I pumped my fist in the air. “Pancakes!”
Linda squealed and did the same. “Pancakes!”
Dad and Connor looked at each other in consensus.
“Oh no,” Jenna moaned.
The men smirked then pumped their fists in the air. “Pancakes!”
two
Aten-minutewalklater,the five of us were settling into a booth while Linda rattled off her order to the waitress without stopping to look at the menu once.
It turns out she and my father were frequent visitors.
“How about you, hon?” the waitress asked when it got to my turn.
“Just coffee, please.”
“You’re not eating, Aunt Aileen?” Linda looked flabbergasted at the idea someone would forgo the sugary goodness that was her obsession. “You have to. These are the best pancakes in Columbus. Maybe even the world. They’re soft and fluffy. When you get blueberries in them, they are so tasty.”
“Sorry, sprout,” I said, ignoring the concern on Jenna and my dad’s faces. “I didn’t know you were being rewarded with such awesomeness when I ate dinner earlier. If I tried to stuff my face with as much food as you just ordered, my stomach would pop like a balloon.”
My answer surprised a giggle out of my niece. Jenna smiled and poked her daughter, making her laugh harder as my dad stretched an arm across the back of their booth. It seemed they’d bought my lie. A relief since not too long ago they’d been convinced I had a drinking problem.
The ironic part was that I did, in fact, have a drinking problem. Just not the way they thought.
Connor closed his menu and handed it to the waitress. “I’ll have the cinnamon triple stack with a side of bacon and ham.”
I blinked rapidly, sure I hadn’t heard that right. “You’ll what now?”
Connor had the same limitations I did. While vampires could eat food in moderation, they mostly didn’t because of the damage it could do to our systems. In simple terms, food acted like an allergen, the resulting inflammation affecting us in unexpected ways.
In severe cases, it could lead to devolution—which was the path I was on until Thomas intervened. It was also why I couldn’t have any food at all.
It was too bad. I’d once loved food more than air. Not being able to taste my favorites was like having a limb removed. I missed it so much.
The confusion on my families’ faces had me backtracking. “I mean—are you sure? Your dinner was bigger than mine. How are you going to fit all that food in your stomach?”
“I’m older than you. I can handle it.”
This little shit. He’d just played the age card with me. I let him join one family outing and he was already roasting me in the best of sibling traditions.
Jenna ducked her head to hide her reaction. She wasn’t quite successful as several snorts escaped her. My dad lifted his cup of coffee to hide his smile.
Traitors. The both of them.
Linda’s eyes got very big with excitement. “Does this mean I get to eat more when I’m as old as you?”
“It does.”
Linda kicked her feet and bounced in her seat. “I can’t wait. I have so many plans.”
Sadly, my niece would have a longer wait than she expected since Connor had been alive for centuries.
While our order was being prepared, Linda told us everything we needed to know about how school was going. From what Mrs. Pax, her second-grade teacher, wore on each day of the week—apparently themes were involved. How Linda was really looking forward to Monday since she planned to wear the same thing as her teacher. To the complete anatomy of the social hierarchy in her class.
News flash—Linda was at the center of it all.
