Basically this story starts where the first part of I am the World's Greatest Dad! ended. We just couldn't resist.
"Daddy, are you up?" A sticky little hand buries itself in my hair until it reaches the fabric of my shirt and, worse yet, the skin on the back of my neck. It pulls away again, leaving a smear of moisture behind. I can only hope that he did not have his fingers in his mouth, but any other explanation is just as bleak. I moan unpleasantly into the pillow, disgusted as my hair clings to the residue, and he mistakes this sound as a snore. "He's still asleep." Tao pushes away from me and whispers to one or another of the boys. I am too pleased that they have not attempted to awake me to risk it all with a look now.
The bed jostles as Tao yanks his brother onto the mattress. I summon a soft snore to remind them that I am, as they believe me to be, asleep, and they should proceed with more caution than they have demonstrated thus far.
"Hush!" Takeo, of course it is Takeo, shouts loudly and hisses out a harsh breath of air. I can only imagine him with his index finger erected firmly in front of his lips, and I almost brave a peek at the two in order to see this.
"But I want him to wake up!" Tao admits in a deafening wail. I still feign sleep, but I feel the little body of my youngest son move next to me. Regis will wake up soon, and I know that I should get out of bed, anyway.
"You shouldn't wake him," M-21 admonishes in a more reasonable volume.
Tao sticks his tongue out at his brother and begins to jump up and down on the mattress, shouting a mantra of "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
"Stop it," I order, and the misuse of my bed instantly ends. Since I have already given myself away, I stop pretending to be asleep and sit up. M-21 glares at Tao, and Takeo looks smug, pleased that his brother is in trouble. Regis buries his face into my sleeve, fussing about being torn from sleep so forcefully. I lay a hand on his mussed light hair, which calms him down, and then turn to Tao. "Don't jump on the bed. Last time, you fell off."
Tao props himself up against one of the bedposts and holds it with a firm grasp as he raises to his tiptoes. He meets my eyes with a defiant gaze, testing his boundaries. His heels drop as if mimicking a bounce, and I narrow my eyes in warning.
"Knock it off." M-21 hastily grabs the edge of Tao's shirt and tugs him down to his hands and knees. "Stop messing around. Are you trying to get in trouble?"
A cocky smile answers that question, and Tao jumps to his feet again.
M-21 is not at all amused. His lips press into a frown even more stern than his typically serious expression. He lifts his hand, jutting one finger out at me as he raises his voice. "Dad said to get down!"
"Boys!" I say sharply and stand before this gets out of control. I cradle Regis in one arm and snatch Tao with my free hand, swinging him over M-21's head and lowering him, more gently than he deserves, to the floor.
"Do me next!" Takeo bounds across the bed and leaps at me while my back is turned.
I just barely have enough time to twist around to keep him from colliding with Regis but not enough to catch him properly. He strikes the side of my arm, sliding the length of it while careening face first towards the ground. His arms wrap around his head instead of extending to brace for the rough landing. M-21 and Tao both reach out to him but bump into each other, making their attempts completely ineffective. I manage to grasp his ankle and thrust my arm higher into the air so that his head clears the ground. The force of his jump swings him around on a pivot toward the bed frame. Takeo curls up just enough to miss the wood and smacks into the side of the mattress.
"That was cool!" Tao pries Takeo's arms away from his face as soon as I set him on the ground. Takeo looks terrified. "That was awesome!"
"That was not cool." M-21 kneels down next to the two. "Stop trying to copy Tao. You almost died."
The door creaks open, and Rai's eyes instantly scan the scene with an expression far too knowing for a child. I force a smile to reassure him, but he has already surmised that the incident had ended well. He calmly looks up at me. "I want ramen."
"For breakfast?" Tao asks, forgetting about Takeo's brush with death, and he clamps onto my leg, sitting on my foot and wrapping his arms and legs around my calf like a deadweight. "I want candy!"
"No candy for breakfast and no ramen, either," I stop this before Takeo can join in on the demands.
Crestfallen looks cross the younger boys' faces, but Rai's disappointment is more difficult to decipher. He doesn't tend to show his feelings as readily as the other children, and I need to watch him carefully to understand his emotions. His sad expression, though barely noticeable, makes me reconsider my refusal.
"Maybe we can have ramen for dinner." Ever so slightly, Rai's eyes glimmer in answer to my words. I instantly feel a small hand tug at my trouser leg.
"And candy?" Tao charms with a smirk. He has not moved from his seat on my foot.
"No," I reply coolly, unmoved by his charisma.
"But you let him have ramen!" He immediately releases me and stands on his own. "Then I want pancakes with chocolate chips!"
"We can have pancakes for breakfast," I leave the plea for chocolate chips unanswered and hold up my hand to stop the children from further jubilation, "but only if you get dressed quickly."
I suppress a chuckle as Takeo and Tao almost fall over each other in their hurry to get past Rai and through the door. M-21 and Rai leave at a more leisurely rate, but within seconds, I am left alone with Regis. His fist is shoved halfway into his mouth, and he pulls it out as he looks up at me. A string of drool stretches from his lips to his fingers and reminds me of the slime that Tao left on the back of my neck. I reach up to wipe it away, but on second thought, I remove my hand and head for the bathroom.
By the time Regis and I appear in the kitchen, Tao and Takeo are already arguing at the table. Tao grabs a fistful of his brother's hair in one hand and a bottle of syrup in the other. Takeo's foot is smashed into Tao's mouth, silencing the schirlls that would have summoned me to intervene had I heard them from the bedroom. M-21 is unhappily wedged in between the two with one hand on each of their shoulders, attempting to push them apart. He desperately looks up at me for help but instantly conceals the expression in the same way that he always tries to hide his true thoughts.
"Tao, put the syrup down." I strap Regis into his highchair and clip the tray down like a cage. I regret that Tao isn't still young enough to be confined so easily.
"Takeo started it." Tao says in a way that is far too proud for me to believe.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"I don't care who started it. I'm ending it." I take the bottle from him and set in next to Rai. Both of my little troublemakers cross their arms over their chests, but they know better than to disturb Rai in my presence. I'm overprotective of that child. He needs me more than the rest.
I press my hand against Rai's forehead in a gesture that has become all too commonplace. The warmth of his skin is far hotter than it should be, and I withdraw my hand again before he becomes uncomfortable with my extra care. "How are you feeling?"
His eyes lower to his hands. He never answers this question.
"Want juice?"
He nods once without looking up.
"Okay." I walk over to the refrigerator, and against my better judgement, I say, "Tao, give everyone a glass."
"Why me?" The instant reply is thick with defiance.
"Because I said so." I cringe, surprised that I had said that. I have always hated that baseless reason so I tag on, "Everyone needs to help." For a few seconds, Tao glares at me while I hold his gaze. Of course I win, and he sullenly stomps to the cupboard.
As Tao brings the first two glasses to the table, I fill one of them for Rai. He immediately takes a long sip, which I notice with worry. I had better keep watch that his fever doesn't raise. Being distracted like this, I almost fail to keep my grasp on the juice carton as Regis reaches out to it.
"You want some juice, too?" I ask the question even though I already know the answer. Regis' face brightens, and he raises his hands high in the air, cheerfully sputtering words I can't fully understand. I fill his sippy cup and set it on the tray.
"M-21, make sure he doesn't spill while I prepare the pancake batter." The same defiance that I saw in Tao's face briefly flashes to his eyes, but contrary to the younger child, he doesn't say it out loud. He takes his seat next to the toddler without complaint.
"May I help?" A gentle voice calls from behind me. Seira is already tying a pink apron around her waist.
I place the bowl on the counter as she steps up on a stool and hand her the spoon. "You may stir this."
She nods and scrapes the spoon along the sides of the bowl until all the flour mixes into the milk.
"Can I help, too?" Tao asks sweetly with his hands behind his back.
"Daddy!" Takeo yells, pulling my attention away from his brother. Juice is dripping down his chin and onto his formerly white shirt.
"I didn't do it!" M-21 declares before anyone accused him of a wrongdoing and attempts to mop up the mess with a napkin before it sinks into the table cloth. "I didn't bump his drink. He bumped into me."
"He hit my glass while I was drinking it." Takeo smears his sleeve over his mouth. It comes away purple.
"Don't lie."
"I'm not lying!"
"What are you adding?" Seira asks quietly from behind me.
Tao is now standing on her stool with an empty bag of chocolate chips. He hops down and struts back toward the table. "Fine, I won't help."
I try to estimate how many chocolate chips found their way into the batter. It's more than double the amount I would put in for the children, but it's too late to make another batch. I nod to Seira to continue stirring the batter. I will have a talk with my little hellion about it in the evening, though.
"Dad!" Takeo whines, still soaked in juice.
Tao teasingly pokes him in the side next to a stain. "Why'd ya spill on yourself?"
"Takeo, go change your shirt." The boy sprints out of Tao's reach but not without sending a glare back to his brother. A glare of my own keeps Tao from following him out of the kitchen.
"I am ready." Seira places a frying pan on the stovetop and expectantly looks up at me instead of turning it on.
"I'm coming." I grab the bowl from the counter and scoop globs of batter into the pan. They spread out into imperfect circles with chocolate chip lumps. We wait for the edges of the pancakes to cook through enough to flip. Her hand encircles the spatula, and I wrap my fingers over hers. Together, we scrape the spatula under each pancake and turn them over one at a time. "You're doing well, Seira. Pretty soon, you'll be good enough to do this on your own." She blushes at the remark.
"Do you want some more?" M-21 asks a little hesitantly, and I glance over my shoulder just in time to see him screw the lid back onto Regis' sippy cup. He looks over at Rai and shakes the juice container to emphasize the question. Rai nods, withdrawing his hands from the sides of the glass, and M-21 pours the juice inside.
"It's burning." Seira slides the spatula under the pancake, and my hand is forced to follow hers. We drop the charred disk onto the serving plate.
"Breakfast is ready," I call and put the stack of pancakes on the lazy Susan, spinning it once to show it off in all of its chocolate chip infested glory.
"Why's that one black?" Tao spears the burnt one with his fork and holds it up in the air with a doubtful look.
"Don't use your fork for that." Takeo grabs one with his fingers, which isn't any better, and points at Tao's pancake. "Is that chocolate?"
"Yeah, it's chocolate." Tao smiles deviously. "Wanna trade?"
Takeo stares at the pancake with glittering eyes. He likes chocolate just as much as the next kid, but when he looks at Tao, his face turns doubtful. I turn to cut Regis' pancake into smaller pieces, although I still keep an eye on those two troublemakers. The children have to learn to solve their own arguments, but I don't want another brawl in my kitchen, either.
"Let it be." M-21, now relieved from his his duty of caring for Regis, snaps at his two brothers. In return for interrupting their silent staring match, they send him two equally annoyed glowers.
Ignoring all the fiercy glares, Seira stops the budding argument between the three boys by setting a pancake on Takeo's plate. It has, even for this batch, a huge amount of chocolate chips. With the bone of contention gone, there is no longer a reason to argue anymore.
I steal this moment of silence to glance at my watch. "Eat quickly. It's almost time to leave."
Tao folds his pancake in half and bites a hole out of the center. Unfolding it again, he looks through the missing portion at me. "Gonna eat, Daddy?"
"I need to make your lunches." I pat Tao on the head as I walk by and quickly pack a bag lunch for each of them. Seira jumps up to assist me, but I shoo her away until she finishes her meal.
"We're going to be late, Dad." M-21 turns on the water and quickly scrubs his plate in the sink. Takeo claims Seira's stool and starts to dry the dishes beside him.
"We'll make it in time." I tuck a lunch bag into each of their backpacks.
"You gonna eat, Daddy?" Tao asks a little more persistently. His pancake is now devoured into the shape of a smile. He holds this up over his own lips as he speaks to me. "You can have some of mine."
"Thank you, but you need to eat your own." I count the lunches, the backpacks, the children, but I feel as though I am missing someone.
"Daddy?" Takeo tugs on my sleeve and slops a hair band into my palm. His hands are still wet from drying the dishes. He turns around expectantly and holds up a hairbrush.
I scoop his hair into a ponytail and brush out the bumps before twisting the hair band around it four times. "All done."
"It's too tight!" Takeo pulls out the hair band, destroying my handiwork. "And I want my bangs down."
I repeat the process quickly and once again tie his hair into place, bangs down this time. I then run the brush through Tao's hair. The other children are well groomed enough not to need it with the exception of Regis.
"Daaaaaaaad!" Tao somehow extends the word into multiple syllables.
"It's time to go." I pluck Regis from the highchair and wipe his face clean. On second thought, I do the same to Tao. "Do not forget your school bags."
"Yeah-Yeah." M-21 flops his backpack over his shoulder as he switches his slippers for shoes. "I got it."
"Be nice." Takeo chides then smiles up at me in a way that makes me think he will be much calmer than his brothers once he grows up. "Thanks, Daddy."
Rai quietly leaves the table, and Seira trails behind him like an acolyte.
"Are you two ready?" I ask, and they nod in unison. "Then let's go."
"DADDY!" Tao shouts and holds a brown paper bag up in the air. It rattles mysteriously as he swings it. "I made you lunch."
That is what I had forgotten, my own lunch. I kneel down so that we're at eye level, and I smile as I take it from him. "You are going to do well in the world, Tao."
"Be sure to eat it all, Daddy." Tao hops down the step and shoves his shoes over his feet. "I made it special."
"Of course I will." I confirm as I open the bag and instantly regret my promise when I see that it is full of chocolate chips.