Kayla woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes. Groaning, she rolled over to find that Gracie was no longer beside her. She wasn't expecting to be awake this early on a Saturday morning, but she was willing to embrace it if there was breakfast involved. Getting up she walked to the kitchen, but stopped before she got there, listening to the conversation that was going on, surprised to hear that the voices were coming from Gracie and Steve not Gracie and Danny like she had been expecting.
"Uncle Steve! You're going to burn that one!"
"No I won't, I'm a fantastic cook! Pancakes happen to by my specialty, you know."
"You must not cook often then…"
She heard the little girl squeal, and assumed that Steve had somehow gotten her back for that remark.
"Hey Uncle Steve?"
"Yeah Gracie?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, shoot."
"Do you like Auntie Kayla?"
He paused for a minute, and Kayla leaned up against the wall sticking her head farther out to hear better.
"Of course I do, she's a fun girl. Kinda like you."
"I mean like like."
He paused again before answering. "Yeah, I do. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, it's okay. She smiles more when you're around."
"That's good to know."
Kayla smiled a little to herself, content with the exchange she just witnessed. She started to peak around the corner more to see what the two were up to and if it was safe to go in.
"Spying now are we?"
She jumped, not expecting anyone to have seen her. When she turned to face Danny, she smacked him in the chest.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"For sneaking up on me!"
"Then don't spy on people in my house and you won't get called out on it!" He rubbed the spot on his chest that she smacked. "Geeze, you'd think you had whips for fingers…"
Kayla rolled her eyes, "Oh grow up Danny. That was a love tap."
He scoffed, "if THAT was a love tap, then I'd hate to see what you do to-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence detective Williams."
Just as Danny was about to retort to her comment, Gracie came around the corner. "Auntie Kayla, Danno, you're awake!"
Danny bent down to give his daughter a kiss on the head. "Yes monkey, we are awake. Now what is this delicious smell coming from the kitchen?"
She smiled up proudly at her dad. "Uncle Steve and helped me make pancakes."
Kayla pretended that she hadn't seen the happenings in the kitchen moments before and went along with it, walking around the corner so that she could see Steve. "Oh he did, did he? Well wasn't that nice of him!" She sent a smile Steve's way and he returned it with a small smirk.
"That was very nice of him. Now let's go wash our hands and then we can eat!" Danny said picking Gracie up by the waste and hoisting her over his shoulder making his way to the bathroom down the hall.
Kayla took this as her cue to go into the kitchen and wish Steve a good morning. He was facing the stove, flipping the last of the pancakes as she made her way up behind him, snaking her arms around his waist and nuzzling her nose into his back. "That was sweet of you to help her make breakfast."
He chuckled and shrugged lightly. "I'm a sweet guy, what can I say?"
She chuckled letting go of his waist so he could turn to face her. She shook her head a bit at his modesty and smiled lightly. "Good morning."
He took this chance to snake his arms around her waist and pull her closer to him. "It is now." He leaned down and kissed her.
"You are just full of the moves this morning Commander."
Before Steve could retort to that, Gracie ran into the kitchen, stopping when she saw Steve and Kayla standing by the stove. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Kayla chuckled, releasing herself from Steve's grasp. "It's okay monkey, it's time to eat this delicious smelling breakfast anyway!" She walked over to the table, Gracie following her.
Danny joined the two girls at the table and Steve was last bringing the heaping plate of pancakes with him.
"I hope you're all hungry, cause we made enough to feed an army."
"You've obviously never seen my brother eat breakfast." Kayla commented, sending a smirk Danny's way.
"Oh ha-ha. Like you're miss dainty when it comes to pancakes and other assorted breakfast foods."
"Compared to you I am."
As the two were having a staring competition, Gracie interrupted. "Can we eat now?"
"Sure monkey."
Kayla was the first one to take a bite of the stack of pancakes she put on her plate. As she started to chew, she looked back up at her brother, noticing that he had the same look she had on her face. She slowed the chewing and forced herself to swallow, looking down at Gracie slightly. When she noticed that Gracie had the same look on her face too, she looked over at Steve who had just forced down his forkful as well. Gracie set her fork down and looked at the adults around her. "Can we go out for breakfast?" The three all laughed, pushing their plates away.
"I think that's the best idea I've heard all morning. Go get dressed and we'll go." Danny said rubbing his face, chuckling. He grabbed his daughter as she walked past him and kissed her cheek. "It was a good effort monkey."
She gave him a strange look, "are you kidding? That was terrible!"
Kayla broke out into a laugh as Gracie ran off to her room to get changed. "Hey, at least she can be honest."
"This is true. And now we adopt the rule of we never eat what children make." He said as he pushed his chair back. As he walked off to his room to get changed, Kayla grabbed his and Gracie's plate carrying them to the counter and setting them down. Steve followed her lead with the other two plates and she looked up at him from scraping the bland pancakes into the garbage. "It was an A+ for effort, but you should have waited for me to make breakfast"
He chuckled, handing her the next plate. "I think this just means you'll have to teach me how to make breakfast."
"And when do you suggest we do that?"
"Monday morning, after we have that sleepover of ours Sunday night."
She raised an eyebrow towards him. "Someone's anxious."
He took the empty plate out of her hand and put it on the counter as he grabbed her waist with his other hand. "You got the idea pretty stuck in my head last night."
She shrugged. "It's one of my many talents."
As he leaned down to kiss her, they heard Gracie yelling from the hall. "Let's go! I'm starving!"
They both stopped and chuckled lightly. "We're coming!" Steve yelled. "Tomorrow night, we'll continue this. But for now, we need breakfast."