Page 14 of Sweet Home

“In the bathroom,” Elizabeth said.

The two of them padded out to the hall bath and found some hairbands in a little tin by the sink, along with a brush and comb in a cup.

“Brushgently,” Elizabeth instructed.

Dulcie wet the brush a little and started working it through Elizabeth’s silky hair as gently as she could. Once it was untangled, she grabbed a hairband.

“I gettwoponytails,” Elizabeth said firmly.

“Okay,” Dulcie said with a smile. Delphine used to love having two French braids, so ponytails would be easy compared to that.

She parted Elizabeth’s hair carefully and brushed one side into her palm, capturing it with the band, then did the other.

“Likethat?” she asked.

Elizabeth nodded up and down, her ponytails emphatically echoing the movement.

“Great,” Dulcie said. “Let’s go make some pancakes.”

Elizabeth took off for the kitchen, leaving Dulcie to follow in her wake. When she arrived, Elizabeth was already pulling something out of a kitchen drawer.

“These are our aprons,” she said. “You can wear Daddy’s.”

Dulcie smiled, charmed that the two of them had matching aprons. Each was an emerald green, andElizabethandDaddyhad been embroidered on the fronts.

“Grandma made these last Christmas,” Elizabeth explained, as she pulled hers on. “You have to tie it for me. I’m too little.”

“Sure,” Dulcie told her, placing the other apron on the counter so she could tie Elizabeth’s apron around her waist.

“Now do yours,” Elizabeth said.

Dulcie did as she was told before heading over to the cupboard for the flour and other ingredients.

“Where’s our recipe?” Elizabeth asked.

“We don’t need one,” Dulcie told her. “I know how to make pancakes.”

“How many cups and spoons?” Elizabeth asked suspiciously.

“The right amount,” Dulcie told her. “I just sort of know as I do it.”

She poked around in the cupboard for baking powder and found a few additions that she figured Elizabeth would like.

“Okay, let’s get started,” she said. “First, we need to turn the music up.”

“We do?” Elizabeth asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Dulcie told her. “You can’t make good pancakes unless you’re having fun. Everyone knows that.”

She bumped up the radio just a little bit, not wanting to wake West. “Jingle Bell Rock” was playing, so she grabbed a spatula from the counter on her way back to Elizabeth and lip-synced a little, remembering how much Delphine used to love it when she acted silly in the kitchen.

Elizabeth turned out to feel the same, and she threw her head back and laughed in delight.

“Your turn, Lizzy,” Dulcie told her, handing over the spatula.

“I’m not Lizzy,” Elizabeth said. “I’m Elizabeth.”

“But you need a nickname,” Dulcie said. “Everyone has a nickname.”

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