Talia's Crucible

Chapter 3: Boys will be boys.

                Talia was determined she was going to figure out this dang blasted contraption if it killed her.  I mean it couldn’t be that hard right?  Apparently looks can be deceiving, she thought as she once again watched burned toast come out of the dang toaster oven.  At this rate she was going to be out of bread before they had something resembling anything edible!

                She huffed as she tossed yet another square shaped pair of charcoal discs into the dog’s dish in the corner.  “Don’t look at me like that mutt!   You roll around in dead things but heaven forbid I send you a little burnt toast.”

                The dog huffed at her as he turned his head away from the ever growing pile of smoldering discs in his bowl.  “Oh come on!  It is not that bad.”

                To prove a point she grabbed the most recent set she had yet to toss on the pile and bit a corner off for the dog to see.  She immediately regretted it as the piece turned to ash in her mouth and began to furiously burn her throat as she swallowed, refusing to give up her charade under the scrutiny of the furred muzzle daring her to tap.

                “See, no big deal.”  She choked out before making a mad dash to the sink and gulping water directly from the tap.

                As if to say I told you so the dog barked at her once before shoving his bowl in her direction and promptly leaving the room in a huff.  Talia stared at the dog in disbelief.  Even that thing knew better than to eat her cooking and they lick their own butts!

                “Yeah sure walk away traitor!  She called as Duke came into the room from the same hallway the dog had just used to vacate.  He was giving her a knowing grin and she wanted to badly to smack it off as he leaned past her to turn on the vent above the stove and help remove the lingering smoke from the toast.

                “He’s not a traitor; he just doesn’t have a death wish.”  Duke laughed as she threw the last pieces of burnt toast in his direction.

                He dodged them easily before sitting down at the table.  “I see you haven’t given up on learning cooking yet.”

                She gave him a glare of warning before he could continue with that line of conversation.   He held up his hands in surrender before a lopsided grin took hold and he could barely contain the giggles that took hold of his body.  “Should I get you a cooking for dumb people book?”

                He dodged the oven mitt that came at him next and then made his way to the coffee pot.  Her jaw dropped as he took the full pot she had just made and dumped it down the sink before starting another pot of coffee to brew.

                “Hey, I just made that!”  She declared with her hands on her hips.

                He looked at her with an Oh honey face before he responded. “I know you did my angel that is why I am doing us all the favor of making a new pot.”

                He practically belly laughed before booking it out of the room with her hot on his heels.  She was going to give him the riot act when she caught up to him.  She may not have had any brother’s growing up but Talia was about to show Duke she could still kick his butt any day of the week.  When she finally managed to catch up to his much larger frame she simply stuck her foot out in front of him and watched as he crashed to the ground in front of her.

                She watched as he landed smack dab in front of the traitorous fur face of a dog and he began licking Duke’s face while the big man laughed.  She couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the scene before her.

                Duke gave her a questioning glance. “Why are you laughing, he is trying to make me feel better after mean old Talia tried to poison him and then attacked me.”

                She smiled her sweetest smile before leaning down to whisper. “I’m laughing because not even ten minutes ago I watched him lick his own balls.”

                She laughed fully as Duke made heaving noises and she made her way back down to the kitchen.  No the dog really hadn’t but Duke didn’t need to know that.  How was that for sibling rivalry?  She mentally marked a check on her side of the score board as she squared off once again with the darn toaster oven.

                She was on her second loaf of bread when she heard Duke and Tanner walking down the hallway and towards the table they all shared breakfast at every morning.  Sure Duke had his own place but he was family and Talia loved the tradition they had all just sort of fallen into after finding the music box.  It was like clockwork every day and it calmed her any time she found herself looking over her shoulder for the boogeyman.

                She got out the coffee cups while Tanner got the various creamers and sugar.  Duke as always would grab the pot of coffee and the three would meet at the table to make their morning coffee.  Then Duke and Tanner would set about making breakfast.  She hated feeling useless but at this point she had to concede that the only thing she could possibly due was cause them all to be on a diet from inedible food if she tried to help cook.  She couldn’t even make toast in that blasted machine!

                She was glaring at it as Tanner came over to press a kiss to her lips.  “Did the darn thing put up a fight again?”

                She nodded her head in acknowledgement before she responded.  “Yeah, two loaves of bread down this time.”

                He stifled a laugh as he looked at her determined face. “Well that’s progress right?”

                She looked at him and couldn’t help the smile that lifted her lips as he leaned down to kiss her again.  “I guess so, if you mean it took me less time to decide I need a better battle strategy.”

                “Yeah if that’s what you call it.”  Duke chimed in from the counter where he was buttering his perfectly prepared toast.

                “Teacher’s pet.”  She threw his way.

                He grinned at her as he turned around with his plate piled high with golden perfection. “Don’t you know it.”

                She rolled her eyes as she snatched a piece from the top and bit into the golden deliciousness.  “Hey, no touching till it’s all done.  Tanner she’s stealing the best pieces!”

                Tanner simply shrugged his shoulders. “Hey man, she sleeps with me; she can have whatever pieces she wants.”

                Duke’s jaw dropped and his hand went to his heart in mock injury.  “How could you!  I thought I was the only one you were seeing?”

                Tanner pointed at him and simply fired back. “Oh, yeah I think it’s time we see other people Duke.  It’s not you, it’s me.  On second thought brother, it’s all you.”

                Duke smiled back at him before he lifted his once perfect hand. “Well bro, I would give you the finger but one crazy s.o.b already took it as a parting gift.”

                The two of them burst into laughter before returning to cooking breakfast in-between ribbing each other over everything they could think of.  She shook her head as she watched them together.  They were the best parts of a life she never had imagined she would have and she loved them so much her heart felt like it was going to spill over.

                She didn’t know how her sister was going to handle this morning banter between the two now that her and Duke had decided to make a go of it.  Her sister was more reserved like their mother when it came to all the brash talking, but she figured that if she could adapt and overcome everything she had been through in her life her sister could handle mornings with these two knuckleheads.  After all when it came to these two and the word vomit that was constantly spewed between them all she could think was boys will be boys.