Today was going to be a good day.
When I went down into the kitchen, I’d been right about the mess. There was flour and egg all over the counter surface. Gina wore the apron we’d made together, but the colored hand prints on the front were nearly covered with white. Gina and Noah were by the stove, and she grinned from ear to ear. Her face was paler than normal, caked with spots of flour across it.
Noah held the spatula and helped Gina flip one of the pancakes.
There was a stack several pancakes next to them. One of the requests from Noah when we ordered new appliances was a griddle. Gina loved breakfast foods, and it was only natural for us to purchase the tool for the house. It was much bigger than I pictured from the website. It took up most of the counter, but it looked like Noah was able to make six pancakes at a time on it. Which sped up the time from making the batter to eating.
“I’ll set the table,” I said.
“We’re almost done,” Noah said. “Coffee is over there.”
I stacked three brand new plates with forks and knives on top and headed over to the breakfast nook. As I set the table, a warmth spread through my body.
Gina’s laughter from the kitchen and Noah’s encouraging voice painted a picture of a family that I always wanted to be a part of. Now that I was in it, I never wanted to let it go. When I was done, I stood there for a minute and closed my eyes, holding onto that moment. Noah and I had no intentions of taking this relationship further for the time being. We had found our niche, and I wasn’t going to rush anything. We saw how that turned out last time. I didn’t regret taking him to Australia the first time, but pushing him right after about Gina wasn’t one of my best moments.
Though, if I hadn’t, would we still be hiding our relationship from her in Minnesota? I wasn’t sure.
Noah and Gina came into the room. Noah carried the pancakes while Gina balanced the syrup and butter in her hands.
“Let me help you,” I said, taking the crystal butter dish from her. It was a gift from Mom, and I wanted it to last longer than a week in our house.
Noah put down the plate and lifted Gina into her booster seat. “Bon appetit!”
“This looks great,” I said.
“Wait until you taste them,” Noah said, sitting down at the end of the table. “I added a secret ingredient.”
“Powdered sugar,” Gina said to me.
Noah opened his mouth in mock-shock. “It’s not a secret if you tell her.”
Gina giggled, and Noah shook his head while smiling.
“In any case, I can’t wait to try them,” I said, placing a pancake on Gina’s plate. I cut it up into several large pieces, and she doused them with syrup before digging in. “Don’t each too much though. You don’t want a full belly for surfing.”
Gina put down her fork and wrung her hands together in her lap.
“I didn’t say you can’t have any.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
“What’s wrong, honey?” Noah asked.
“What if I fall down?” Gina said.
I reached over and touched her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. I tucked her hair behind her ear and lifted her chin with my finger. “You probably will fall down. That’s part of learning. But your dad and I will be right there to help you onto your feet. Don’t think you need to be perfect on the first day. It took me a while to learn.”
“It did?” Gina asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, it did.”
Gina sighed and picked up her fork, her appetite returning.
I went back to my plate and felt Noah’s eyes on me. I lifted my gaze and met his. He had a small smile on his lips, but his eyes sparkled.
A ripple of heat moved through me. I matched the contentment in his expression. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky in life, but I didn’t question it.
After we had eaten, we changed into wetsuits and headed down to the beach.