Page 120 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
"Yeah, I'm going to text my mom and see if she's willing to lend a hand."
"That's a great idea."
Just as Caden shot off his message to Sandy, a crash from downstairs sounded, followed by what was definitely Lucas yelling about something.
"Sounds like the kids are up," Caden said with a sigh.
Another bang, then Zoe's voice carrying up the stairs, though I couldn't make out the words.
"Maliyah probably has her hands full," I said, reluctantly pulling away from Caden's warmth. "We should get down there."
"Shower first?"
"You go ahead. I'll brush my teeth and then switch with you."
We moved around each other in a practiced morning routine—him stepping into the shower while I washed my face and brushed my teeth. The normalcy of it felt both comforting and strange given everything that had happened.
"Your turn," he said, emerging from the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
"Thanks. Is it getting louder down there?"
"I think so. But I think I smell breakfast, so that's something."
When I emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, Caden was dressed and checking his phone.
"Anything important?" I asked, pulling on jeans and a sweater.
"Just work stuff. I'll deal with it later. According to Lauren, her replacement, Nathan, is doing well. Picking things up quickly, and will be ready to be on his own soon. I think I agree since, when I checked my phone this morning, he sent me an email with essentially a rollup of everything that happened yesterday when I was out of office. Then—check this out." He leaned over and showed me his phone.
"He already sent a list of everything he rescheduled for today and tomorrow and he rafted an email to the team about me being out for the next several days. It's only just eight in the morning!"
We made our way out of our bedroom together, and I noticed Macy's door was open, her room empty. She must have already gone downstairs with the other kids.
"At least someone's cooking," I said as the smell of pancakes and bacon grew stronger. "Maliyah must have gotten up early."
But as we reached the top of the stairs, I heard a door slam somewhere below us, followed by sudden quiet. The yelling and banging had stopped abruptly.
"That's weird," Caden muttered.
We made our way down the stairs, and when we rounded the corner into the kitchen, I stopped short.
Caden's mother, Sandy, was standing at our stove, flipping pancakes on a griddle I didn't even know we owned. The counter was covered with what looked like enough food to feed a small army—bacon, eggs, hash browns, fruit salad, and a stack of pancakes that was already taller than seemed reasonable for our family.
Before either of us could say anything, the front door banged open, and we heard Cash's voice boom through the house.
"I brought bagels! Everything bagels, sesame, plain, and some of those fancy ones with the cranberries!"
"I'm making pancakes!" Sandy yelled back from the kitchen, not turning around from the stove.
Caden and I stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the scene unfolding in our kitchen. We hadn't even said good morning to anyone yet.
Sandy finally noticed us and immediately threw her hands up, spatula still in one of them.
"Oh, honey!" she exclaimed, rushing over to envelop both of us in a fierce hug. "I may have hated that C you next Tuesday, but even the devil wouldn't keep me from being there for my Macy."
I found myself pressed against Sandy's ample chest, breathing in her familiar scent of hairspray and vanilla perfume, completely overwhelmed by her sudden presence in our kitchen.
"Mom," Caden said when she finally released us, "what are you doing here? How did you even get in?"
