Bonus Story - Mother's Day (Patreon)

The morning sun peeked through the curtains shining upon Sherri’s face in a moment that left her clinging to sleep for a little longer when voices burst through the doorway. Sherri barely opened her eyes when four sets of paws fumbled into the room all chasing after one another. She immediately recognized the flurry of voices, twin sets of twins. Being a first time mom was hard enough as it is but having four little fluffers all with distinct personalities and demands had made it like wrangling a litter to keep them all appeased. 

Today the pack had rushed in and much to Sherri’s surprise rather than hearing the latest catchphrase from commercials about what one of the kits had wanted to buy for their allowance instead she was greeted with plates and trays with happy chirping voices. The first had commandeered the front of the bed as Sherri sat herself up against the headboard, the little goodie-goodie that bordered on tattletale, Evie was the one that frequently ended up keeping the others in check. “Mom, mommy, look!” Sherri nodded focusing on her giving the upmost attention, “We all made you a breakfast in bed!”

“I can see sweetheart,” Sherri giggled softly looking over the plate at the handcrafted breakfast, “What did you make for me hon?” 

“I made,-“ And she was immediately interrupted by her brother.

“We put together our own meal, designed to be distinct from one another.” Eric boasted proudly, “We did it all from scratch too. I put together a highly nutritious meal of biscuits and gravy. Sausage gravy to be precise.” 

“Okay, boomer.” Evie huffed before returning to her mommapei. 

It took Sherri a moment to fully comprehend what had just happened but a hand over her face and fingers between her eyes, thankfully it was Hope that intervened because honestly she wasn’t sure how to handle that statement. “Evie.” Hope’s voice stern, “Don’t call your brother a boomer.” 

“Yeah, boomer!” Eric poked his tongue out in retort.

“Don’t start up either,” Justin groaned as Sherri leaned her head back with her hand over her brow trying to hide her laughter. “So what did you make, Evie?”

“I made an omelette with cheese and mushrooms!” She said proudly, “And, Jacob-“

“Uh uh,” Hope tapped on Evie’s snout, “Let your brother tell us what he made.” 

Jacob may have been named after a dexterous video game character that Hope and Justin had fond memories of but he certainly didn’t have the agility of his namesake. Constantly a klutz and frequently tripping over himself he was lucky to have his sisters to help guide him, “I uhm, I made pancakes!” He stepped forwards to present his part in the Mother’s Day breakfast in bed practically tripping over himself to catch his balance. 

“Do you need a hand?” chided his sister, Molly who balanced her tray on a single hand and reached out with the other easily taking hold of the rocking cup that was causing him such trouble. “There.” While Molly was technically the youngest of the quartet she was almost protective of her older brother, something that Hope saw a lot of herself in. Molly glanced up to her mom holding up the plate with a distinctly red chunky mix of tomatoes spices and an egg cooked in the middle, “I made shakshuka.” 

Seeing the trays laid out in front of her, Sherri was almost unsure of which to try first as she saw their patiently waiting faces. “They all look delicious!” Sherri said cheerfully and picked up a fork, each of them staring at her as if it were a competition, there was only one thing to do. “I thiiiink,” she put on a wry smile, and first cut a slice of pancake off, then a chunk of egg, a bit of biscuits and gravy, and finally some of the shakshuka that seemed almost out of place for the continental breakfast. Amidst their collective gasps as none of them could truly be first in her heart, she took a bite of all their concoctions combined.

Sure the mix of maple sweet syrup, savory gravy, cheesey omlette, and acidic tomato was not the first thing Sherri was expecting to taste that morning but the sweetest flavor was the way she’d outsmarted them all! “Delicious!” Sherri snickered, she truly wished she could have claimed it as her signature idea but she’d learned it from her mom in her youth when she and her siblings paraded in their traditional morning breakfasts. 

Justin and Hope stared incredulously at her, obviously impressed with such a maneuver but the subtle look in her eyes pleaded for help. Eating four meals would be quite a task for anyone but having to do it all combined at once might make her stomach explode in all the worst ways, “Kids, let your mother wake up she’s still tired.” Justin took the initiative pulling himself out of bed with Hope quickly following suit.

“She’s gonna eat all of it, right dad?” was one of the questions that opened the floodgates demanding the play by play of how the meal would go. Hope helping to gather the litter of excitable pups and herding them out the bedroom door so Sherri could actually try each of their dishes one by one. 

“Mhmm, she’s going to eat all of it, she’s super hungry!” Justin glanced over at Hope with a wicked grin and a wink, “She worked up quite an appetite didn’t she?”

“Shush!” Hope quickly snipped, her cheeks blushing lightly, “Okay you kids get ready, showers and brush your teeth. We have a fun day planned.” 

It wasn’t more than five minutes of Sherri enjoying a smidge of peace and quiet having sampled the culinary dishes from each of her kits when she heard a concerned whine and a deep masculine groan coming from down the hallway. Each dish was huge in its own right, Sherri just knew she was going to have to go grocery shopping tomorrow to restock the fridge after all this. A few short steps passing the hallway and Sherri caught a glimpse of something blurred and smudged on the sliding glass door to the backyard when suddenly turning the corner she realized what had caused such a commotion.

“Well, Justin, I think I know what I want for my Mother’s Day gift!” Hope practically cackled and patted her brother upon the shoulder, “I hope you don’t mind taking on cleanup duty.” 

That sounded particularly nice to Sherri who examined how much of a kitchen mess the kits had made, she had certainly underestimated how much of the refrigerator contents had laid itself on the counters and walls, they had even managed to get some on the ceiling as well with droplets of batter dripping to the counter below. “Well, uh.” Sherri gave pause and offered a bit of a chuckle, “I guess it’s good that we got the day started early then huh? I’m just going to excuse myself for my schedule mani-pedi spa-day. I should be back by the time you're done.” or so Sherri hoped.

Justin took a deep breath, his ears folding back as he slowly stalked out of the kitchen towards the kits bedroom, "Hey kids," he called out hiding the ominous doom of chores in his voice, "Mom said she loved the Mother's Day gift you made her, but there's something extra special she wants.."