Leilani was standing at the kitchen counter, leaning up into the cupboard and grabbing the peanut butter. As soon as she set it down, her son, Alex, turned the corner and grimaced.
"I hate that stuff, mom, it sticks to the roof of my mouth."
Leilani huffed.
"Well, we're all out of lunchmeat. You can thank your friend Phil for that."
Alex snickered. "We're teenagers, mom, what do you expect?"
Leilani tousled his spiky black hair. "From you, fine, but I'd expect your friend to have enough respect for us not to eat the rest of the turkey."
Alex shrugged and rooted through the fridge.
"You can just give me jelly."
"No," she laughed.
"Hey mom!" burst Leiko, Alex's little sister.
"Hey, peanut butter and jelly okay for lunch?" Leilani asked her.
"Yeah, why?"
"Your brother's being a snob."
"Mom," he groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Here," she said, holding out some dollar bills from her pocket. "You can buy a sandwich, but you need to bring the rest. It's the start of spring break tomorrow, anyway."
Alex grabbed the money happily and tried to run off, Leiko chasing and arguing to share.
"Get Leiko a snack if she wants one, too!" she yelled after them, finishing the sandwich for her. She packed it into the bag with carrots and a green tea bottle, putting it on the table. She heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and smiled. A few seconds later, her husband turned the corner, his salt and pepper hair mussed with sleep and his one good eye bloodshot.
"Morning," he grumbled. She kissed his scarred right cheek.
"What's for breakfast?" he asked.
Leilani rolled her eyes. "You're pathetic. We've been married almost 20 years and you still can't make your own breakfast?"
He smiled groggily and shook his head. Leilani sighed lightly and returned to the kitchen.
"Bye Mom!" their kids said in unison, heading out the door for the bus.
"Wait, your lunches!"
"We've got money!" yelled Alex.
"But school lunch isn't healthy…!"
But they had already run out the door to catch the bus.
"Dammit."
Auron chuckled.
"They get that from you, you know."
"Do not," she said defensively.
"Yes, I'm the stubborn one," he mocked.
There was silence for a minute.
"Well, they get their energy to be stubborn from you, anyway," he said.