Rundown began to creep throughout the mansion, punctured by the laughter and giggling of children. Dorothy was playing the piano to wake Roger from his slumber. Sitting beside her to right was her oldest daughter, Rose, holding her baby sister, Alexandra, now nearly two years old. The toddler had a head full of black hair, giggling at the piano. Rose smiled and pulled her long black braid of long hair out of the way as Alexandra had begun pulling on it.
On her left, her third youngest child, her son, Daniel, was hitting random keys on the piano, trying to help her. Behind her, her oldest and second oldest son, Timothy, or Tim, and Robert were horse playing with each other on the floor, laughing at each other. Dorothy concluded playing Rundown, and looked over the piano to see if Roger was standing there. He was not. She sighed and motioned the kids on the bench to get up.
"Come along everyone. It seems your dad is using ear plugs… again," she said, taking Alexandra from Rose.
They walked over to the bedroom, opening the door slowly until Tim and Robert tried to barge through, Dorothy blocking the way, shaking her head.
"Un uh. Let your sister try to wake him first," she said firmly.
"It's not going to work, Ma! Dad likes to sleep!" groaned Robert.
Dorothy sighed, knowing this to be true, but she had to try. Rose walked into the room, gently poking Roger.
"Daddy, time to get up," said Rose quietly.
Roger stirred and rolled over, snoring.
"IT'S OUR TURN NOW!"
"No! Timothy, Robert, STOP!" Dorothy cried out.
Rose realized what was going to happen and moved out of the way back towards the bathroom as Timothy and Robert launched themselves into the air and came down hard on the bed. Their force from their jump, sent Roger flying upward out of bed, waking him, and he came crashing down, landing on the floor with a sickening thud. Dorothy winced at the sound.
"Oh dear…"
Roger laid there for a moment, then came back to his senses after seeing his life flash before his eyes. He threw the covers off of him, raising himself to look over the bed, glaring at his two sons.
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" he yelled. Tim and Robert laughed as they backed from Roger trying to grab them.
"It's pancake day, Dad! You promised!" laughed Tim.
Roger looked around and saw his oldest daughter now approach him.
"This isn't funny! I could've hurt your sister on accident!"
"She got out of the way!"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT!"
Roger turned to look at Dorothy, who was holding Alexandra with Daniel standing by her, holding her bathrobe. Dorothy motioned at Roger's ears. Roger realized he still had his ear plugs in and pulled them out.
"No wonder I couldn't hear right."
"I tried, dear, I really did. I was trying to get Rose to wake you when I couldn't, but…"
Roger slowly got up to his feet, his sons now darting out of the room.
"TIMOTHY WAYNERIGHT SMITH AND ROBERT DAVID SMITH, YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Dorothy began to laugh as the rest of the children followed their brothers. Roger was beyond irritated at this point.
"DOROTHY SMITH, THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"
***
After Roger had a cup of coffee to wake up, they all had proceeded to the kitchen, where Roger put his two oldest sons to work to help him make breakfast. They had groaned in protest, but Roger had threatened to take away their miniature Big O RC dolls Beck had given them on their birthdays. So, Tim was measuring the ingredients, with Roger watching Robert mixing them. The rest of the family had gathered at the butcher block. Rose was busy setting the table while Dorothy put Alexandra in the highchair. Daniel was drawing with some crayons Norman had given him to keep him busy. Norman was cutting fruits and vegetables for the toddler to eat.
"Dad, it says we need one tablespoon of sugar, but since we're making a large batch…. It would be three, right?"
Roger nodded. "Go find the measuring spoons and show me what a one tablespoon looks like."
"But…"
Roger raised an eyebrow at Tim, and he scooted off his chair, sighing, walking over to Norman.
"Grandpa Norman, where are the measuring spoons please?"
Norman gestured over the drawer closest to him, smiling. Tim found the spoons and went back to Roger, showing him the tablespoon.
"Good job, now measure the sugar and pour it in the bowl. Make sure you level it this time and make sure it's three."
Roger, although still mad from the morning's events, smiled as his sons worked together to measure the sugar and combine the dry ingredients. Roger then got the buttermilk from the fridge, pouring out the right amount for their tripled recipe and added it to the mixture. His sons now took turns mixing the batter as hard as they could. Roger began cooking some sausage and eggs to go with breakfast as he waited. Dorothy came over to help, Roger bending down to kiss her on the cheek.