Of Quesadillas and Penguins
Every summer break Lance returned home to his family in Cuba. His country didn't have the latest technology like the Garrison, but he still loved the tamales from his neighborhood, the jazz music coming from the coffeeshops, and the ocean breeze sweeping his hair and smelling like flowers.
This weekend he would be staying with his brother Marco and his family, which he was excited about. He couldn't wait to play video games with his brother, eat Laura's cooking, and hang around downtown which was only a short walk from their home. Unfortunately he wasn't going to do those activities right away as Marco and Laura had to leave unexpectedly.
"Oh, what's wrong?" Lance asked as he sat on the couch watching television. Marco and Laura were in front of him with sharp frowns and slumped shoulders.
"Aunt Cecelia had a bad fall and she's undergoing surgery now," Laura said in a low voice.
"Is it serious?" Lance asked in concern, his eyes wide. He wasn't close to Aunt Cecelia as he was with his parents and siblings, but the few times they interacted they got along fine. This news still struck him hard.
"Ida told us she got some cuts on her face and most likely a broken leg, so yes," Marco said and sigh. "We need to take Uncle George to the hospital to see her, so we're wondering if you can watch over the kids while we're away."
Lance's face fell, and he jumped out of his seat. "Wait what?"
"We don't know how long we'll be gone." Laura said. "Damon and Gina would get cranky if we take them with us."
Damon and Gina were their very hyperactive children. The few times he was forced to play with them left him exhausted. He couldn't imagine himself able to babysit them alone.
"I don't know a thing about taking care of kids!" Lance yelled, flailing his arms up in the air. "They'll have the house on fire under my watch!"
Both Marco and Laura chuckled. His brother then said, "I doubt that'll happen. Just make sure they eat something and that they go to bed at a reasonable hour."
Lance took a moment to consider their request. Well, it wasn't like the two were going on vacation, and it should only be a few hours at most unless Aunt Cecelia's health turned for the worst. As long as the kids listened to him it should be fine, right? At least Lance hoped so. He pinched his nose and let out a heavy sigh.
"Fine, I'll watch over the brats while you guys are gone. His response had Marco and Laura grinning at him.
"Thank you!" Laura approached Lance and kissed his cheek. That made him flinch in surprise. "I'll get the kids inside now."
After Damon and Gina were taken inside by their mother, they had been informed that Lance would watch over them while their parents were away. The children were upset about them leaving as expected, but Marco reassured them it shouldn't take too long. Once their children promised that they would behave, Marco and Laura said goodbye and stepped out of the house, leaving Lance in charge.
Alone, with the kids now. That thought made his stomach drop.
Lance looked down at his niece and nephew. Both of them had their gazes on the floor and their shoulders lowered. He kneeled down and forced a smile.
"So, what you guys want to do?"
"I'm hungry," Damon pouted. He crossed his arms against his chest.
"Me too!" Gina said and clenched her fists.
"Already?" Lance asked, narrowing his eyes at them. "Don't you want to do something else before dinner?"
"No! I'm hungry now!" Damon screamed louder and stomped his foot.
Knew that they wouldn't stop until they were fed, Lance groaned and swept his hand through his hair. "Okay, okay! I'll make you guys something now."
He flicked his hand for them to follow him in the kitchen. The kitchen counter and sink had been cleared, which meant Laura and Marco hadn't prepared any food yet. He opened the top cabinet and found a packet of tortillas in there. Lance grabbed them as there were several recipes he could use those for, and he next checked inside the refrigerator. There were several fruits, vegetables, and meat in there, but those wouldn't be cooked quick enough for hungry children. He continued searching until he found a chunk of cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.
"We have anything to eat?" Damon asked as he tugged Lance's shirt.
"Ah huh! Tonight's special, quesadillas!" Lance said and flashed them a grin. He snatched the cheese, guacamole, and sour cream out from the refrigerator.
"Yay, quesadillas, quesadillas!" Gina cheered, jumping up and down. Her brother also reacted the similar way, saying "Alright!" as he pumped his fist in the air.
Lance had cooked quesadillas before, so it was fairly easy for him to prepare. After he finished shredding the cheese, he top it on the tortillas and fried them on the stove. He made several large quesadillas before he cut them into smaller pieces. Once he was done, he set aside the the quesadillas, guacamole, and sour cream on the table. Damon and Gina rushed to their seats and grabbed the first few slices, swallowing them like seals.
"You guys are enjoying your food?" Lance asked after he took a few bites of his. The tortilla was crunchy but soft, and the cheese melted on his tongue. Damon hummed in approval with his mouth full while Gina gave a thumbs up. Lance mentally sighed in relief, glad his nephew and niece approved his basic cooking.
While everyone continued to eat in silence the next few minutes, Lance thought about Aunt Cecilia. He hoped that the incident wasn't too serious and for her to have a fast recovery. He got distracted when Gina started crying and her face splattered with sour cream.
"Hey, what's going on here?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Gina took some of my quesadilla pieces!" Damon replied first. "So I threw some sour cream to make her stop!"
"Only stole one!" Gina yelled. "And you took mine first!" She grabbed some guacamole with her hand, and flung it at Damon's face. That started an all out war between them, each one throwing their food at one another.
Lance grimaced upon seeing that. He had his fair share of fights with his siblings, but his niece and nephew creating a mess was a different matter. When some of the food splattered on his face, he screamed and banged his fists on the table. That made Gina and Damon stop their assault and stare at him.
"Okay, that's enough wasting food here for tonight!" he said while wiping the food off his face with a napkin. He glanced around to see some of the quesadilla wedges on the floor and stains on the table cloths. A deep sigh escaped him. "I'll get you guys clean up."
Lance used a wet towel to wash off the mess on their faces. As soon as he was done, he let them play in the living room while he clean the kitchen. He grumbled "they won't cause a fire Lance, don't worry" as he picked up the dirty table cloth and took it to the laundry room. Lance then put the dishes away, set a new cloth on the table, and headed to the living room.
The kids sat on the couch, Damon playing a video game and Gina watching. The television screen showed several spaceships racing one another and "4th place" on the top right corner.
"You're playing Galaxy Spacekart 5 there, buddy?" Lance asked when he joined them. Galaxy Spacekart was a racing game but with spaceships instead of cars and the obstacles being various planets with a different theme. He and Marco would play it a lot together when he was younger, his brother often the winner.
"Ah huh!" Damon said with an enthusiastic nod. "I'm playing as Vorko now! He's the best."
"Spaceships go vroom!" Gina said, bouncing on the couch.
"Oh, really?" Lance said. "Vorko's no watch for Dimerge!"
On screen, Damon's spaceship finished 3rd place while the other spaceships were catching up. The boy looked up at him and grinned.
"Wanna see who's right?"
A confident smile pulled on the corners of Lance's lips."Yeah, of course! Now where's the other controller!"
After Lance found another controller to use, he and Damon played for several rounds. Lance won the first two rounds, but then he lost in the third round when Damon destroyed his ship with a bomb and sneak in the finish line last second. His nephew then began winning subsequent rounds, making Lance to want to pull his hair out.
"I win again!" Damon said and beamed. His sister clapped for him.
"That's unfair!" Lance said, glaring at him. "You used two bombs, a banana peel, and a time machine on me!"
"But that's how you're supposed to do it!" A smug smile spread across Damon's face.
"Damon won!" Gina said and nodded in agreement.
Lance groaned and threw his controller on the furniture. He rose out from his seat, glancing at the clock on the wall. Almost 8pm. Realized that it was late evening, he tensed up.
"It's getting past your guys' bedtime! I'll help you get ready."
"But I'm not tired!" Damon whined.
"Me neither!" Gina protested.
"Your parents will kill me if they see you two still up right now. Come on, let's go!"
Damon and Gina groaned, only for him to grab their arms and drag them to the bathroom. He helped them put on their pajamas and watched them brush their teeth. As soon as they were done, he took them to their bedroom. Two beds sat between a drawer with the lamps on. Various drawings were pinned on the wall, and a shelf with books and toys stayed on the corner. He tucked both of them in, said goodnight, and moved a few steps towards the door.
"Can you tell us a bedtime story?" Damon asked, and that made Lance stop and whirl around.
"Which book you guys want me to read to you?" he asked, staring blankly at them.
Damon shook his head. "No book! Make one up!"
"New story! New story! Gina chanted.
"Really?" Lance wasn't sure what kind of stories they were interested in, but as long as they were put to sleep it should be fine. He offered them a soft smile. "Sure, I can do that."
Lance grabbed a chair and sat down. Both Damon and Gina sat up with anticipated faces, waiting for him to start.
"Okay, so… Once upon a time, there was a princess in a faraway kingdom. The castle is next to a forest that she and the king and queen visits very often. One day, she, her parents, and some guards went to the woods and had a picnic there. While eating, the princess noticed something from the bushes."
"What's behind it?" Gina asked, tilting her head.
Before responding, Lance glanced around and spotted a stuffed penguin on the desk. He beamed.
"A penguin. She found a penguin!"
"But penguins are only found in cold places or zoos!" Damon pointed out.
"Um, the kingdom is on the mountains where penguins are thriving. There, happy?" Lance didn't meant to should harsh there, but that did annoyed him a little. "Anyways, the penguin got startled by her appearance and ran away. Without thinking, the princess followed it deep into the forest. She kept going after it until she entered an open field with a large lake. And to her surprise…"
"More penguins?" Gina asked enthusiastically, and Lance nodded.
"Yes, more penguins. They were afraid of her at first, but the princess was able to convince them that she was friendly and then they let her join with them. They played together for a long while and the princess was having a blast until…"
Lance stopped and looked around again. A stuffed unicorn doll on the floor caught his gaze. He got off from his seat and did a menacing pose.
"A dark, scary unicorn lands on the ground and screeches like this!" He let out an ear piercing screech that resembled an angry horse and flapped his arms. Gina screamed and back up toward the wall.
"Aren't unicorns supposed to be friendly?" Damon said, sounding a little unsure.
"Not this one! This unicorn was known to terrorize the penguins' territory very often. The princess watched as the penguins fought against the unicorn, but they were no match for it. Devastated, the princess told the unicorn to stop, but she was kicked into the lake."
Both kids gasped in shocked, and then Damon asked, "Did she drown?"
Lance shook his head. "Luckily a couple of the penguins went and saved her. After being rescued, the princess asked the unicorn why it was attacking the penguins. The unicorn said 'one of the penguins stole my hair while I was sleeping' and was angry ever since. The princess found out the penguin that she first saw earlier was the one that stole it."
"Why the penguin stole it?"Damon asked.
"Oh, er…" After coming up with something, Lance snapped his fingers. "The penguin had a crush on another penguin and it wanted to impress her."
"Is the princess angry?" Gina asked, clutching at her pillow.
"No, but she's a little upset that the penguin resorted to stealing. She asked nicely to the penguin to return the hair to the unicorn, and they made up. After that, the princess's parents and guards found her, relieved that she was alive. The princess told everyone what happened and introduced them to the animals. The unicorn thanked the princess for helping resolving this issue and said that it hoped they see each other again soon. Everyone said goodbye to the animals, but before they leave one of the penguins..."
"Gift?" Gina interrupted, her face lit up. Lance grinned at her.
"Oh, you know it. The penguin gave the princess a crystal shard, which gives her awesome magical powers! She thanked the penguins for the present, and then she went back to the castle with her family. The end!" He collapsed on the chair and sighed, exhausted from all the storytelling.
"I like it!" Damon said, beaming. "Glad that the princess lives in the end."
"Penguins my favorite animal!" Gina said with her arms raised.
Lance's face softened, and he felt warmth inside his heart. "All right, that's the only story for tonight. Good night, you guys!"
Lance rose out from his seat and kissed their foreheads. He waited until they closed their eyes and drifted to sleep, and then he left their bedroom.
The rest of the evening he stayed in the living room and watched the television. It was another hour or so until Lance heard someone opening the door. When Marco and Laura stepped inside, he jumped out of the couch and grinned at them.
"Hey, you guys are back! Is Aunt Cecelia going to be okay?"
"She'll need to be in a wheelchair for a while and to do future follow ups with the doctor," Marco said. He sounded tired, but still smiled at him. "As long as she's careful she should be fine."
"That's awesome! Glad that she'll be okay in the end."
"Me too," Laura said in agreement. "Are the kids sleeping?"
"Yup. You want to see them?"
After Marco and Laura responded that they definitely would like that, Lance led them to their children's bedroom. Both Damon and Gina were sound asleep, smiles on their faces.
"Aw, they're all tuckered out," Marco said while his wife rested her head on his shoulder. "Hope they didn't cause you too much trouble."
Lance let out an awkward grin and scratched behind his neck. "Well, they did start a food fight and beat me in Galaxy Spacekart, but then I was able to put them to sleep after telling them a bedtime story. Guess it wasn't so bad after all."
Satisfied smiles spread across their faces. Everyone continued to gaze at the sleeping children a moment longer.
"Hey, Lance," Laura began, "the next time you're around are you fine with watching over the kids again if needed?"
Lance's shoulders stiffened and his heartbeat slowed. Hearing them say that they trusted him to watch over their children again felt surreal to him. He was annoyed at Damon and Gina on occasion, but he still loved them with all his heart and wouldn't mind making quesadillas and telling bedtime stories again.
"I would love that," Lance said with a wide grin.