Chapter 4 - Halloween Morning
He and Betty woke up to the smell of breakfast, especially bacon. They went downstairs and found most of the Tok'ra making breakfast. The table already had a huge amount of pancakes, eggs, and fruit.
"Happy Halloween." Mark walked into the kitchen. "Where did you get hash browns?"
"Your father bought potatoes," Martouf answered as he cooked.
"You made them from scratch?"
"Yes?" He seemed confused by the surprise.
"Wow. I've never done that."
Soon, cinnamon rolls were taken out of the oven, and Mark quickly saw that those were also homemade.
"They remind me of my favorite breakfast from my world," Gete said as he added icing. "These are much sweeter though. There's no frosting."
Mark made coffee while the Tok'ra were drinking herbal tea.
"This tea is made from plants on my world," Yosuuf offered.
Mark tried some. "It tastes a bit like spearmint and chocolate. Is this from one plant?"
"Yes."
"Wow. That's a flavor combination we have to combine to get. It's really good."
"The Tok'ra often trade for it. Garshaw has been enjoying it, long before I was born. I enjoyed it myself before I met her. My husband would often bring it home. He worked in another city, so he was gone for many days at a time."
"That sounds rough." Mark replied. "Days at a time."
"Such is not so unusual on many worlds. Your world is more technically advanced than mine, yet some hosts would consider mine to be advanced in comparison to theirs."
Mark wondered if telling her that it wasn't the same all over Earth would make them look worse or better, or if she already knew.
Breakfast was ready by the time Tom and Tina woke up for school. Everyone sat down at one long table to eat.
"Wow, this food is great!" Tom exclaimed.
"Don't get used to it," Betty replied.
Mark discovered that they hadn't just made pancakes, but a variety of them. Blueberry. Strawberry. Chocolate chip. Peanut butter. Walnut.
"Do you eat like this every morning?"
"It depends on the ingredients that we are able to obtain," Malek answered. "Usually, it's a much smaller selection, but we wanted those who have not been to Earth's surface to taste what Earth food is supposed to taste like."
"Our mess hall isn't bad," Jack defended.
"No, but it is cafeteria food," Daniel replied.
Mark left his breakfast halfway to help get his kids ready for school.
"I'm swimming!" Tina giggled as she wiggled her legs and fixed sprayed red hair.
"You are half fish?" Gete asked as he approached.
"I'm Princess Ariel!" She corrected with a pout.
She's a mermaid, Aldwin thought. I don't know who Ariel is though.
"She's a Disney princess," Mark said, then saw that didn't help. "Ariel is a mermaid in a kid's movie."
Gete nodded then looked to Tom.
"He's too cool to wear his costume at school."
"Maybe he's a Tok'ra visiting Earth's surface, so he has to keep his cover."
Tom grinned. "Yeah, but I can't tell anyone." He did the long blink, then did his best to try to sound Tok'ra. "I need a name."
"What's your middle name?" Gete asked with a wide grin.
"Kevin," he replied gutturally.
"Hello Kevin."
"Hello Gete." His speech was monotonous and slow to attempt the sound. He coughed a bit.
"Kevin, would you remind Tom to brush his teeth?" Mark asked.
He did the long blink again. "He told me."
"I want to be a Tok'ra," Tina said with a frown. "Can Tok'ra blend with mermaids?"
"Symbiotes can blend with just about any species," Gete answered. Aldwin took control. "A mermaid. That would be fun. I miss swimming."
"They live in the ocean," Sam said as she approached.
Aldwin shuddered. "I didn't consider that, but I would be in the mermaid. It might be worth it."
"You don't like the ocean?" Tina asked.
"I prefer fresh water. It's what I grew up in."
"You didn't grow up in a host?"
"No. I was raised in a lake with many others."
"Was it fun?"
"Yes, I used to chase fish and frogs, jump around at the surface, make mud fogs-"
"Mud fogs?" Mark asked.
"Hit the bottom of the lake hard enough to make the mud spread up into the water." He grinned. "We also chased each other around or hid from each other."
"Do you ever catch the fish and frogs?" Tina asked.
"Many times. They were also our food."
"You ate them?!" She squealed in disgust and delight.
Tom touched the back of his head. "No frogs, Kevin," he said before walking off to get ready.
"Tina, go brush your teeth," Mark said.
She scampered off as Sam came in.
"School. Work." Mark said. "There's still a good amount of pizza left for lunch. I'm going to try to get off early today. Betty got the day off, but she has some errands. She has also promised some of the older neighbors that she would help them."
"We'll be fine. Dad is making a chore lot."
"What?"
"Our chores are selected randomly."
"Oh. That sounds interesting." He was followed as he was getting ready. "Where's Malika?"
"Lantash is feeding her."
He grinned. "How is she doing with the solid foods?" He grabbed his wallet and phone.
"She still prefers my milk, but she is getting better. She's not a fan of Earth food."
Meanwhile, Jacob was putting the chore duties in a hat as breakfast was being put away. Aldwin grabbed another cinnamon roll before they disappeared into the fridge.
"Chore."
Aldwin selected a paper before sitting back down to eat.
Mark rushed in to finish his breakfast.
"Running late? I can drive the kids to school."
"Sam already is, uh, but thank you. She's having them-"
"It's too far," Tom complained as he followed Sam into the room.
"It's only a mile."
"Way too far."
"Come on. If Tina can walk in her tail, you can walk without a costume."
"I'm undercover," he protested, "and she only has to walk half a mile."
"I'm swimming, not walking," she said, waving her arms as she went out the door.
Jacob began having all the others pick out chores as his children and grandchildren left the house.
"What does it say?" Jack asked Daniel, seeing that it was in Goa'uld.
"You are making the fruit and vegetables trays. And dip."
"Couldn't buy it from the store?"
"This is cheaper," Jacob said as he handed out more chores. "Bottom shelf of the fridge. The trays are already on the table."
Jack saw the large trays, then realized that he was going to be preparing all day.
"We can trade," Aldwin offered.
"What did you get?"
"Well, knowing doesn't make it interesting, does it?"
"I'll pass."
"That's not fun."
"So what did you get?"
He shrugged. "I haven't read it yet." He brought the paper up, reading. "Oh! How wonderful."
"What?"
He grinned and walked away.
To be continued…
