[Story] Delta – S01 E14

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 14

♣ Josh ♣

It wasn’t until I saw Mrs. Gallagher bringing in plates of pancakes stacked six-high and dripping in maple syrup and butter that I realized I hadn’t sat down to a proper, homemade breakfast in years. Okay, so maybe her pancakes were made with Bisquick. It still counted as homemade by my standards. And an actual mom making me breakfast… The thought made me feel all quivery inside – for the two seconds before I dived into the mound of pancakes.

And, man, were they good.

Astrid was the only one who bothered to cook when we were on an assignment together, and she wasn’t exactly the greatest cook, either. She was better than me, though, so I usually just suffered through it. Suffering but silent, you know me. Now, as I thanked Mrs. Gallagher with a huge grin and dug my fork into my breakfast, I was happier than a bird with a French fry.

Charlie’s little sister, Sadie, was sitting next to me, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye every half a minute or so. She was cute, too, with her long dark hair and bright grey eyes, along with her sassy attitude. Astrid and her could get along real well, I figured, and they looked enough alike to be sisters, except for the grey eyes, of course. I tipped a wink at her, and then quickly looked away as Charlie kicked me roughly in the shin from where he sat across from me.

He probably had a lot to say about what he thought about me consorting with his sister, but technically I wasn’t consorting with her – yet. So I grinned at him as he looked distrustfully at me over a forkful of syrup-drenched pancakes.

“Good morning, dear,” Mrs. Gallagher greeted as Astrid walked into the kitchen, Pierre just behind her. “Breakfast in just a moment.”

“Thanks,” Astrid answered distractedly.

Pierre seemed to be trying to ask her something, but she kept brushing him off irritably. I looked at her in concern as she took a seat next to Charlie, rubbing her eyes in a weary sort of way. She was pale, and there were slight shadows under her eyes that indicated a lack of sleep. Pierre was looking disgruntled at her brush off, twirling his napkin around in a vague circle.