Chapter 2

"So what's the big surprise dinner?" Cody asked his mother and siblings after they'd arrived and taken a quick tour of the apartment. They'd all been there before at one time or another, but they wanted to see the changes with Cody's things now added to Jess's as well as the new additions from family throughout the day like the wooden table trays from Elizabeth and Joseph and the brand new game of Rummikub from Grandma Ang.

"I think you can make a pretty good guess," Jenna said with a knowing smile.

"Judging by the eggs I saw at the top of the bag you brought, I'd say … breakfast for dinner?" Jess replied, grinning.

Kaitlyn matched her expression. "What else?"

Cody chuckled. " 'What else' is right."

Jess clapped excitedly. "Yay! I was hoping that's what it would be."

"Really?" Dylan asked.

"Sure," she replied. "It'll be the first breakfast for dinner here."

"Like, ever?" Jacob asked, surprised.

"Well, I mean, I can't say I've never had a bowl of cereal for dinner after a long day, but this'll be the first Allen family breakfast for dinner here, and I'm excited."

Jenna smiled. "And I'm thrilled you enjoy the tradition as much as we do."

"The kitchen is a little on the small side," Jess warned.

"We've worked out of smaller," Jenna said, looking at her kids. "Right?"

"Yep," Jacob answered with a shrug.

"It kinda makes it more fun," Kaitlyn added.

"There's just one important question to answer before we start," Dylan said, fighting a grin. "Do you have ketchup?"

"Cheese Dude, where are you?" Jenna said. "These eggs are ready for you."

"Here!" Jacob called as he came back into the kitchen. "I washed my hands in the bathroom, I swear."

"You better have," Kaitlyn said, and smiled with her tongue poking out between her teeth. As she'd gotten older, she'd taken over most of the scrambling duties for Jenna who was largely in a supervising role now.

"Excuse me, Egg Woman," Jacob said, lightly bumping his sister with his hip as he joined her at the stovetop with slices of cheese to add to the scrambled eggs.

Jenna sighed wistfully. "I remember when you both needed a step stool to do your jobs," she said.

"We've got one on the side of the fridge if you want to make them get on it for old time's sake," Cody said as he finished setting the table.

"Jacob'd probably hit his head on the vent," Dylan teased, then turned his attention back to the toaster as two more slices of bread popped up.

"Do you need some help buttering, Toast Man?" Jess asked. "I'm just waiting for the coffee to finish."

"Oh man, Casey'll love that," Dylan said, passing one of the plates of toast to her. "She'll say it took two people to replace her."

"Ooh, speaking of Casey," Jenna said, pulling out her ringing phone. "That's her now." She answered the videocall and smiled broadly as her oldest daughter's face filled the screen. "Hi, honey!"

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Casey's voice came over the speaker. "Study group went a little long."

"No problem, we're still cooking," Jenna said.

"Oh good, me too. With the time difference no one is using the dorm kitchen right now so I've got it all to myself."

"Wonderful." Jenna flipped the camera around so Casey could see everyone at work.

"Hey, Casey!

"Hey!"

"Hi, Casey!'

"Hey, everyone!" Casey grinned. "This reminds me of making breakfast for dinner in the apartment before we moved into the house."

"Us, too," Cody agreed.

"Congrats, you two," she said to Cody and Jess. "I wish I could be there in person."

"We miss you, too," Jess said.

"Not long now," Jenna said. "Just another week and a half till you're home."

"Yep. Of course it's the hardest week and a half of the semester, but who's keeping track?" she said with a wry smile. "So, who's handling my job?"

"Dylan and Jess," Jacob said.

"Ha! Takes two people to replace the Butter Whiz."

Dylan looked at Jess. "Told you."

"Hang on, I'm gonna set you down a second, my eggs are ready," Casey said. While she did that, Jenna propped her phone up on a counter so Casey would have a good view.

"Ours, too," Kaitlyn reported, moving the large batch of scrambled eggs onto a platter.

"And coffee is done," Jess added, moving over to the machine.

"Wait, wait!" Jenna said before Jess started to pour. "We've got a present for you and Cody."

"Oh, you guys didn't have to do that," Cody said immediately.

"Yeah, but you knew we were gonna," Casey said with a grin.

"I'll get them!" Jacob said, leaving the kitchen and returning with a large box.

"Careful, honey, they're breakable," Jenna warned.

Jacob set them on the table.

"Open them, open them!" Kaitlyn said, excitedly.

"What in the world?" Jess asked as she and Cody opened the box.

Cody lifted out one of the mugs inside and laughed. "Okay, that's awesome," he said, turning it so Jess could see.

"Captain Juice! Oh my god!" Jess quickly took out the other mugs. "Oh my god, they're all here!" she said as she set down identical mugs with Egg Woman, Toast Man, The Scrambler, and The Coffee Wizard on the table.

"All except this one," Casey said, holding her Butter Whiz mug up.

"We thought whenever we make breakfast for dinner together, we can use these," Kaitlyn said. "Even the people who have juice instead of coffee."

Jacob made a face at the thought of drinking coffee.

"This is so great," Jess said, hugging Jenna. "Thank you for including me in your special tradition."

"Of course, honey," Jenna replied. "You're family."

Cody smiled and Jess blinked back tears.

"Yeah," Kaitlyn said, wrapping an arm around Jess's waist. "You're family. Even though you and Cody aren't married …" She smiled mischievously. "Yet."

Jess laughed. "One big change at a time."

"There's one more thing," Dylan said, retrieving another smaller box.

Cody and Jess opened it to reveal a framed sign with various breakfast foods and utensils and the words: Welcome to the Kitchen of Captain Juice and the Coffee Wizard.

"We designed it on the computer," Jacob told them.

"It's amazing," Jess said. "And I know right where it's going to go." She walked over to the far wall and took down a simple picture of a flower that was hanging. She hung up the new sign and stepped back. "There. Now it'll be the first thing anyone sees when they walk in the kitchen."

Cody smiled at her, and looked at his family. "Thanks. This is really great."

"And it'll remind you that no matter where you are, family is family," Casey said.

Jenna smiled, hugging Cody. "Not that you need a reminder of that."

"So can we eat now?" Dylan asked. "Before it gets any colder?"

"Speak for yourself," Casey said, laughing around a mouthful of eggs. "I'm halfway done."

"We've weathered worse than cold eggs," Jenna said with a soft smile, squeezing Jacob to her on one side and Dylan on the other.

"We have," Cody agreed. He reached for Jess's hand and wrapped his other arm around Kaitlyn.

"And we'll keep weathering whatever comes," Casey said.

"Good, bad, and everything in between," Kaitlyn added.

Jacob smiled over at Cody, thinking back to when his oldest brother first moved out, and then looked over at Dylan who would be the next to leave. "No matter how many different places we live."

Dylan nodded. "Because family is family."

Jess squeezed Cody's hand. "Family is family," she echoed.

"It is," Jenna said, blinking back tears. "And I wouldn't change ours for anything."

"Ohh," Kaitlyn said, sniffing.

Jenna smiled brightly through her tears, looking around the group including Casey on the phone before settling on Cody and Jess. "So let's get celebrating this latest great thing, and look forward to whatever life has in store for us next."

Hope you enjoyed!

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net

Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line.

And find Mari on Twitter at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller