Breakfast At Ryan Manor Who: Hurley and Malcolm Where: Ryan Home When: Saturday Morning
In a pair of boy shorts an over-sized T, Hurley trudged her way, not quite fully awake, down stairs to the kitchen. Being the start of the weekend, Hurley took advantage of her ability to sleep in. Which meant it was near ten o'clock before her legs swung out slowly from beneath the covers, with her feet touching the wood planked floor of her bedroom.
Her father, Malcolm, was currently sitting at the island in the kitchen, reading his newspaper and sipping on an OJ. The rest of the family was out, which left him alone with Hurley. He looked up when he heard her moving and smiled, "Mornin', kiddo."
"Morning pop." She responded without a glance her dad's way once she entered the kitchen, making tracks immediately toward the fridge. Taking out the carton of orange juice, Hurley opened it as she turned toward her dad to actually acknowledge him with a smile before she took a drink directly from the juice carton.
"If your mother saw that she'd pitch a fit," he said to her. Of course, he was guilty of drinking from the carton himself sometimes. Why pour a glass when you only wanted a mouthful? Well, that was his thinking, anyway. "If you want, I could make you breakfast," he offered. While he'd been up for hours, he'd held off from eating anything. He wanted to be able to cook something for both of them. If Hurley said 'no', he hoped that she'd change her mind as soon as she smelled the enticing food, anyway.
"Yeah, I know." She shrugged lightly, opening the fridge again to stick the carton back in on the shelf. That little bit of knowledge, though, never prevented Hurley from using the juice carton as her own personal cardboard glass. "Naw, I'm just gonna grab a donut." Hurley told her father as she shuffled over to one of he cabinets and opened the door only to grumble her sister's name with an inaudible word of profanity. Nora knew she had dibs on the last double chocolate, and yet her sib seemed to feel that had no meaning. "Sure, pop. So, what are you still doing home, don't you have some fish to be out catching." She said playfully, settling in at the island across from her father.
He had to chuckle when Hurley realized that Nora had taken the last donut. "I can have a day off," he told his daughter, before setting his paper down on the counter and moving around the island, collecting a pot and a pan from the cupboards. He wasn't sure what he needed, and tried not to bend down too often if he could help it. "What are you craving? Pancakes? An omelet?" He was willing to do just about anything, really. "And the benefit of being the boss is that you can have a day off whenever you want," he told her.
"An omelet with sausage." She answered, reaching for the morning paper, Hurley spread it out on the counter in front of her, opening the morning paper to the comics page. "Oh, and some pancakes too." Some mornings she could eat more then her younger brother, but at least she had a way of working off all those extra calories.
"The lot then," he replied with a laugh, thinking that he'd fill the family up with hamburgers later so they could all feel stuffed and happy. He hoped to pull the kids into a family movie, but if they weren't into it at least he still had Jo and Henry if the girls went out. Smiling, he collected all of the things that he'd need for their breakfast. "Plans for the day?"
"Gonna take in a run after breakfast so I don't have to deal with the battle of the bulge in the future." Best way she could think of to burn off unwanted calories and keep her girly shape. "Then suppose to meet up with Jack this afternoon." She offered up to her father, flipping over to the next page of the newspaper. Hurley tended to find herself booked up with stuff during the week, so the time she could spend time with her cousin was over the weekend.
Mal nodded as he cracked a few eggs into a mixing bowl, shredding some parsley and adding some milk as well before mixing the concoction together. He soon set that aside, grabbing some ham, tomato, mushrooms, salmon and cheese, cutting all the pieces up finely, taking his time with it, making sure to keep them separate for now. After a few minutes he set some sausages on the stove, knowing that they'd take the longest to cook. "Oh yeah?" He asked with an arched eyebrow. "What are you two up to, then?"
"Just some girl stuff." She answered, flipping over to the sports page then. While she was close to her father, it had never been a habit of hers to share inconsequential portions of her life with the guy. Like hanging out with her cousin at the lighthouse for about an hour.
"Alright," he replied, letting the sausages sizzle for a few minutes before turning them over to crisp on the other side. "If you want any extra money, let me know," he told her. It wasn't something that he offered freely. Each child had an allowance, but every so often he liked to give them each a little bit extra, especially when they'd been 'good'. He set about mixing and cooking their breakfast for a few minutes. "Call me if you decide to stay overnight."
"Pop," Hurley glanced over toward her father then, "teenage girls can always use a little extra cash in the pockets." She grinned, wiggling her fingers as she held out a hand to her dad. Hey, he had offered and she was only doing the right thing and accepting. "I should be home by dinner." She told him them, as unless she had outstanding plans with friends, Saturday nights were her own, and usually spent in her room on the computer playing one game or another with an online friend.
He had honestly thought that she had something serious to say to him and panicked for a moment before she continued, then he laughed. "You know where my wallet is," he told her. He usually took it out as soon as he got home and set it down on the table in the hall. "There should be a $20 there for you," he added as he continued to cook their breakfast.
"I'll grab it on my way out." Spying that breakfast was almost ready, Hurley wandered away from the island over to the fridge to grab out the carton of juice. Girl needed something to help wash down the delicious smelling meal her father was cooking up. "You and mom going out tonight?"
"Grab a glass this time," he told her. He wasn't authoritative about it, really. It came across as suggestive, more than anything. He began serving up her breakfast. An omelet with a pancake and a sausage on the side. He gave her all the sauces she could possibly need, then set about making his own breakfast. To her question, he replied with: "I hope so. It depends how your mother feels." He tended to go with how Joanna felt, unless he had one of his migraines.
Hurley shrugged at the suggestion as she set the juice carton down on the counter, but she went with it anyway. Getting herself a glass then, and the bottle of ketchup that he father missed in setting out for her, Hurley perched herself back at the island just as her father set to making his own breakfast. "I'm sure mom will be willing, anything to get out of the house and away from the 'kids'." The teen pointed out as she proceeded to drench her omelet in ketchup.
Mal chuckled, setting aside more salmon for his omelet than he did for Hurley's. "It's not that we don't love you guys. Sometimes adults just need some alone time, that's all," he replied. He didn't just mean sex, of course. He loved taking Jo for walks along the beach and just talking to her. He could talk to her for hours. "But we'll see, anyway." He would be just as content to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. It was the simple pleasures that made life worth living.