“Of course I did. Why would you think I wouldn’t be worried!?” I felt a little offended.
“
“For fuck’s sake, Danny! I took on three armed men to protect the woman after she did nothing to earn it for years. You think now, after she started caring for me, I somehow wouldn’t give a shit if she went missing!? I said that we grew apart, not that I no longer cared, and certainly not that I wished she’d vanish.”
“
“Okay. Then ... Bye.” I ended this more than a little weird call and moved into the kitchen to start on breakfast.
When I had finished preparing the waffle batter, I didn’t want to disturb either of the girls in their slumber. While I might have been used to getting up in the early hours, they weren’t. And it was a Saturday, after all. So, as quietly as I could, I went into my bedroom to get a change of clothes and then took care of my morning routine myself. Surprisingly, I felt myself missing Claire’s help. It was surprising because I still remembered vividly how I felt about her seeing me so weak just a week ago. And now I was catching myself thinking how nice it would be to have her scrub me down.
After my morning rituals, I plunged down on the couch exhausted and started watching TV on low volume. Apparently the TV was still too loud, since, not even two minutes after I sat down, my bedroom door opened and a half sleeping MIa walked out. Dressed in only her panties and one of my T-Shirts, she trudged over to me, plunged herself on the couch to my left, and cuddled up into me. She didn’t even say anything before she rubbed her face against my shoulder, got comfortable, and closed her eyes as if to keep sleeping.
I wasn’t exactly against this. Quite the opposite. Seeing how much she enjoyed this physical closeness between us made me happy. It did get a little weird though, when, another minute later, Ava’s door opened and she basically repeated Mia’s actions. She also walked out of her room dressed in nothing but her panties and one of my shirts, before plunging herself onto the couch on my right. Ava, however, thankfully avoided cuddling up into my side. Instead, she lied down and placed her head on my healthy thigh.
Mia spontaneously woke up completely and looked at us with a peculiar expression, when Ava suddenly spoke in a sleepy voice.
“Don’t look so surprised. He saved me too, you know?”
“Oh.” Mia responded instantly as if what Ava just said made any sense, before her face took on a thoughtful look for all of ten seconds, she shrugged her shoulders, and then cuddled back into me again.
I sat there for about a minute trying to figure out what they had just talked about, waiting for them to say anything further that would make sense to me, but they seemed to be content with this situation.
“Okay, does anyone want to enlighten me?” I finally asked.
“You’re cute when you’re slow, little brother.” Ava mumbled, Mia chuckled, and then they went back to being silent.
I shook my head and decided to resume watching TV while attempting to move as little as possible to not disturb them in their slumber. After about half an hour, though, Mia started stirring.
“I hate to say it, but I’m kinda getting hungry.” she said in an annoyed tone.
“I have the waffle batter ready in the kitchen. If you want, I can get the iron out.”
“Waffles!” Ava suddenly shouted and jumped off my lap. “Are they as good as your pancakes?”
“It’s hard to screw up waffle batter.” I shrugged my shoulders, inwardly grinning because I knew that Claire only made regular Waffles.
“So...” Ava started while plugging in the waffle iron. “ ... where’s Mom?”
“John’s.”
“She Okay?” she probed casually.
“Yup. I’ve talked to Danny shortly before you got up.”
“When’s she coming back?”
“No idea.”
“Oh.”
Mia followed our exchange quietly sitting at the dining table, while her eyes jumped between me and my sister like she was watching a tennis match. I think she drew her own conclusions, given how much she already knew about my family life, but refrained from commenting until the food was ready.
“You know, I think I really need to rethink that whole marriage thing. They taste way better than regular waffles.” she said, earning herself an eager nod from Ava.
“They’re buttermilk waffles. I like the taste better.” I explained matter of fact. “So, want to tell me now what that exchange between the two of you was about?”
That caused them to exchange a quick look before Mia acted a little shy as she spoke up.
“Well ... remember the idea I had about how I could get Dad to ... help us spend more time together?”
I had to think for a moment before the conversation came back to me.
