Chapter 14

I woke up to find Holly pulling on my arm, telling me to wake up, it was morning already. I didn't belive her, it was dark out still, besides, it was Saturday, I got to sleep in until at least eight thirty on Saturdays. Holly wouldn't quit, so I told her if she wanted me to wake up this early, the least she could do is bring me a cup of coffee! That got me fifteen more minutes of snooze, better than my snooze button gave me, before she was back with a fresh hot cup of coffee and more demands for me to get up, wake up, busy day, things to do, clunkers to find.

That woke me up, and I understood why she was more excited than she had been on Christmas morning. I told her to scram, and I was getting up. I even burned my tongue on the scalding coffee to prove I was awake. Grumbling, she scampered off to find her next victim, probably Mom. If she could get Mom to make breakfast, then Dad would get up, it was a given. Dad would get up at two AM if that was when Mom made breakfast, and at times, she had, to get us going on a cross country trip, or camping, or to an early bird sale. Me, coffee would do.

Since I hadn't exercised last night, I had also neglected to shower, perhaps why I was alone in my bed this morning. I would have to consider this theory in greater detail. I took a wake me up shower, turning the knob to cold at the end, and making ape noises as I turned under the icy spray. "Whoo hoo ooh!"

Dried my body, and wrapped my wet hair in a towel, and my coffee was the perfect drinking temperature! Slipped on my pants and shoes, carrying my shirt in my hand, coffee cup in the other down to the kitchen. The clock on the kitchen wall said it was six in the morning. Cripes! It was freaking Saturday! That will teach me to think of an idea which got one of the terror twins too excited. Mom wasn't up, breakfast wasn't being made, but Holly was sitting at the kitchen counter looking slightly abashed beneath her excitement.

"Sorry for getting you up so early, Z.P., Mom wouldn't get up and start breakfast yet, I guess I jumped the gun. I am lucky they didn't call the whole thing off! But I bet if you make us a really good breakfast, they would get up!"

"Holly baby, you know the weekends are Mom's times to cook for her family. The best I can do is to make some bread, and by the time it comes out of the oven, I bet people will get up. Want to help me?" I cautioned her.

So we made four loaves of bread, and cleaned up while they were baking, getting the kitchen all spotless again. As the scent of fresh coffee and fresh baked bread filled the house with love, the rest of the family started to filter in, first Mom, then Beth, and just as Mom was taking the loaves from the oven and setting them on the cooling rack, Dad. I handed him a cup of coffee, and asked him "Still enthusiastic about heap hunting?" He knew I was teasing him, he is incapable of talking coherently until after his first cup of coffee. He just looked at me with an amused twinkle in his eye, and grunted in affirmation.

Beth was still asleep, sitting at the table in her 'jammies in a waking trance, yet still managing to eat her hot fresh buttered bread and drink her glass of milk. She wasn't really tracking otherwise though. Mom was using up the older bread to make baked french toast, since the oven was still hot. The egg and milk mixture got poured over the thick slices of bread, which soaked it all up, and baked like a bread pudding. When it was done, it got cinnamon and powdered sugar sprinkled on top, and a pat of butter. I was going to have to make certain I did my aerobics tonight.

By now my hair was mostly dry, so I used the towel for one last tousle, and went to put it draped over the edge of the laundry basket to dry. Wet towels didn't get wadded up to get stinky at the bottom of the bin in this house! At least, not any more they didn't. We was all house trained by now, you bet! I put on my shirt, and brushed my hair and teeth. I crossed my fingers, and Caused for a little luck with our junker quest. This was the day to find it, I didn't know if I could get my Dad on board for two Saturdays in a row, and the disappointment would make Holly um 'difficult to get along with'. Yeah, that is the phrase.