Page 21 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
“Yes,” she said, looking a little sad. “But I always get shell in there and we have to get it out.”
“That’s okay,” he told her. “Do you want to learn my special technique?”
“Okay,” she said.
He took an egg and smacked it on the counter, then held it over the bowl and pulled it apart, releasing the insides neatly into the bowl.
“You cracked it on thecounter,” Pixie laughed.
“That keeps the shell from getting smushed inside,” he told her. “Do you want to try?”
“Okay,” she said.
He handed her an egg and she looked at it for a moment before smashing it down.
Everything seemed to melt into slow motion as River watched, realizing too late that he should have explained that it should be a short, sharp smack and she should immediately lift the egg over the bowl.
But it was much too late for that. The egg hit the counter and exploded, sending gleaming yellow yolk flying out sideways in all directions before it rained down on the floor.
There was a moment of stunned silence and he saw Pixie’s expression turn to horror.
He opened his mouth to tell her that it was okay, and that he should have explained better. But all that came out was helpless laughter.
John-John started laughing next, and then Nora joined in.
Finally, Pixie’s shoulders went down and she giggled a little bit before finally breaking into real laughter.
“That will happen sometimes when you use my method,” River joked as he grabbed a rag and cleanerfrom under the sink. “Let me clean up and we’ll try again. Really, I just didn’t do a good job explaining how I was doing it.”
“Why don’t you let me get that?” Nora said, hopping up and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
“How about you and Pixie do the eggs, while I clean,” he offered.
“Fine,” she said.
“You crack them,” Pixie said, eyeing the remaining eggs with suspicion.
“No,no, Pixie,” John-John chuckled.“Youdo it again.”
“You just want me to explode it again, don’t you?” Pixie said.
“Yes,” John-John replied.
That got everyone laughing again.
They all got down to work, and soon the kitchen was sparkling clean again, the eggs were scrambled and cooked, and the biscuits were cooling on the rack.
Everyone washed up, and River poured out glasses of water, grabbed the butter and apple butter from the fridge, and they loaded up their plates with a nice big breakfast before bowing their heads.
“Thank you for biscuits,” John-John said.
“Thank you for good helpers,” River ventured.
“Thank you for making River patient in the kitchen,” Pixie said.
“Thank you for things that make us smile,” Nora said, the smile in her voice clear as day.
They all dug in, and River thought the simple meal was incredibly satisfying, if he said so himself.
