Complete Chaos

077

Steve woke up early on the first Saturday in February. He got Melody from her room and took her downstairs with him.

"Are you going to be my little helper today," he said to his daughter as they both walked to the kitchen holding hands.

"Yah," she responded.

"We are making breakfast in bed for Mama's birthday," he told her.

Julia was still upstairs in their bedroom, sleeping.

He only had a few extra minutes before she would wake up and look for Melody. He was planning on making pancakes with some strawberries on the side.

It took him a few minutes to look for the ingredients and the pan he needed, but eventually, he got everything out.

While Steve was in the kitchen mixing the batter, Melody was running around the living room.

She couldn't be stopped. She had a lot of energy for a girl her age.

Every night Steve and Julia would be exhausted, and Melody would fight to stay awake for a little bit longer.

Melody began to scatter her toys all around the sofa. Steve wanted to have the house clean for Julia. He didn't want to worry her or stress her out.

It was her birthday, and he thought that would be a good birthday present. 

"Mellow put your toys back in the box," he pointed toward the wooden toy box.

Melody being a little trouble maker didn't listen to her father and dropped more toys on the floor. She giggled and ran again.

Before Steve could tell her to be careful, she tripped on a wooden block; she had dropped earlier.

She fell, hitting her pinky toe on the block and her knees on the floor.  "Dada," she cried.

He cleaned his hands and rushed to her side.

Steve picked up his crying daughter. "Where does it hurt," he asked.

She slapped her knee. He scanned her knee. "You're going to be just fine," he reassured her.

He kissed her cheek. "Do you want to help me," he asked. "Yeah," she sniffed.

He walked to the kitchen and handed her a whisk. He sat her on the kitchen counter. "Carefully mix," he instructed. With both hands, Melody began to mix the batter.

She made a mess Steve knew was inevitable. With a napkin, he cleaned around the bowl.

Melody was happy to help her father but was not good at following directions. She somehow got some of the batter on her hair. He tried his best to clean her hair, but it wasn't enough; she had to take a bath.

Once she was done, Steve made the pancakes. The stove was hot, and Melody couldn't help.

She whined about it. To calm her down, Steve gave her another duty to keep her entertained. In a big bowl, he poured water and gave her four strawberries to clean.

She played with the strawberries splashing the water outside of the bowl. She was only making more of a mess, but Steve was concentrating on not burning the pancakes.

He set the freshly made pancakes on a white plate. The stack was getting taller; he might have made a lot.

He turned the stove off and checked on Melody's progress.

The bowl was half empty; the water was on her clothes and on the floor. There were only three strawberries. One was on the bowl, the other one was on her leg, and the last one was in her hand.