Sam decided to leave Wyatt sleeping, and he got dressed quietly and went out. He found the kids and the dogs in the kitchen clustered around the dog dishes.
"It's Sam! Look!" Riley said excitedly and jumped in place.
"Good morning, Riley. Good morning, DJ," Sam said.
"Morning!" they both said to him cheerfully, but their eyes were questioning.
To late, Sam realized that he might have to explain why he was there. But it turned out the boys had other things on their minds, like Barney and Brownie pawing at the back door.
DJ pointed at the back porch and told Sam, "They wanna go out. Uncle Wyatt said it's OK for them to go in the back."
Sam opened the back door and the dogs ran out. "We'll keep an eye on them. Now do you two want to help me make breakfast?" he asked the boys.
Right away Riley said yes and he bounced over to the fridge. "I know how to make breakfast," he boasted. Then he got out a carton of milk. He turned to Sam. "Now it's your turn. You get the cereal."
"What if we put the milk in glasses and make some pancakes?" Sam said to him.
"You know how?" Riley said.
"I do." He had already thought of something he wanted to make. "I want to make skinny pancakes."
"Skinny?" DJ said.
"They are special pancakes. I think your uncle might like them. And I think you and DJ will like them too. What do you think?"
Riley wasn't a hundred percent sold on the idea of skinny pancakes, but he said, "OK."
"We'll need some of that milk and flower and eggs."
DJ and Riley helped him gather what he needed then he let them help with breaking eggs and mixing.
"Now we fry them up," Sam announced.
Both of the boys climbed on chairs and kneeled on them backwards so they could watch him make crepes.
"They are skinny," DJ said impressed as the first crepe was done and it went sliding onto a plate.
After Sam had a few of them made, he checked for the ones that weren't still hot.
"This one is cool enough. You can fold it or roll it up. You want to try it?" He gave the floppy crepe to Riley to eat with his hands and then got another one for DJ. "And one for you."
"It's good," DJ said after biting into it cautiously.
That was good news. If they liked them plain, they would like them even better with some fillings. Sam looked in the fridge, but there was no whipped cream. Too bad. He would have to remember to pick some up and bring it over.
Going back to the stove to make more crepes, Sam wondered at himself. He was already taking it for granted that he would be back here bringing with him whipped cream and God knows what else. And why not? It was obvious he couldn't stay away from Wyatt.
Just as he realized he should have started coffee, Sam heard the kids wishing good morning to their uncle.
"Look, Sam is here," Riley exclaimed "He made us skinny pancakes!" DJ was busy chewing and holding up what was left of his crepe.
"Crepes. I was not expecting this," Wyatt said while he beamed at Sam and made him remember what they did last night in vivid detail.
"The kids and I made them for you," Sam whispered when Wyatt went over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Riley flipped these? Impressive. How did you know I liked them?" Wyatt wondered.
"In one of the pictures from Europe that you showed us, you were sitting at an outdoor cafe and there was a plate with crepes in front of you," Sam said feeling embarrassed at how well he remembered every image of Wyatt he saw.
