“Can you grab the syrup out of the pantry?”Braden asked.“And the peanut butter and jelly, too.”
“Yay!”Delilah clapped her hands then ran around the table to sit by Cody.“They are ready.”
“Good, cuz I’m starving.”Cody put his napkin in his lap.“What’s with the peanut butter and jelly?”
“For pancakes.”It was Delilah’s turn to use the “really” look on Cody—a look Maggie was pretty sure Delilah had learnedfromCody.“Pancakes aresoyummy.”
“You put peanut butter and jelly on pancakes?”Cody was not convinced.
“Try it.”Braden carried the platter of pancakes to the table.“It took some convincing for Delilah, too, but now she’s a fan.”
“Youlike peanut butter and jelly on pancakes?”Cody seemed to be having a really hard time with this.“Youareweird.”
Braden laughed and sat at the round table.“When your dad drags you out of bed at the crack of dawn and there’s no time to sit and eat, you improvise.Rolling up a couple of pancakes with PB&J inside fills you up and is portable enough to eat on horseback.”
“Okay.”Cody shrugged, holding out his plate so Maggie could serve him some food.“Thanks, Ma.”
“You’re welcome.”Maggie served herself and sat between Cody and Braden.
“As long as you wrap it in something.”Rylee sat across from her brother.“Otherwise, you get a lap full of peanut butter and jelly and you’re stuck attracting flies and bees until you can wash up.”She held her plate out.“Pancakes, please, dear brother.”She nodded her thanks when her plate was full.
“That’s sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”Braden put a pancake on Delilah’s plate.“What do you want on it?”
Delilah watched Cody pour a healthy amount of maple syrup on top of his pancakes.
“Syrup, pwease, Daddy.”She smiled up at Braden.
Maggie loved everything about the exchange.Did her son have any idea how much this little girl adored him?She did, Braden did, and now so did Rylee.Cody, however, seemed oblivious.Which was probably for the best.
“What brings you all the way to Tenacity?”Braden served himself a stack of pancakes.
“Our brothers called me.”Rylee lifted her fork to her mouth, then paused.“They were worried about Delilah but too scared to come over—in case she was still, you know, sick.”She pretended to gag, then rolled her eyes.
Braden chuckled.“I get it.”
Maggie had long ago realized that sickness was part of life—especially once you became a parent.Come to think of it, considering Braden was still new to the parenting thing, he’d handled it pretty well.
“Since Delly is all better, you could invite them to breakfast.The folks, too.”Rylee gave her brother a wide-eyed, innocent smile.“There’s plenty of food, and Iknowthey’d come running for the food—and the company.”
Maggie watched the exchange.Siblings often had their own language.While Rylee and Braden weren’t twins, there was no missing there was a whole lot of unspoken communication going on.Rylee’s smile was not in the least bit innocent, and Braden’s scowl said he didn’t appreciate his sister’s teasing.
“But if you do, you might want to get dressed first.Mom would be scandalized that you are entertaining company in your pajamas.”Rylee took another bite.
“That’s our fault,” Maggie said.“We showed up unannounced and interrupted their morning routine.”
“You didn’t interrupt.And Delilah is tickled pink that you two came over.”Braden winked at his daughter.
“You did tickah me, Daddy.”Delilah held out her arms and looked them over.“But I’m not pink.”
Maggie laughed.
“It’s something silly that adults say sometimes.”Braden chuckled again.
“’Kay,” Delilah said before taking a big bite.
“Careful, now.”Braden reached over and wiped at the syrup on Delilah’s mouth and chin.“You wearing it or eating it?”
“Both.”Delilah grinned.
