“Julliette! Amelia! Vincent! Get up here now!”

The kids rushed up the stairs into the kitchen.

“There’s some leftover meat in the fridge, y’all wannna share this as your treat? It’s a little past the expiration date but I think it’ll be fine.”

Vincent let out a joyful, yet piercing, scream.

“Alright, alright but we gotta make sure to save some leftovers for our chickens. We’ll never get to eat a as-close-to-a-farm-as-we-can-get fresh egg if they don’t start becoming comfortable around us. And after what y’all did earlier, that may take a while.”

Amelia hissed with disapproval.

“Lemme see… expiration was October 28th… takeaway nine… add the other number… then there’s daylight savings time… and— damnit Julliette I’m going, I’m going.”

Julliette was pacing around the kitchen. Waiting for a drop of juice to fall out of the package and splatter near her.

“How about I stir in some of last nights fish grease to add some extra flavor? We’ll call it ‘stirred and fried’ meat… ha ha get it? Like stir fry but it’s stir— okay y’all aren’t even paying attention anymore.”

The children stared at the empty pan on the stove.

“Alright, alright it won’t take longer than ten minutes... maybe fifteen. Oh yeah, y’all better remember your part of the deal by the way. Don’t expect this to be happening again if y’all don’t stop messing with them chickens.”

Each of the kids looked up at Court and gave a reassuring glance to show that they had an understanding. But Court knew it was only for that moment and they had every intention to do it again.