Make some breakfast

The girls are off for spring break. You love having them all home, but it is exhausting. You never planned on having kids of your own, but you wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

Except having Lisa back…

You shut down that line of thought. You can’t afford to fall apart. Again.

You enter the kitchen to find Izzi pouring coffee from the pot. “Good morning, pumpkin! Would you like me to make you some breakfast?”

“Oh, John, I have been waiting all semester for you to ask me that. The dorm food is not the greatest in the world.” You have never insisted that the girls call you “dad”. You know that, in their hearts, they know who their true father is. It’s certainly not that jackass of a sperm-donor.

You begin the makings of breakfast. Grapefruits cut in half, bacon, rye toast, and scrambled eggs with melted cheese. The not-so-secret to your fluffy eggs is mixing with milk. As you putter around the kitchen, Sara comes out in her PJ bottoms and T-shirt. “Mmm, is that a classic John breakfast I smell? I have missed this while I was at school.” She pulls out a mug and pours a cup of coffee. You actually prefer tea yourself, but Lisa loved coffee and her girls seem to have inherited that trait.

“Should be ready soon, sweetheart. Get comfortable.”

“What are we getting comfortable for? Oooh, vacation breakfast.” Mindy emerges from hibernation. “You girls don’t know how lucky you are to come home on break and have John cook you breakfast. I have to settle for only dinner.” Mindy goes to the coffee pot and pours herself a cup.

You give her a playful swat as her sisters look on, grinning. “And lucky you are to get dinner, too! You act like I starve you. And when did you start drinking coffee?”

“You never make it when Izzi and Sara aren’t here, John.” You allow as to how that is true and get back to work.

Breakfast goes swimmingly, with the girls brightly chattering about how school is going, what classes they’re finding hard, what teachers they like, and, finally, crushes. You smile at the exchange, declining to put your two cents in. You’ve done many things wrong in your life, but marrying Lisa and helping to raise these three bright young ladies, not to mention hiding your desolation after Lisa’s … well, that you did right. You love these three young women with everything that is left in you.