Chapter 5 – Raymond – Pancakes

It was Raymond's birthday. He would be nine. Nine was nearly ten, and ten was double figures! He practically jumped out of bed when his alarm sounded.

He roughly tugged his school uniform from the wardrobe and stuffed it on. He didn't care that he had school, it was his birthday! Nothing could spoil a day like today.

He was down the stairs before Priscilla was even out of bed, but one glance told him that was hardly surprising… She was having a weak day.

As he stomped down the stairs, he smelt something very different from the usual toast… Was that…?

"Pancakes!?" He exclaimed gleefully, as he saw the growing pile of said food. His mother turned to him, the frying pan in her hand, and grinned. "I love you Mum!" he cried, as he charged over to hug her legs. She laughed.

"Careful, sweetie, I'll drop it!" she cried, and he let go. "Happy Birthday, Raymond." She said, placing the frying pan on the hob for a moment before bending down to pull her son into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Mum." He said, squeezing her tightly. As he was letting go, Priscilla began her careful descent of the stairs. "Morning, Priscilla." He said. "You okay?"

"Morning." She said, trying to stay energetic. "Happy Birthday, Ray!" she said happily, as she reached the bottom step. She tried running to him, but she couldn't. Instead, she stumbled and fell. Raymond had already begun to run over, anticipating his little sister's misjudgement, and was able to catch her.

"Morning, Sis." He said, picking her up and setting her on her feet again. "Thanks." He smiled, and walked with her to the table, helping her up onto her chair.

"Morning, Mummy." Priscilla said, with a smile. Despite her weakness, her smile still lit up the room, like a million stars were shining just for her, and in her presence nobody could be sad.

"Morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" she replied. Priscilla looked down with a sigh.

"Not very good…" she muttered. She used to pretend she was fine, even when she wasn't, because she didn't want to miss school. But she stopped when she started fainting at school, and her condition worsened. Her family, including Raymond, had been crying, although Raymond had tried to hide it; boys weren't supposed to cry… She'd promised never to lie about how she felt again, and since then she'd spent at least half, maybe more, of the school year off sick. But after the incident, the teachers knew to expect it, and gave her extra help in the lessons she did get to.

"Perhaps you should give school a miss today as well then, sweetie…" Celia said. Priscilla looked down, saddened. It had been a good two weeks since she'd last been to school. She'd nearly become well enough a week ago, but her health had suddenly declined again, and they decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Aw, cheer up, Priscilla. You'll get to go again soon!" Raymond tried to cheer her up, as he took his seat at the table, and his mother began to serve the pancakes.

Priscilla smiled at him weakly. "Thanks, Ray…" she didn't really seem to believe him. Raymond decided to focus on his pancakes.

For Raymond, Celia got out the strawberry jam. She honestly didn't understand why he liked that on his pancakes, she was a lemon and sugar person, but he liked it, and that was all that mattered. For Priscilla, she got out the ice cream, another thing she just couldn't fathom… Obviously, the lemon and sugar was out for her, and the golden syrup for her husband, when he eventually decided to get up.

The children began to dig in, although Priscilla had to chip away at it. She'd been told never to eat too fast when she was feeling weak. If she ate slower, she would get more of the nutrition from the food, and therefore feel stronger. Raymond, on the other hand, wolfed his pancakes down as though he hadn't eaten in days… Celia simply rolled her eyes as she served him a few more, and served her own.

Finally, James came down the stairs, as Raymond was finishing his pancakes. Priscilla had eaten a total of three, while Raymond had managed ten, and Celia five, at which point she decided she could eat no more, and passed her last two to Raymond, making his total twelve.

Just as he was grabbing his school bag and heading for the door, his father stopped him.

"Raymond, here." He said, handing his son a small brown envelope. "You can open the rest later. Happy Birthday, son." He smiled. Raymond frowned at the little envelope. "Open it, then." His father prompted, still smiling. Raymond obeyed, and his eyes widened at the wad of money that was inside. His mouth fell open in shock. His mother chuckled.

"Don't spend it all at once, dear. That's your birthday money." She said with a smile.

"B-but… there's loads in here!" he slowly counted the notes out into his hand, and although it seemed impossible, his eyes widened even further. "One hundred pounds!?"

"That's right, champ. Things are looking up, Ray. Besides, you're getting to be a big boy now. I think we can trust you with a bit of money." James explained calmly, still smiling.

"Thank you, Mum! Thank you, Dad!" Raymond exclaimed, grabbing his father in a hug, and quickly running over to do the same to his mother.

"Get going now, you'll be late!" James said. Raymond nodded.

"See you later!" he cried as he left.

I'd love to know what people think of this :) Also, I've only just realised how extremely short these chapters are :/ That may be something to fix...