Sunlight spilled into the living room, bathing its occupants in a warm glow. Priyanka was staring outside the front window with a cup of coffee in her hands. She was surprised this was the first time she had actually visited the Universe household. The view was amazing. A shining ocean with a gorgeous sunrise. After another couple of minutes enjoying the morning, Priyanka set her cup down on the counter. She grabbed several ingredients for a hearty breakfast and got to work.
Soon, she had set plates of banana pancakes, some bacon, scrambled eggs with veggies, and several slices of buttered toast on the table. One look at the clock showed it was 7:00 am. "Alright, time to wake everyone up." She moved over to the couch where she and her daughter had spent the night. "Connie, time to get up. Go wash up for breakfast."
Connie yawned and sleepily rubbed her eyes. "Morning, mom. I'm up." Next, Priyanka walked up the stairs to Steven's bedroom. She smiled at the sight that greeted her. Twoie was asleep in bed while hugging Steven close.
Peridot had been watching something quietly on the TV and turned to face the doctor as she walked up the stairs. She stood with a proud smirk. "Dr. Maheswaran, good morning. I would like to inform you that Twoie did not wake up during the night, and his fever did not increase."
Priyanka smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good morning as well, Peridot. And thank you very much for watching over him last night." She leaned over the bed and placed her hand over Twoie's forehead. Little warm. She'd have to keep an eye on him in case it spiked, but it looked like Twoie would be fine in another day or so.
She gently shook Steven's shoulder, then patted Twoie's arm. "Morning, boys. Time to get up and start the day."
Steven shifted and blinked a couple of times. "W-ha- yawn, what time is it?"
Priyanka tapped Twoie's arm again. "It's a little after seven. Now go wash up for the morning and then go eat breakfast. I'll wake your brother."
Steven became more alert as he realized that it was Dr. Maheswaran waking him up. "Oh, good morning, Dr. Maheswaran! I'll go get ready!" He smiled as he hopped out of bed and headed downstairs. The mother turned her attention to the eldest, who was only now starting to wake.
"Come on, Twoie. I want to take your temperature properly. You also need to drink a glass of water and have some food before you decide whether you want to go back to sleep."
Twoie finally sat up with a whine. "I'm up. Morning, Priyanka." He stretched his arms out as Priyanka readied her thermometer.
"Open your mouth, please." He let her pop the thermometer in his mouth and waited for it to beep. When she took it out, it read 99.6F. "Good, a little lower than before. How are you feeling."
The young man smiled tiredly as he hefted himself out of bed. "Pretty good, actually. Still a little tired, but not like before. I think I'll probably try to get some work done today. Maybe get a class done with Steven and Peridot. I kinda slacked on their schooling with the whole Cluster situation." Priyanka nodded as they headed downstairs. Steven and Connie were already sitting on the couch and eating. As Twoie disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for the day, Priyanka sat down and served herself a plate of breakfast.
"This is really good, Dr. Maheswaran! Thanks for making breakfast!" Steven chirped before taking a bite out of a forkful of eggs. Connie hummed in agreement over a slice of toast.
"You're welcome, Steven. It's always good to start the day with a nice meal." She looked around and noted how much quieter the house was. It was weird considering how many people were around just the night before. "Is the house always like this when you get up?"
Steven nodded. "Sometimes Pearl will get me up in the morning and make breakfast, but it depends on whether she's on a mission or loses track of time. Since Twoie arrived, she's been doing it less because Twoie generally wakes me up and makes breakfast."
Speaking of Twoie, the young man in question finally stepped into the living room. "Wow, Priyanka, this looks amazing." He smiled and sat beside her. He put a little bit of everything, except bacon, onto his plate and dug in.
Priyanka was happy to see that he seemed to have his appetite back. "I made plenty, so make sure you're full. I actually thought your father would be joining us for breakfast. I saw the van outside still."
Twoie and Steven both looked at her with a knowing smile. The eldest decided to fill her in. "He's probably still sleeping then. He usually gets up whenever and then he'll make something, or maybe he'll come in to see if we're already awake yet. He doesn't use his alarm on the days he doesn't have work."
Priyanka raised a brow in confusion. "But what time do you normally get up then?"
Steven hummed in thought. "I don't actually have a bedtime. I can just go to sleep when I'm tired and wake up at whatever time I want. I like to set the alarm, so I don't sleep all day, but sometimes I'll just sleep in after a long gem mission or if I stayed up late."
Priyanka huffed in annoyance. "Honestly, kids should have a proper schedule for sleeping and waking up. What else do you have free reign over?"
Twoie cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Well, we've always been allowed to buy pretty much whatever we want. If a new game comes out and we have the money, we could get it. Or I could spend money on the boardwalk, or eat whatever. Dad and the gems generally do the grocery shopping."
Steven clapped his hands together and added, "We also get to leave the house whenever we want. I'll tell the gems I'm heading out if they're in the room, but otherwise, I can do whatever I want. We know Dad doesn't make a lot of money from the car wash, so we usually just save our money until we need it."
Connie looked at them in surprise. "I knew you really didn't have house rules, but I never realized how much freedom you had."
Priyanka looked at the front door with a scowl on her face. "Well, if you ask me, you've grown up with too much freedom. A stable household is a good thing for a child's growth and development. Having too much freedom doesn't give you the chance to develop good habits that will help you function better as an adult. Although it's taught you to be independent, that can be harmful as well in excess." She turned back to the brothers, who were now staring at her in confusion.
"Twoie, I'm going to devise a set of rules for you and Steven. I want you to start following them whenever you can. It's fine, though, if you have to break some due to a mission." When the mother saw them nod, she stood up and went to grab a sheet of paper. After writing out several things, she headed back to the table and presented the brothers with their new house rules.
Wake up no later than 8 am in the morning. Don't go to bed later than 11 pm.
Wash up, eat breakfast, and get dressed for the day. Even if you aren't going anywhere, don't spend all day in your pajamas.
Don't play video games for more than an hour without a break. Don't play video games for more than 2 hours total in your day.
Don't watch tv for more than an hour without a break. Don't watch tv for more than 2 hours total in your day.
Don't spend more than 3 hours on electronics a day. This means total hours of TV and Video Games.
Study for an hour minimum every day of the weekend. Follow Twoie's instructions otherwise for school.
Go outside and play or exercise for at least an hour every day.
Don't eat a lot of junk food. Make sure to snack on fruits and vegetables. Eat more homemade food than fast food.
Save up your allowance. Don't just spend your money on whatever you want.
Clean up after yourself whenever you make a mess. Don't just leave the cleaning to Pearl because she enjoys it.
Twoie and Steven smiled at the list. Most of these rules they did anyway, like sleeping and making breakfast, since Twoie wanted to add a little structure to the house. It felt nice to have a little more routine to their days now. "Alright, we'll do our best to follow these rules."
Steven blinked at the allowance rule. "We don't get an allowance. Dad and the gems will just give us money randomly. I'll still save it, though." Priyanka sighed and rubbed her eyes with her allowance was a great way to teach children financial responsibility.
"I'll talk to your father about it. He had to have taught you some form of using money wisely, so I'll see about getting an allowance made for you two." The group finished up the rest of their breakfast, and everyone helped with the cleanup. Now that breakfast was out of the way, Twoie decided to start Steven and Peridot on their next lesson. Even though Connie had the day off from school, she joined in because she wanted to see how Twoie taught.
Priyanka watched for the sidelines as Steven grabbed Twoie's teaching glasses for him. At the same time, Peridot and Connie set up the desk and grabbed the books. Twoie was flipping through his binder for his lesson plans and writing things out on the chalkboard. She could feel pride well up in her chest as she watched them all interact. Even with all of the problems Twoie and Steven had faced, they had grown into good kids. Priyanka wanted to make sure they were happy. She slipped out the front door as the group focused on their work. She needed to have another talk with Greg.