Alan slowly opened his eyes, yawning as he rubbed the remaining sleep out of his chocolate brown orbs. The sound of chirping birds filled the room, and once Alan finally pried his eyelids open, he could see sunlight spilling in through the windows and beckoning to him to get out of bed and face the new day.
Yawning once more, Alan threw the sheets off of himself and slid out of bed, his little bare feet landing with a soft thud on the hardwood floor beneath him.
Spinning around, Alan ran out of his room and flew down the stairs. Once he reached the bottom of the steps, his stomach let out a low grumble, causing the young boy to twist his mouth up in fairly deep thought.
Knowing exactly what to do, Alan scampered into the kitchen, his face bright with hope as he saw his mother standing by the sink.
"Mommy!" Alan called cheerfully.
Hilary looked down at the floor and smiled at the sight of her young son, still dressed in his blue and red pajamas. "Good morning, sweetheart! Did you sleep well?"
"Uh huh," Alan nodded. "But now I'm hungry."
"Of course you are!" Hilary giggled airily. "Well, don't worry; breakfast will be done in just a few minutes. Why don't you go sit down at the table and wait?"
"Okay!" Alan hopped over to the table and pulled himself up into a chair, making it a bit more acrobatic than necessary. Hilary watched the whole thing out of the corner of her eye, and tried to refrain from saying anything. She was just a bit too overprotective of her children, and often times had to remember that they were Tyson's children, so there was no possible way to stop them from doing crazy things.
"Hey Hil!" Tyson's voice caused Alan to look over his shoulder. The raven blue haired man was carrying Vanessa in his arms, the half asleep girl resting her head on her father's shoulder as she whined softly.
"Vanessa must still be tired," Hilary sighed as she brushed the girl's cheek. "Poor thing."
"She won't be so sleepy once she knows that there's food on the table," Tyson smirked as he gently shook the child. "Isn't that right, princess?"
Vanessa sighed and buried her face into the side of Tyson's neck.
"Alright, let's sit down," Tyson laughed, taking the seat next to Alan. He reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, greeting the child, "hey champ! How's it going?"
"Good," Alan smiled up at his father. "Mommy's making breakfast!"
"Yes, she is," Tyson chuckled, watching as Hilary put the food down in front of them. He placed Vanessa in the empty chair on his right, patting the still tired girl's head as she moaned and rubbed her eyes.
"Alright you three, here's your breakfast!" Hilary announced cheerfully as she placed a plate full of pancakes in the middle of the table.
"Oh boy, food!" Tyson beamed. He reached for the food and immediately placed four of them on his plate, earning a smack on the hand from the wooden spoon that Hilary held in her hand. "OW! Hilary, what the-"
"Feed the children first!" Hilary scolded, cutting off whatever swear Tyson had in mind. "Not yourself."
"Sorry," Tyson blushed slightly. He knew that Hilary was right, and normally he would've done just what she'd ordered. But his raging hunger had gotten in the way of rationality at that moment in time. Looking between Alan and Vanessa, he asked, "You guys don't want four pancakes at once, do you?"
"I do!" Alan raised his hand.
"Alright!" Tyson grinned as he switched plates with his young son. "That's my boy!"
"Alan, sweetie, you might not want to take that many at once," Hilary warned gently.
"Why Mommy?" Alan tilted his head. "I'm hungry!"
"I know you are, baby, but those aren't regular pancakes."
"Huh?" Alan threw his arms down in surprise.
"They're banana pancakes," Hilary smiled at the little boy. "I decided to try something a little different this morning. I always loved these as a little girl!"
"Gross!" Alan whined as he pushed the plate away.
"Buddy, why don't you just try them?" Tyson asked as he put a single pancake on Vanessa's plate.
"No, it's icky," Alan shook his head.
"Now how would you know that if you've never tried them?" Tyson playfully inquired as he folded his arms.
"Cause they sound icky," Alan narrowed his eyes.
"But you'll never know if you don't try it," Tyson patted Alan's back. "And we Grangers don't turn away from a challenge!"
"I didn't realize that eating my food required such effort," Hilary huffed as she now made the top of Tyson's head her spoon's target.
"OW!" Tyson rubbed at the sore spot. "Come on Hil, you know that isn't what I mean! Don't you agree with me that Alan and Vanessa have to try new things, regardless of whether they think they'll like them or not?"
"Of course I do," Hilary stroked Alan's tangled black locks. "It's a good way to expand your opinion on things!"
"No," Alan mumbled, looking down at his feet.
"Alan, you like bananas," Hilary tried to reason with the child, "so there shouldn't be any reason for you not to like banana pancakes!"
"I want regular pancakes," Alan frowned.
"Alan…" Tyson sighed, burying his face in his hands.
"Look, Alan!" Vanessa called. Alan huffed but still looked over at his elder sister, who was happily eating the cut up pieces of her pancake. "I like it! I tried it, and I like it!"
"See?" Hilary smiled at her young son. "Your sister tried it! So you should too."
"I don't want to," Alan folded his arms on the table and buried his face in them.
"Here, what if I put some pieces of banana on top of them?" Hilary asked as she waltzed over to the counter to retrieve the yellow fruit. She peeled and cut it up, returning to Alan in order to scatter the slices atop his pancakes. "I always loved eating them this way! It adds more flavor. Why don't you try it now, sweetheart?"
Alan growled, but didn't raise his head.
"I'll tell you what," Hilary placed her hands on her hips. "If you try the pancakes, and you really don't like them, I will go ahead and make you regular pancakes. How does that sound?"
Tyson whipped his head around and shot Hilary a disbelieving look. Hilary was very stubborn when it came to her cooking. The rule was typically that it was her way or the highway, and if you didn't like what she'd cooked, then you weren't going to eat that night. Fortunately for them, the kids weren't picky eaters, and the parents had never had to face the problem of them not eating something.
Hilary caught the look and motioned for Tyson to be quiet. She seemed to know what she was doing, and didn't want Tyson to interrupt her little plan.
"Okay…" Alan's timid voice filled the air as he lifted his head up. Narrowing his eyes, he added, "but I'm not going to like them!"
"We'll just see that about that, little guy," Hilary smirked.
Alan picked up his fork and stabbed it into one of the pieces of pancake that Tyson had already cut for him. Glaring at the small morsel, Alan stuck it in his mouth and began to chew it as quickly as possible. Tyson gave Hilary another glance, and all she did was smile angelically at him.
When Tyson put his eyes back on Alan, he noticed that the young boy was now chewing the piece of pancake much more slowly. At long last, he swallowed it, and looked down thoughtfully at his plate.
"Well?" Hilary's airy voice prompted her son. "What do you think?"
"I love them, Mommy!" Alan grinned up at his mother. "They're sooo tasty!"
"I'm glad you like them," Hilary folded her arms and shot Tyson a victorious look. "Make sure you eat up, now, little guy."
Alan heeded his mother's order and ate seven and a half of the pancakes. Tyson, of course, couldn't be any more proud, and Hilary was just stunned, even though she knew she shouldn't have been.
"I'm done, Mommy!" Alan announced after finishing half of his last pancake.
"You can't eat the other half of that one?" Tyson nodded towards the half eaten pancake.
"No Daddy," Alan shook his head. "I'm full."
"Yeah, full after almost eight of them," Hilary blinked.
"Suit yourself, champ," Tyson smirked as he took the other half and put it on his own plate.
"I'm going to play with Tucker now," Alan jumped off of his chair and ran into the living room, where his sister had already wandered off to.
Hilary got up and took Alan's plate to the sink, leaving it in to wash later. She went back to the table and sat across from Tyson, her eyes still wide from Alan's little spectacle.
"How such a little thing manages to put away that much food, I'll never know," Hilary shook her head.
"He's good, but not as skilled as me," Tyson shrugged. "I've already eaten ten of these." He looked down and found the remaining half of Alan's pancake that he had put on his own plate. As if it were nothing, Tyson downed the whole thing and smiled up at his pretty, young wife. "Ten and a half."
"Okay," Hilary narrowed her eyes, "that's just gross."
XXX
The next morning started off quite similar to the one before. Hilary was busy bustling around the kitchen as Alan came skidding in, still dressed in his pajamas. Hilary heard his little feet and giggled to herself, turning around to smile at the young boy.
"Good morning, sweetie!" Hilary turned around.
"I'm hungry, Mommy!" Alan ran over to his mother and hugged her leg.
Laughing, Hilary bent down and picked the boy up, holding him in her arms. "I knew you would be! But I haven't made anything for breakfast yet. What would you like to eat?"
"Banana pancakes!" Alan beamed.
"You want them again?" Hilary raised an eyebrow. Alan nodded his head. "But you just had them yesterday!"
"They were so good, Mommy!" Alan wrapped his arms around her neck. "Could I have them again? Please?"
"If that's what you really want," Hilary hugged her little son. "I'll make you banana pancakes, little guy!"
"Thank you, Mommy!" Alan rubbed his forehead against her cheek.
"No problem," Hilary kissed the top of the boy's head before putting him on the floor. "You can go and play while Mommy makes them for you."
Alan nodded and scurried off, leaving behind a quietly giggling Hilary. I can't believe I actually got him to like something new! Hilary thought happily to herself. I feel like some kind of magic worker. This is the best!
XXX
Scratch that, Hilary thought seething to herself by the end of the week, this is the worst.
It had been nearly an entire week since Hilary first made Alan try the banana pancakes, and now every single morning he asked for them.
So, that morning, when Alan came rushing down the stairs, Hilary knew exactly what to expect.
"Banana pancakes, Mommy!" Alan called excitedly from the doorway.
"Alan, baby, can't we eat something different this morning?" Hilary smiled pleadingly at the child.
"No," Alan shook his head. "Banana pancakes."
"But there's so many other things we could have!" Hilary opened the refrigerator and looked through it. "Yogurt, or bacon, I even have your favorite cereal in the pantry! Don't you love that sugary stuff?"
"No, I love banana pancakes," Alan grinned at his mother.
Hilary groaned as she threw her head back. She could only hope that, after awhile, Alan would grow sick and tired of eating the same thing every morning, and she wouldn't have to make them. Every morning.
She begrudgingly walked over to where she kept all of the bananas, and when she reached the wire basket, a beautiful discovery was made. The sight made Hilary grin from ear to ear, but she couldn't let Alan see her joy. So, before turning around, Hilary made sure to put on a sympathetic look as she spun around and gazed down at her little boy.
"Oh, Alan, I'm so sorry! But we don't have any bananas left."
"Huh?" Alan frowned.
"Yeah, it looks like I used them all up because all you've eaten this week is banana pancakes," Hilary smiled compassionately at the child. "So, what do you say? Cereal?"
"Can you go buy more bananas?" Alan pouted.
"Buy more…no, sweetheart, just have something else that we already have here!"
"But Mommy, I really, really, really want banana pancakes!"
"Alan…"
"Pleeeease?" Alan clasped his hands together and looked up at Hilary, making his chocolate brown eyes grow as wide as he could.
Hilary groaned and tried to look past the sweet, innocent face her son had put in. She knew she couldn't resist it, she had to look away…she wasn't going to go out and buy the stupid bananas…she wasn't…she wasn't…
"Okay, I'll go get some more."
She was going to buy the stupid bananas.
"YAY!" Alan flew forward and hugged his mother's legs so tightly she was afraid her circulation was going to be cut off. "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you!"
"Yeah, no problem…" Hilary slumped her shoulders forward.
"I'll wait for you right here!" Alan jumped onto his kitchen chair and looked over at his mother. "Don't worry, Mommy."
"I won't, sweetheart," Hilary sighed as she walked over to the front door. As she reached for the doorknob, she muttered to herself, "I'm never teaching my kids to like new things again."