Another Day at the Pevensie House
"Peter, I just have to run to the store to pick up some things for supper. I'll be back in a little while. Keep everyone out of mischief while I'm gone!" Helen Pevensie called down the hall as she grabbed her purse and left the house.
9 year old Peter didn't have time to respond before the door closed.
He sighed.
Being the eldest, Peter knew that he had his work cut out for him. His siblings always managed to somehow misbehave themselves when their parents were absent, and he always somehow managed to get caught in the middle of it.
No sooner had the door slammed, Peter heard some commotion from upstairs.
Thud.
Shatter.
Racing up the stairway, Peter looked around to see where the noise was coming from. Sure enough, a loud howl came from the playroom. Peter immediately recognized it as Lucy's howl.
Swinging the door open, Peter ran in.
"What's going on in here?!" He said, out of breath. Before him stood a broken vase, and his three siblings, each with a different expression on their face. Susan stood in between Lucy and Edmund, hands on hips, and a scowl on her lips. Edmund looked angry, and Lucy stood on one foot, holding the other one up and crying.
Susan spoke. "He's being a beast Peter, a perfect little beast!" She glared at Edmund, who looked innocently away.
"What did you do, Edmund?" Peter demanded hotly.
"I didn't do nuthin'," He replied, hands in pockets.
Lucy cried harder at this, still holding her swollen foot. She tried to balance herself and walk over to Peter, but ended up toppling over in the process. Peter helped her to her feet again, and situated her comfortably on his knee. She continued to sob, as he stroked her hair out of her face.
"Now, calm down Lucy and tell me what happened," said Peter to the four year old.
It was hard to quite understand what the toddler was saying, but it sounded to Peter something like this:
"Ed…Ed…st..stepped…m…me…" A fresh burst of tears. "I…j…just..wanted t..to play…train…"
Peter turned to Susan, hoping to get a clearer answer. "Did you see what happened?" He asked over Lucy's loud weeping.
Susan nodded. "Lucy wanted to use his train set and he said no. She even asked nicely. He wasn't using it, so Lucy thought it was okay to just take it. When he found out though, well…"
"He stomped on her foot?"
"Yeah."
Peter turned to face Lucy. "Lulu, why don't you go downstairs for a little while and find something to play with. I'll be down in a bit," He suggested. Nodding sadly, Lucy limped out of the room with her bottle in hand. Now that she was gone, Peter stood and went to Edmund, who appeared to not care in the slightest what was going on.
"How could you?" Peter demanded, face red. The dark haired little boy stared up at him in frustration.
"I always get blamed when Mum's not here!"
"You do not!"
"Do to!"
"Not!"
"TO!"
"STOP IT!" Susan's voice penetrated the argument and silenced them both.
"Let's just forget about it, Peter."
"Ugh, fine! But don't let him be a brat anymore!" With that, Peter stormed out of the room, wondering what else could go wrong in the small amount of time that his mother was away. He hoped that she wouldn't be away too long.
The sound of clanking pots and pans startled him out of his thoughts, and he nearly tripped down the stairs. When he came into the kitchen, a sight that he was not expecting in the slightest awaited him. He stood frozen in his tracks as he took it all in.
Before him, was a mess of white powder (whether it was flour or sugar Peter could not even tell), spread out all over the entire kitchen floor. The pots and pans were also spread out, and in the midst of the mess sat a joyful Lucy, clashing some dish-ware together, laughing. A cloud of powder went up in the air each time she clanked her "toys" together.
"Lucy. What's. Going. On. Here?" Peter asked sternly, without flinching.
Another cloud. "Lulu is helping Mummy make suppy!" Bang bang bang.
Peter coughed as the powder made its way into his nose. "I'm dead. I'm soo dead," He said simply.
Lucy looked at him quizzically, pausing her banging for the moment.
"No, you not Peeta. You're awive! I see you!" She exclaimed.
Peter shook his head. "Never mind. SUSAN! EDMUND!"
The two came rushing down. "What is it, Peter?" Susan asked, gasping when she saw the mess.
Peter still didn't move. "Help. Now." For a moment, the three stood taking in the massive scene of destruction. No one said a word. Finally Peter shouted. "Fast! If Mum sees this, I am done! Finished! Over!"
"Oh, Peter stop being so dramatic." Susan said, half giggling.
"How can you laugh at a time like this?"
"Well, it is rather funny seeing you work yourself into a sweat when this whole thing is partially your fault, you know."
"My fault?!"
"You told Lucy to go entertain herself. Well, she did as you asked, didn't she?"
Peter did not look amused. "This was not what I had in mind." He said through gritted teeth.
Edmund stood, looking expectantly at Susan. "Does this mean that he gets to clean it all up?"
Peter shot a scowl at him.
Susan shrugged. "Well, technically yes. But since were nice," She patted Edmund's head. "Well help him."
The loud sound of pots banging together made Peter jump. Lucy laughed. "Yay! You play too! You play with Lulu!" She clapped her hands in delight. Somehow "clean up" had translated to "play" in her mind.
Susan smiled, Edmund joined Lucy on the floor, throwing more flour in the air, and Peter dropped his face to his palm. Another normal day at the Pevensie's home. Why did Peter ever think it would be different?
"Peeta? Play with us?" Little Lucy asked, brows raised.
"Oh Lucy…" He moaned into his hands.
Susan punched his shoulder. "Oh Peter, don't be such a wet blanket. Lighten up," She sat down with her younger siblings on the floor. Peter finally drew in a long breath and decided just to give in. He never could resist Lucy's puppy face or Susan's logic. As he sat down and joined them, he said, "Susan, do you know any recipes that require a lot of flour? Maybe Mum wont be so mad if we put this to good use somehow."
She threw some flour at him. "Nope. Except maybe sugar cookies, but I hardly doubt Mum would want that for supper."
Lucy piped up. "Yes! Zugar cookies!"
Edmund even agreed with her for once. "Yes! Pleeeease Susie!"
Susan raised her eyebrows at Peter. "Of course, we might as well. C'mon Peter. Help me get the rest of the ingredients out."
When Helen Pevensie walked through the door a little while later, she grinned at the sweet aroma that greeted her.
"You're making cookies! How sweet!" She turned to her eldest son. "Thank you, Peter. Good job." She said, winking. Peter beamed, and hoped that his mother wouldn't notice the heap of unused flour swept under the table in the corner.