May 10, 2043
Los Angeles, California, Earth
6:38 A.M.
It was very early in the morning, much earlier than when Sprig and Polly would normally be awake on a Saturday. But today is a special day, and the twins are preparing a special Mother's Day gift.
There were so many awesome things their moms had done for them over the years: vacations, private aquarium tours, getting a cameo as minor characters in Ava's Adventures, their epic 9th birthday which was only a few days ago, etc. And today, Sprig and Polly wanted to do something nice for them in return.
Making their moms breakfast in bed should've been easy. Sprig and Polly helped their moms in the kitchen several times in the past, and had watched their grandparents prepare dishes at Thai Go, so this was supposed to be an easy task. Of course, plans always sound easier than they ultimately are.
"I really think those pancakes are done, Polly," said Sprig.
"No, not yet," insisted his sister.
"But they're burning!"
"The burn gives it flavor!"
"That makes no sense!"
"Well, you're not doing any better with those eggs!"
"Oh frog!" Sprig quickly turned back to the food he unintentionally neglected.
As you can see, things were going well.
Much like their namesakes, Sprig is somewhat level-headed with a penchant for fun, while Polly is pure chaos but also rather intelligent. They get along very well, and when they're together, there's nothing they can't accomplish…
Except for making breakfast apparently.
"Okay," said Sprig, taking the eggs out of the pan and putting them on plates. "They don't look that good but they don't taste bad."
"Alright!" said Polly. "My pancakes are almost done."
She flipped them over a few more times before turning off the stove and putting the scorched pancakes on the plates next to the eggs.
"They're a bit burnt, but that's exactly what I wanted so I succeeded. Luckily the smoke detector didn't go off and ruin the surprise."
Sprig wanted to be upset that Polly intentionally burnt the food, but he loved his sister too much to be mad at her. So instead he wrapped her in an awkward sibling hug.
"Good job, sis."
Polly poured out three glasses of orange juice and Sprig grabbed some utensils. They well poured two bowls of cereal for themselves to eat. Breakfast was complete. They carefully walked up the stairs to their mothers' bedroom with breakfast. It was rather awkward for two normally rambunctious kids to be tiptoeing so quietly, but such is life.
Sprig carefully opened the door a bit and peered inside. The Calamity Moms were sleeping peacefully in their bed: Sasha on the left with her arms draped over her wives, Marcy in the middle nuzzling Sasha's neck, and Anne on the right with her face buried in Marcy's long hair. Normally, the twins wouldn't dare interrupt a rare moment when all three of their moms were calmly resting, but now was not a normal time.
Sprig looked toward Polly. "Is it time to get loud?"
Polly nodded. "Yes, it is. We'll count to three and go in."
"1… 2… 3!"
The twins both kicked the door open. (They were only able to do this because Sprig slightly opened it previously. They were only 9, after all.)
"SURPRISE! HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!"
The Calamity Trio immediately shot awake. Well, in Sasha's case it was more like "awake".
"I will fight you, Mom!" she said, before Marcy jostled her out of her dream. "Wha…?"
Anne looked over at the clock on the table by her side of the bed. "Kids, why are you up so early? It's not even 7:00."
"Mama wants rest!" complained Marcy, who had a massive case of bed head.
"Mom, Mama, Mommy," said Polly, "it's Mother's Day!"
Sprig presented the plates to the trio. "We decided to surprise you with breakfast in bed!"
The three moms took the plates and looked at the eggs and burnt pancakes in shock. The twins certainly succeeded at surprising them.
"You made this?" asked Sasha.
"Yep!" replied Polly excitedly.
"So you used the stove without permission," said Anne.
"Uh…" said Sprig, "it sounds bad when you put it like that… but yes."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to pour a few bowls of cereal?" asked Marcy.
"But that wouldn't have been as special!" exclaimed Sprig. "You do so much for us all the time. You deserve a nice gift."
"Yeah," said Polly. "We put effort into our gift. Maybe a little too much."
The Calamity Moms were all moved to happy tears and wrapped their kids in a hug.
"We love you two so much," said Marcy. "That's why we do so much for you."
"Never feel like you owe us anything," continued Sasha.
"But it does mean so much to us that you made us something, even if you might have ruined the kitchen." said Anne, who paused for a moment. "Did you ruin the kitchen?"- Anne
"Only ruined the kitchen a little bit," said Polly as her mothers began eating the breakfast. "Sorry that the pancakes are burnt… that's the way I like them."
"Don't feel bad," said Marcy. "It's not any worse than most of my attempts in the kitchen."
They all laughed at that.
The five of them chatted for a bit, discussing various topics: the twins' schoolwork, Marcy's webcomic, what Anne was planning on giving her mother, but eventually the discussion went back to the current situation. Sprig and Polly got nervous when they saw their moms shift into "serious mode".
"We appreciate your gift so much," explained Sasha, "but never use the stove without our permission again.
"Thankfully nothing bad happened but we can't risk you two getting the house burned down," said Marcy, in between pancake bites.
"And you're definitely helping us clean up whatever mess you made in there," said Anne.
"We're sorry," Sprig and Polly both said.
"But…" continued Anne, "if you want you can help us with the meal we're making later for your khuṇ yāy."
"Yeah!" cheered Sprig.
"Double Mother's Day fun!" said Polly.
"But before all that you have to get dressed," said Sasha, gesturing the twins toward the door. "There's something your Mama and Mommy and I have to talk about."
Once Sprig and Polly left the room, Sasha turned back to Anne and Marcy. "So that tasted like Amphibian food, right"
"Yep," said Marcy. "The eggs were prepared like the ones in Newtopia and those pancakes would fit in Wartwood perfectly.
"They tasted exactly like Hop Pop's pill bug pancakes, just without the bugs," said Anne. "I guess burning them was the secret 'ingredient'. Who'd have guessed it?"
"I would have!" exclaimed Marcy, "Hop Pop burned things all the time!"
They chuckled at that.
Author's Notes:
Translation: Khuṇ Yāy (grandmother)
Sprig and Polly accidentally making food that tastes like Amphibian food doesn't really have any special significance. I just thought it was a neat way to end the chapter.
