Breakfast

Waverly brushed the locks of red hair in front of her, tying them into two pigtails. She smiled at the reflection of the little girl in the mirror.

"How's that, sweetie?" she asked. The girl beamed at her as Waverly wrapped her arms around her.

"Perfect. Thanks, mummy!"

"That's alright, Maia. Can you go get dressed for school now, please? Mama laid your clothes out on the bed." Maia nodded, her orange pigtails shaking as she skipped up the hallway to her bedroom. Waverly ran the hairbrush through her own hair briefly and then another face appeared by her reflection, followed by a third. Nicole smiled, adjusting the baby on her hip.

"Hey beautiful, are we still on for our breakfast date? Or should I make enough toast for us too?"

"We're still on. My first class is at 12."

"Alright, wanna change Ezra while I start breakfast for the girls?" Waverly nodded. "Oh and Ellie is still in bed, she says she only wants you to wake her up."

"Alright, I'll get her after I sort this cutie."

Waverly put the brush down, held her arms open and Nicole passed her their chubby baby boy. He smiled and kicked his legs in excitement.

Waverly crossed the hall into the baby's room and laid him down on the change table as she heard her wife call out, "Maia, Ava! Breakfast will be ready soon!" Her footsteps went down the stairs until they faded out of earshot.

She peeled off the baby's pyjamas and changed him, dressing him into a short sleeved, yellow onesie after. She would later add pants and a sweater to the outfit, after he'd eaten and been wiped clean of his inevitable mess. Waverly scooped him up and went into the next room over.

The toddler was curled up under a clump of blankets on the little bed in the corner. She kicked her legs and whined.

"No mama!"

"It's mummy, sweet face. Do you want to get dressed first or have breakfast?" Waverly crouched down by the bed awkwardly with the baby still in her arm.

"Breakfast!" Ellie yelled excitedly as she sat up. "Pancakes?"

"Toast today. But I think you will come with me and mama to the cafe, so maybe you'll get a treat before daycare, if you eat up all of your toast, okay, bubba?" She kissed the top of her head and took her hand. "Come on." She stood back up and took the two little ones downstairs.

"Two more for breakfast," the brunette cheered as they entered the kitchen. She strapped Ezra into his high chair. Nicole tipped some toast onto the tray that she'd cut into smaller pieces. She ruffled his dark brown hair and pecked Waverly on the lips. Then she crouched down by Ellie who had a one-handed grip on Waverly's jeans.

"Can I have a hug?" The three year old threw herself at her other mum and gave her a sloppy cheek kiss. "Oh, you're so sweet, Ellie." She lifted her as she stood up and helped her onto a stool by the bench. "The blue plate is your toast, bub."

On the left of her, Ava's long red braid swayed as she hopped off her stool.

"I'm all done, mummy. Can you help me with my shoes?"

Waverly followed the seven year old out into the entryway where the shoe rack was. Nicole cleaned up after her toast making while she watched Maia play peekaboo with her baby brother, now that she'd finished her toast and hopped down from her stool. Her little hands held the edge of the high chair tray as she jumped up and crouched down again and again. Ezra's giggles filled the kitchen.

"Maia, be careful not to pull on his chair please."

"Sorry, mama." She lifted her grip and blew a kiss to her brother instead.

"It's okay, we just need to be careful so his chair doesn't fall over. We don't want him to get hurt or you either." Ezra waved his arm up and down at Maia, a little square of toast flying out of his hand. It hit Nicole in the chest, leaving a patch of sticky jam on her uniform shirt. "Oh dear," she said while a million curse words ran through her mind, "Thank goodness my other uniform is clean."

"Mama! Mama!" Ellie shouted

"Yes, bub?" Nicole's eyes trailed back to the toddler who was showing off her empty plate, tipping crumbs all over the bench top.

"All done!"

"Good work," she said with big smile at her little one and she took the plate, loading it in the dishwasher. "Maia, go see mummy to get your shoes on." The five year old bounded off in the direction her sister and Waverly did earlier.

Nicole moved around the bench, helped Ellie down from her stool and retrieved Ezra from his chair. She cringes as he presses a sticky kiss to her cheek and wished she'd waited to get herself ready.

Upstairs, Nicole took the two kids into the bathroom and started to wipe their hands and faces. As she finished up and took the wash cloth to her own shirt, Waverly walked in with a smile.

"The girls are all ready for school, they're watching tv."

"Waves, I thought we'd agreed that there's no screen time before school?" Nicole said, disgruntled. "It doesn't prepare their minds for learning." She scooped Ezra up and onto her hip.

"I just wanted to occupy them with something so I could come up and help you. A little birdie told me your shirt got dirty."

"Well thank you. But they can occupy themselves with other stuff, you know that."

"You're right, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, okay?" Nicole nods and accepts a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, let's get these two ready and then you can get that shirt off." Waverly's fingers trail down her front, unhooking her top button.

Twenty minutes later, the family of six were loaded into the car and on the way to the school. They dropped off their older two, Ava and Maia, and then headed to their favourite cafe.

The cafe was situated across the road from the childcare their younger two attended while the mums worked. And it was the halfway point between their two workplaces, the Sheriff's Department and Purgatory High. It was also the only place with decent vegan options for Waverly. It was perfect for them.

"Good morning!" the owner called to them as a bell jingled above their heads. Nicole had one hand holding her daughter's and the other on Waverly's shoulder on top of Ezra's hand. Waverly lead the way to their usual corner booth and they piled into the round seat, the children between them.

"Good morning, Sheriff Haught, Mrs Haught. What can I get for you today?"

Waverly gave the waitress their order and then turned her attention to her wife. Nicole had Ezra balanced on one knee, bouncing him slightly. Waverly reached a hand out and tucked a lock of red hair behind Nicole's ear.

"Are you mad at me for letting the girls watch tv?"

Nicole laughed as Ellie perked up at the mention of tv, then she shook her head. Her hand found Waverly's. "I'm not mad. I just want to make sure we follow through with the rules we've set." Waverly nodded and leaned over for a kiss.

By 11:20, they crossed over the road to drop off the little two.

"Please don't leave me!" Ellie wailed. "Mama! Mummy!" She was in the doorway to the toddler room with Waverly. Ellie loved daycare but some days she absolutely hated parting with her mums.

"Mummy will be back after nap time to pick you up. You're going to have such a fun day!" Waverly said. She wiped a tear from her daughter's cheek.

"No! No fun!"

"You will have fun. Miss Clara says today you have music class. You love music class, Ellie!" Ellie huffed loudly but a small smile creeped on her face. Waverly did her best not to laugh. "I love you, sweetie. I'll see you soon."

"Bye bye!"

Waverly waved at the toddler as she exited the room, closing the door behind herself. She made her way down the hall to the nursery room where she spotted Nicole.

She could just see her from behind, as Nicole bent over to put Ezra on the floor amongst some soft toys. Waverly smirked at the view of her wife before she stepped foreword and touched her on the arm as Nicole straightened up.

"Is Ellie okay? I could hear her crying."

"Yeah, she's happy as ever now. Everything good here?"

"Yep. Bye Ezra!"

"Bye sweetie!"

Back outside, they clambered into the car, Waverly in the driver seat.

"God, I can never get enough of you in that uniform. I just want to rip it off you right now."

"I wish, but we both have work. Maybe tomorrow I'll swing by the school and grab you for lunch. Maybe we'll rush home for the hour and finally get some alone time."

"Yes please. It has been far too long."

"Alright. It's a date then."

Waverly pulled the car up outside the station. "See ya tonight, cutie. I love you." She leaned over and kissed Nicole.

"I love you too."