Dream Bakery - Completed April 7, 2018

Chapter 4: They did what?


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Ruby hoped she'd have another morning to herself for a while before her siblings showed up, like the day before. But she could tell that wasn't to be the case by the time she'd grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich and settled on the couch to eat. Ricky and Kimi jostled each other to be the first downstairs and into the kitchen, with Ricky winning by a narrow margin.
They both sought out their older sister's company, following her example again by eating on the couch.

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When Ruby went to the bathroom, the twins kept talking, Ricky moving to the pile of cushions by the coffee table.
"Hey, Ricky, did you hear about the time...." Kimi began, gesturing widely, her face animated.
Ricky gave her his full attention, curious, until it was time to go to school. "Race you!" he called, jumping to his feet.
"No fair! I wasn't ready!" Kimi yelled after him, following, curls bouncing around her shoulders.

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Shortly after, Kengo came down to start breakfast. He was in a playful mood and that carried over into his cooking as he decided to prepare pancakes for the family.

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Kengo had managed to calm down and not spill any of the batter by the time his mothers came down for breakfast. Just the same, his shoulders itched and he could swear he felt a disapproving stare from his parents. He had no doubt they'd yell at him
if they caught him goofing off in the kitchen, particularly Molly, with her hot temper.
Instead, choosing not to wait, they settled at the dining room table with their breakfasts and had a light conversation about nothing in particular.
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Finished first, Masami went to the computer to do some final edits to the food review she'd written the night before.

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After enjoying his breakfast of delicious pancakes, Kengo recalled his successful prank on Masami and decided to try his luck with Molly. Not the hand buzzer this time, suspecting his Ma had warned his Mom about that one. "Mom, did you hear about the Granite Falls bears?"
"What about them?" Molly managed to look both interested and suspicious.
Kengo found it hard to resist smiling. "They watch people with picnic baskets, waiting for them to leave, then they take the baskets and carry them away in their paws, leaving thank you notes. They even clean up after themselves.
Molly laughed, shaking her head at him. "You almost had me. Go open up the bakery, I'll be down once I've finished up here."
"Okay. See you in a few." Pleased with himself, Kengo headed for their private stairs, wondering if Janet would come in that day. He had meant to call her yesterday, but lost track of time until it was too late.

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In the bakery, Kengo decided to take care of some restocking and cleaning up of expired food himself while Diya handled the day's first customer. She needed the practice after all.

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When Molly came down, she saw that Diya seemed to have things well in hand and decided to make a fresh batch of cream puffs, expecting to need them.
Kengo joined her in the back and started a fresh batch of breadsticks, hoping they would actually sell before they were forgotten and went bad, as had happened with the last batch, along with the bagels. Both casualties of the experiment with higher prices.

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Nova had followed them downstairs and started loudly demanding attention, so once she'd finished baking, Molly left Kengo to clean up their work area and gave Nova some loving, including pets and playing with the laser pointer. It seemed to help, though Nova lingered, apparently assigning herself the role of official greeter. Molly was content to let the cat have her way, so long as no one seemed to mind and she kept out of trouble.

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Done with playtime, Molly joined her customers at one of the display racks, inserting herself into the conversation and asking and answering questions.

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Kengo made the first sale of the day, a process that would have been quicker and easier if Austen Wood hadn't kept interrupting, try to tell him a funny story. Unfortunately, Kengo couldn't very well tell the other man that, so he gritted his teeth and smiled politely, while trying to focus on his customer. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so well-mannered that being rude actually made him uncomfortable.

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Kimi got started on her chores right after school. She was really only responsible for taking out the garbage in the apartment, but today she decided to be extra helpful and take out The Cakery's garbage too, without even being asked. She earned so much thanks and praise that she smiled, pleased with herself.

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With the bakery closed for the evening, Kengo took care of any necessary chores while Molly got started repairing the broken neon sign over the door which she had noticed earlier, when she was too busy to stop and deal with it.

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Later, Kimi found Kengo in the basement about to turn on the big stereo. "Kengo, guess what? There was a birthday party at school today, and they had the biggest, prettiest cupcakes ever! Do you think we could sell something like that at The Cakery?" she asked excitedly.
Interested, Kengo turned to her. "I don't know, possibly. What did they look like exactly?" he asked.
"They were as big as a little plate, with lots of sprinkles and icing. We had to eat them with forks and aI couldn't even finish mine-"
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Ricky came down in time to hear the tail end of Kimi's story. "And Jacob David got some on his shirt and on his face, it was so funny!" he interjected. "Kengo, will you help me with my homework, please? Everyone else is busy."
"Sure. Do you want to do it down here or upstairs?" Kengo asked, turning to him even as his thoughts were busy with ideas for giant cupcake recipes. Maybe they could offer them for special occasions, not just birthdays. "I think we can do it, Kimi, thanks for the idea. If you go get your homework, I'll help you too."
"Here's good, Ricky said, kneeling by the treadmill and taking out his workbook.
"I'll be right back," Kimi promised, rushing up the stairs.

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Masami came home from work needing a break from the apartment and bakery, so she went to the park for a while to sit and think. And play with her tablet while she contemplated getting older. She missed having a baby in her arms and thought some time in the fresh air might help her think about how to present the idea to Molly.