The big one, Peter, is very friendly,” River said. “He loves children, even if they decide not to ride him. We can bring him a snack for you to give him.”
“Does he like biscuits?” John-John asked, thoughtfully eyeing his plate like he wasn’t so sure about sharing.
“I don’t think he likes biscuits,” River assured the boy.
“I’m going to ride him,” Pixie said firmly, as if she were worried that someone was going to try to trick her into just giving the animal a meal.
“That’s great,” River reassured her. “He’s going to love giving you a ride.”
Her face brightened up and he felt like he would do just about anything to make the serious little girl smile like that again.