At Home with the Heatons

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

The early morning sun fell across the bedroom and landed right on the sleeping eyes of one, Dannie Bennington. For a short time, the light didn’t disturb the sleep of the mother. After several minutes, however, the warm light started to make her uncomfortable. Her brown eyes fluttered open and she rolled over, trying to find a cooler, darker place on the bed. Mid-roll she was greeted by the spread-eagled, sleeping body of her husband, Jacob, who was wearing nothing but his boxers and who had thrown off the covers sometime in the night. He was snoring softly, deeply asleep.

Sighing, Dannie snuggled up next to him and glanced at the clock from over his chest. It read 05:45. Earlier than she had intended but she didn’t seem to be falling asleep any time soon anyway. She wriggled her way out of the labyrinth of covers and limbs and headed straight for the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she was greeted by a mess of bed-head and baggy eyes. She felt like her age was gaining on her, though she chose to ignore it. Her mother had aged gracefully enough, why shouldn’t she? Not that she had seen the woman since the twins were five. Lord only knew what she looked like now. Ignoring an image of an old wrinkly woman that popped into her head, Dannie stripped down and took a hot shower to wake herself up.

Invigorated now by the hot water and energizing scents from the shower, Dannie dressed in a pair of blue jeans and an old green t-shirt from her final years at Hogwarts that still fit her, surprisingly enough. She didn’t look like much, she was only to spend the day cleaning and then possibly taking the twins to do a little school shopping. They hadn’t gotten their Hogwarts letters yet but there was some equipment that was just required, regardless of what books were needed. She would change then but for now, she was dressed to clean. There was a bathroom down the hall that had her name all over it. It was the one the kids shared so it needed much more attention than her and her husband’s bathroom.

Heading back into her bedroom, Jacob seemed to be stirring in his sleep, but he wasn’t quite awake. The clock on the night-stand now read 06:15. He would be waking in fifteen minutes by alarm, anyway. She decided to let him lie and made her way to the kitchen to make some sort of quick breakfast before he left.

Nosing through their refrigerator, she found a carton of eggs with a few missing. It would have to do, however. He didn’t have time to cook in the morning and she had nothing to do so she cooked for him in the morning and they usually shared the cooking at night. Wondering to herself, she pondered what else they had. She opened a few cabinets until she found what she was looking for. Pancake mix. She would surprise the family this morning with the delicious smell of pancakes wafting underneath the doors of sleeping children’s rooms. They would be awake, dressed, and ready for chores almost as soon as the first cake hit the pan.

Quickly mixing up the batter, Dannie found a flat pan in another cabinet and set it on the oven. She turned on the fire and waited for the pan to heat up. When it was what she deemed warm enough, she dropped a ladle full of batter into it on one side, then scooped another ladle and dropped it on the other side. The cakes sizzled a little in the pan as they cooked and fluffed up. With a turner, she flipped the cakes over, and let them cook on the other side. When they were done, she put them on a plate and was about to begin making two more when she heard the loud buzzing of an alarm clock come from hers and Jacob’s room. He was going to be awake very shortly.

 

[Jacob Heaton]

The morning light streaming through the cracks in the blinds had no effect on Jacob Heaton. Like usual, he was sprawled out on the bed, taking up his side of the bed as well as his wife. Not to mention he had kicked all the covers off during the night. The man was by no means a graceful sleeper, and he had passed the dreaded trait onto his son Bryan. And it was of course Bryan, out of all the children, that had slept with his parents for the longest time. Thankfully the two had broke him of the habit a few months ago, leaving the bed for the parents. Jacob wasn’t sure who took the transition the hardest; Bryan, who was attached to his mother at all times, or his wife, who hated seeing her children upset. The result was worth it though.

The heavy sleep portion of his night was over, and he was vaguely aware of his wife getting out of bed. Jacob was use to her getting up earlier then him, as she spent her days taking care of the house and their four rambunctious children. It was unpractical for both him and her to have a job; paying for childcare would drain the money that the two were making and the house would never get clean. For now, things would remain the same.

As the sun rose, Jacob began stirring. The sunlight had beat the blinds, and was gently streaming into the room. The house was beginning to smell like pancakes, a treat for the children. Normally breakfast was eggs or cereal during the week, to keep things simple. Minutes later, his alarm went off and he dragged himself out of bed to turn it off. After a quick shower, he dressed for the day in his usual attire; black shoes, a dark pair of jeans and a black shirt. He’d add the black robe he wore to work later on, it was too warm in the house to add it right now.

The door to his children’s room were still shut, but he knew Dannie would soon change that. All of the children were old enough to help out around the house, and that’s exactly what they did. They were done by midmorning, and the children were allowed to do as they pleased afterwards. Jacob could hear movement in the boys bedroom, and assumed that one of them was getting awake.

Once he reached the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “What’s the special occasion that deserves pancakes during the week?” He asked her, enjoying the quiet that surrounded them. It was rare for the two to get alone time besides a few brief minutes in the morning and late at night. Once the children were all settled in bed, both of them were ready to crash as well.

 

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

Being in tune with her house and everything that went on from within it, Dannie knew Jacob was up and moving about but when he grabbed her, she was taken a little by surprise. It was a nice surprise, but it was still a surprise nonetheless. The pan was empty so Dannie thought it would be alright to turn around and return the kiss, on his lips rather than just on his cheek. It had been ages since the two had time to themselves. The moment was over before it even began, however, because moments after returning the kiss, the plodding of Yvette making her way into the kitchen separated the two. Looking at her daughter, Dannie was greeted with her husband’s bed head and princess pajamas demanding what smelled so good.

“I woke up extra early today so I felt like making everyone pancakes. A nice little treat for everyone.” Smiling at her daughter, she leaned forward and picked her up under the arms, setting her on the counter. Yvette let out an excited squeal at this and sat watching her mommy make pancakes.

Under the watchful eye of a 6-year-old, Dannie dropped more batter into the pan, waiting for the edges to just come enough that she could flip them before turning them to cook the other side. With two more pancakes done, only two more would be enough to feed everyone in her family one cake! Chuckling at the thought, and the knowledge that she had to make more food than the average mom just to feed her whole family breakfast, Dannie continued adding batter to the pan, flipping cakes, and repeating the process.

While she made the cakes, Yvette waved to catch her daddy’s attention, pointing at the fridge, She wanted a cup of orange juice but was too high off the ground to get it herself. “Daddy!” she called out to him. “juice pwease!”

 

[Jadyn Heaton]

Grumbling in her sleep, Jadyn heard her little sister get out of bed and leave the room, blonde bed head and all. Slowly, the brunette opened her eyes to see that, once again, Yvette had left the door open so any noise going on outside filtered into the room preventing Jadyn from sleeping properly. Throwing the covers off, Jadyn rolled out of bed and trudged to the door with the intent to close it. When she reached the piece of wood, however, her nose was happily greeted with the smell of pancakes. “Pancakes? On a Wednesday?” Jadyn was thoroughly confused but not complaining. Sure, that probably meant she had to do extra work after her shower, but she would be full of delicious pancakes and, therefore, wouldn’t complain.

Instead of closing the door, the young girl turned around, put on her pink, blue, and green striped flip flop slippers and threw her light pink robe over her white soft board shorts and light blue tank top. With the smell of pancakes now filling the room she knew there was no sleeping to happen. Her stomach would get the best of her shortly and she would be forced to get up eventually.

“Good morning,” she grumbled, entering the kitchen. Reaching the fridge, Jadyn pulled it open and took the large jug of orange juice out. She heard her little sister asking her daddy for a glass of juice but Jadyn was already pouring some so she poured two glasses, one being plastic with a top so Yvette didn’t spill it all over the kitchen floor. It would be Jadyn who had to clean it up if her sister spilled.

“Hey, mom, what’s with the pancakes?” she asked, though part of her assumed the woman had been asked that question several times this morning already. As she asked the question, various degrees of cleaning ran through Jadyn’s head. The toilets had been cleaned last week, they wouldn’t need it again until next week, the showers were all spotless as of yesterday, and the floors had been swept and washed on Monday. She couldn’t think of anything else she would have to do that would involve her mom bribing them with pancakes. Unless she was really just feeling nice.

 

[Jacob Heaton]

The precious alone time lasted all of half a minute. Parenting kicked in when the six year old blonde princess of the family entered the room. Kissing in front of the children was awkward, as all four of them were at the stage where they were easily grossed out by it. He swore that young children had some sort of sense that let them know when both their parents were awake. When Dannie was awake by herself or he by himself, none of the children ever arose. But the minute the two were together, someone was up. More often than not, it was Yvette. Bryan use to be the same way, but he had started sleeping later recently, a sign Jacob took as oncoming maturity.

“Morning Princess,” he said, kissing the top of the littlest girl’s head. While he tried to show affection evenly to all of his children, it came more naturally when he was around his little girls. Both of them had him wrapped around their little fingers, and both used it to their advantage. His other not so little princess grumbled into the room. Jacob assumed Yvette must have gotten her up somehow. “Morning Jade,” he called as he began to set the table and his older daughter took over some of his duties by getting his youngest juice.

With the table set and two of his children up, his day was well underway. As the girls took care of the cooking, he dealt with the arrival of the delivery owls. One clutched a London paper, the other a German paper, and the last a New Zealand paper. Jacob had to know what was going on everywhere, a trait his ten year old son started to show as well. He never thought of it as a bad trait until his son had started trying to uncover the family history. The arrival of the papers reminded him that he had to discuss what had happened a few days ago in a bookstore with the twins.

As he sat down to check a certain portion of the newspaper before anybody else could get to it, another blonde head bumped into his knees. Jacob hadn’t heard the seven year old get out of bed, but sure enough Bryan was hopping through the room in his too small frog pattern pajamas. “Get off the ground, you are not a frog,” he called, peering at the boy over the top of his newspaper. Bryan and Yvette were close enough in age that it was like having another set of twins; the only difference was Bryan was a great deal taller and heavier than Yvette.

“Should I go wake up Zachary?” he asked Dannie, “That boy has been sleeping later and later. I swear he has been sneaking out at night.” The thought of any of his children sneaking out scared him, but Zachary in particular. Out of all his children, Zachary reminded him the most of himself and Dannie when they were younger and both of them had their share of problems as teenagers. Jacob worried about what would happen as his son grew older.

 

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

From out of the corner of her eye, Dannie spied Jadyn come into the kitchen, fresh out of a long night of sleep. It was obvious from her appearance that she had just gotten out of bed, though Jadyn had been fortunate enough to not inherit her father’s sleeping habits. Her hair looked fine, unlike that of her sisters. Fortunately enough for Yvette, Jadyn had come in at the exact moment she asked for juice, and juice was awarded to the girl. Dannie smiled at seeing her family. It was these little moments, the ones where everyone was getting along, there was no arguing, and the house was peaceful that Dannie couldn’t help but smile. This was exactly how she would have wanted her life to turn out.

She snapped back to reality, when Jadyn asked why she was making pancakes at the exact moment the scent of blackened pancake met her nose. Never were the cakes burnt, just blackened. Before she could answer Jadyn’s question, Dannie took her flipper and pulled the blackened cake out of the pan. Someone would eat it, it would just take that one longer than the rest of them. The fire hazard out of the way, Dannie could address the question at hand. “I woke up earlier than usual and decided that it was a good morning to make pancakes.” A smile ended the question and Dannie returned to her pancake making.

While she continued making the food, she sensed Bryan get out of bed and enter the kitchen in his usual frog-like fashion. The little boy had been so in love with frogs practically since he knew what a frog was. The fascination was adorable but sometimes it was a little difficult to get him to focus, him being so focused on frogs all the time. Dannie knew, however, that it would wear off with age and turn into something more of a hobby in his spare time rather than all he ate, drank, and breathed.

“Yeah, go wake him up. Be prepared to face the Tasmanian devil in the process.” Dannie secretly agreed she was afraid of Zach sneaking out at night but she didn’t dare think too much about it. That was something both Dannie and Jacob would have done in the past, though it wouldn’t have been for a few more years. Once Zach reached his mid teen years, then it would be time to start watching him just a little more carefully. For now, she would just let him be.

 

[Zachary Heaton]

Zachary heard Bryan get out of bed, or leap out of bed. He wasn't too sure what it was. Grumbling, he rolled over and pulled his blue comforter over his head. It was much too early. He went to the park last night in hopes of finding someone to hang out with; no such luck. Being only ten, he had yet to figure out where people go at night, and that wasn't a bad thing. He'd learn soon enough.

Bryan had left the door open, and Zachary could hear the sounds from the kitchen seeping into the room. It sounded as though his mother was making pancakes, yet it was only Wednesday. She probably wanted something from the twins. The young boy settled back down under the covers, and drifted back to sleep.

 

[Jacob Heaton]

It crossed Jacob’s mind too late that he had just volunteered to wake up the beast. The childish part of him wanted to push Jadyn into doing it, but knew that would be wrong on his part since he volunteered. Zachary was extremely grumpy upon awakening, much worse than he was normally. Still, it was Jacob’s fault for volunteering. He placed his paper on the table, and narrowly avoided stepping on Bryan as he got up.

The door to the boys room was open, but the lump in the right corner did not seem to mind. The man walked over to the blue covered mound, and poked it on what he presumed to be the head. “Come on, time to get up,” he said. The mound responded by grumbling and rolling over. Jacob frowned, and pulled back the covers. “Get up grump, your mother has pancakes and chores ready.” Before leaving the room, he opened the blinds.

“Well, his covers are off at least. And he’s trying to communicate,” Jacob told his wife as he walked back into the kitchen. Again, he almost stepped on Bryan. “Kid, I swear I’m going to get you an aquarium to live in.” The father bent down to pick the blonde boy up. This was quite possibly the wrong thing to say to the child, as the sudden appeal of living in a frog like habitat crossed his mind. “Why don’t you go hop onto your brother’s bed and bounce awhile. You too, little miss.” He put the boy down, and set Yvette down from the counter. The two went off, and within seconds the grumbling down the hall grew louder. “He’s awake,” Jacob said, as if it needed further explanation.

It was a cruel trick, sending the two littlest ones, but one that worked. Like all older brothers, Zachary found the kids unbearable. Breakfast was ready, so Jacob started setting plates and glasses out. With all four children up, the place would quickly become a zoo.

 

[Zachary Heaton]

Oh, how Zachary hated children. After his father woke him up, he managed to fall back asleep for about two minutes before the brats were in his room. "Alright, I'm awake!" he shouted, pushing Bryan off his bed. He didn't dare push Yvette off, as she was the youngest and therefore the princess of the house. Grumbling, he rolled out of bed.

The boy didn't bother throwing anything on over his pajamas and he still had last night sock's on, which were downright filthy on the bottom. He stomped off into the kitchen, and flopped down at his place at the table. At the moment, the ten year old looked more like a bear than a boy. He sat hunched over, the look on his face daring anybody to talk to him.

A snarl appeared on his face as he heard "Mommy, Zachy pushed me off the bed and I think I'm getting a bruise on my knee." Precious little Bryan. Zachary hated the fact that his younger brother could now speak clearly and in complete sentence. He rolled his eyes as the little boy buried his face into his mother, wondering why Dannie put up with it.

 

[Jadyn Heaton]

And with a whirl of daddy, small children, and an angry twin, Zach was awake and sitting at the table. Jadyn couldn’t help but giggle at how he got woken up every morning. It was his fault he didn’t get up early, and he earned everything that came to him. Part of her wanted to inquire what his night had brought him, but knew that until Zach was showered and finished with his morning chores, there was no having a civilized conversation without getting her head bitten off at least once.

While her twin sat at the table, Bryan explained his experience with Zach while Yvette ran towards Jadyn and demanded to be picked up. With a smirk, Jadyn knew exactly what was probably going through her mother’s mind. When all of the children were awake, it was like a three ring circus with something happening everywhere. Jadyn bent down and picked up her sister and carried her over to the table where the small girl perched on Jadyn’s pajama clad lap. Part of her knew Zach wouldn’t want Yvette anywhere near him after waking him up but another part of her wanted to spite the young boy. Her own form of punishment for him sneaking out.

While she sat with Yvette, still bouncing in enjoyment of waking up Zach, she saw her daddy getting plates out. Lifting Yvette off of her lap, Jadyn got up top help. She knew how much stress her parents were under from raising four children so she tried to help with the small stuff when she could. “Here, dad, let me take some of those,” she said to him with a smile, taking a stack of plates off of the counter and putting them on the table.

 

[Dannie Bennington-Heaton]

As soon as her husband left the room to wake their eldest son, Dannie breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she loved each and every one of her children, she dreaded the mornings when she had to go and pry Zachary out of the bed with a crowbar. He was turning into the teen-ager she and Jacob were, the one who slept until noon, was out all night, and never listened to any adult figure. And the boy was only ten! Jadyn hadn’t nearly hit that stage yet. She was mature enough to know her responsibilities and carry them out but she wasn’t being nearly as out-right rebellious as Zachary was. Part of Dannie knew the day would come when Jadyn, too, would become every typical teen-aged daughter but another part of Dannie resented the fact that her babies were growing up, instead hoping they would stay ten-years-old forever.

She watched as Bryan and Yvette, her two still small babies, ran into the bedroom to wake up their brother. It had become one of their favorite hobbies. Dannie guessed it was because he was, to the small eye, amusing first thing in the morning. Regardless, it made the job easier for Jacob and Dannie. From the boys room, she heard a thud as she ladled the last of the pancake batter into the skillet and sighed knowing that it was probably Zachary hurting Bryan in some way or another.

Growing up in a house of women, Dannie never experienced rowdy young boys first hand but part of her wondered if this was, in fact, how all older brothers acted. She knew there was going to be some rough-housing but sometimes Zachary was just downright abusive to Bryan. Sure enough, moments later Bryan and Yvette came toddling back into the kitchen, Bryan looking up at Dannie, a sad look in his eyes. Dannie bent down to his level as he explained that Zach had pushed him off the bed. Pitying the small boy, she picked him up and held him while she finished cooking the pancakes with one hand. When they were all done, she carried the plate- and Bryan- to the table where she set both down and turned to Zachary. “Zach, you know better than to push your brother off the bed,” she warned him. The look Zach was giving the general populous that morning was enough to tell Dannie that this would have to be addressed at a later time. There was no getting to Zach now.