Page 10 of Johnathan

The pancake slipped off the spatula and unceremoniously flopped onto the counter top. John picked it up with his fingers and threw it at the plate next to the griddle. Shit, it was hot!

“Oh, you do?” He shoved one of the pancakes that had been sitting on the plate cooling off into his mouth. Breakfast wasn’t really his forte, but they had turned out okay. At least they weren’t burnt. A nice steak on the grill, now that he could handle.

His brother, Jackson, had invited him and Katy to tag along with his family that morning to the farmer’s market, and John had wanted to start the day out with something special for Katy. Now, ten heart-shaped blobs were stacked tall on the plate in front of him.

He tried to answer Katy with no emotion, but his heart was breaking for his little girl who so longed to have that love in her life. Sure, there was a part of him that had tried to be ready for that phase. The one with princesses who had tea parties, or little ballerinas who danced in the living room with their moms. But there was another part of him that hoped it was still a few yearsaway. His baby was hurting. Yearning for something he was failing to give her.

“Ms. Abby.”

John choked on his pancake. He grabbed his glass of orange juice off the table and took a big gulp.

“Why do you think that, sweetheart?”

“She’s so nice. I be line leader. Color wif my fwends. She has mermaid ducktakes for class!”

“I’m glad you got to have cupcakes with her, but Ms. Abby and Daddy are just friends.”

“Right! She has princess eyes.”

“Princess eyes?”

“Mhm,” Katy smiled. “When Uncle Jackson sees Aunt Gracie, she has princess eyes.”

His daughter opened her eyes wide and smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

“Eat your breakfast, kid. You’re killing me. We still need to do your hair before we leave for the farmer’s market.”

“Piggy tails!”

“Yeah, I think I can manage those this morning.”

The doorbell rang and John looked at his watch. Shit. He was already running behind.

“I get it!”

“Katy, sit on your butt and eat your breakfast. It’s just Uncle Jackson and Aunt Grace.”

“And Jack Jack.” Katy added as he got up from the table.

“Yes. I’m sure they have Jack Attack with them, too.”

“Hey.” Grace looked him up and down and smiled as he held open the door for her. “Running behind this morning?”

“Aren’t we always?”

“Definitely harder getting out the door with kids. I hate being late, but this little goober seems to only ruin his outfits when we have somewhere we have to be at a certain time.”

John’s nephew gave him a big smile, complete with his five adorable teeth and tons of drool.

“God, he’s getting so big.” John held out his hands to Grace and she passed her baby right over to him. “Hey Jack, are you ready for a fun day at the market?”

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to flirt with Emma. She’s currently his favorite person,” Grace said as she walked towards the kitchen.

“That’s my boy. Already got all the ladies falling for him.” Jackson smacked John on the shoulder.

“Yeah, he clearly takes after his Uncle Johnny.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “If that were the case, I think you’d be dating a certain school teacher you can’t stop talking about.”