Chapter 33

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Peter was sipping his first cup of coffee and in the thick of making waffles with bacon when a bleary-eyed Russell wandered into the kitchen. He walked over, kissed him on the cheek, and handed him a coffee. They heard the scrabbling of nails on the hardwood floor and saw an equally bleary-eyed boy standing in his ninja pyjamas, barefoot, rubbing his eyes while Moe stood patiently beside him.

“Hey, tiger, come sit. I’ll get you juice. Do you want apple or orange?” Peter opened the fridge and brought out the apple juice as requested. He poured a glass, dished up the waffles and bacon, and went to put Moe’s breakfast in his dish. Joey already had his flakes at first light.

Once breakfast got underway, the sleepy heads began to wake up some more. Peter mussed Cody’s hair. “You got bedhead there, mister.” He did the same to Russell. “So do you, slick.” Cody looked at Russell and grinned.

“You got messy hair, Uncle Russell.” He reached up to muss it the way Peter had done.