Pancakes

"Esther?" Mignon called, recognizing her daughter's figure instantly. "What are doing out here watching TV when you are supposed to be sleeping?"

She spoke in a stern voice as she walked to the living room.

"I just wanted to see mummy's face for a while before sleeping," came the soft and pity evoking reply from Esther.

Mignon blinked. She saw Esther to her room a few hours ago; had the girl missed her in such a short span of time?

"But Esther, you could have just asked me to sleep with you instead of watching TV," she said, her tone softening. She made to pull the little girl into her embrace but Esther backed away.

"Don't worry, Mummy. I'm not a little girl who can't sleep alone," she muttered. "I just missed mummy a lot and wanted to see if she would be on TV but she wasn't."