Page 38 of Safe With You

"I stay on the stool."

"And?"

"I don't touch nothing hot."

"And?"

"I wait 'til you say."

"There you go."

I handed her the measuring cup.

"Pour it slow."

She stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tipped the batter onto the griddle. It landed somewhere between a circle and...well...something else entirely.

She frowned at it.

"It don't look right."

"It'll taste the same."

"It look funny."

"So do I before my coffee."

That earned me a giggle.

When bubbles finally started to rise to the surface, I slipped the spatula beneath the pancake and rested my hand over hers.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

"One...two...three."

Together we flipped it.

It landed slightly crooked.

Mila stared at it for all of two seconds before gasping.

"The sacrificial pancake!"

I laughed.

"There it is."

Every batch had one.

At least, according to Elena.

The first pancake was never perfect. She used to hold it up like she'd won a prize instead of made a mistake.

"Every batch has to give one to the breakfast gods," she'd say.

Neither Mila nor I had ever figured out who the breakfast gods were.