Alan awoke at 5, his body used to early starts and unwilling to let his mind drift back to sleep, well, that and the thunderous snores from Megan.
Last night they awkwardly maneuvered around each other and slept in pajamas accepting the situation as temporary and making the best of if.
Alan slipped downstairs to the kitchen, his mind not awake yet. The kitchen was farthest from the bedrooms so he was unlikely to wake anyone else.
On autopilot he began making a pot of coffee, he had seen his parents doing it a number of times and knew how. He tried drinking it a number of times but hated the taste and couldn't understand how his parents liked it.
While the coffee was brewing he sleepily hobbled to the bathroom and without thinking put the seat up and started groping for his penis only to not find it. With an irritated sigh and eye roll he carefully set the seat back down to not make any noise and sat on it trying to figure out how aiming worked for now.
By 530 he was more awake and bored. Why was he awake so early? He briefly considered what his mom would be doing those very few times he woke up before his alarm... Drinking coffee... no. and reading the newspaper also a no. He settled for going back to the bedroom and grabbing his cell phone.
By 6, Janet had wandered in, Her teen male body needing more sleep, but her 40ish year old mind used to the routine of being up by 5 and keeping her awake.
Adorned in a t shirt and shorts Janet hobbled out of the dark hallway, drawn to the pungent smell of freshly brewed coffee. Janet's mind had so much to say but her young body struggled to function. She hobbled over to the coffee pot, pouring herself a cup.
She sat down, across from her son playing video games on his phone. "This is when I would start making breakfast." she said a the alarms in the bedrooms sounded.
Allen looked up from his phone confused. The realization that he was the mother now, slowly dawning on him.
Janet was enjoying the opportunity to get a morning off while teaching her son a few lessons about taking care of himself. She suddenly saw with an odd clarity that she had been mothering too hard and was raising her boy to become a man-child if she didn't back off and let him fend for himself, this was only temporary after all.
Janet sipped her coffee and grimaced, "Oh God what did you do to this?" first off it was burning her tongue, but once her mouth cooled it down, it tasted like burnt bitter ash water.
"I made it like always, and children shouldn't be drinking coffee." Allen added in a mother knows best tone without thinking. "Sorry, not sure where that came from." He added.
"It's fine." Janet said unsure why she wanted to prove herself as an adult so badly. She went to the sink dumping the cup and pot out and starting the coffee over not realizing her body will give her the same results and simply prefers sugary pop or energy drinks to black coffee, and will for several years to come.
Allen got eggs out of the fridge, oddly offended that her son would imply that he could make coffee better than her. She's been preparing the coffee for... once, this morning... Allen stopped and shook his head. "God this is weird." he mumbled grabbing a frying pan and spraying it down with cooking spray.
Allen began cracking the eggs and stopped at 5, "How many should I cook?"
Janet instinctively shrugged his shoulders as if to say "I don't know" but she responded, "Each of the boys get three and the girls split three. I usually make 10 or 11 to make sure everyone has enough. Better to throw away a 12 cent egg or two..."
"than to go hungry all day." Allen finished without thinking.
They exchanged nervous glances, but stayed strong for one another. "Oh mom, make sure you add salt, pepper and onion powder. It tastes much better that way..." Janet said.
Allen searched the kitchen finding the spices and adding them in order. He found a spatula and broke the egg yolks in the pan, not bothering to whisk it ahead of time.
Janet looked over a few seconds later, "A low heat is good for your first try, but no heat won't get you anywhere."
Allen looked at the knob and realized he hadn't even turned the stove on... He and Janet both shared a laugh.
Megan lumbered in sleepily. unkempt and unshaven, still wearing her pajama pants and t shirt... "When's breakfast?" she asked in a slow deep rumble. She sat down in the chair which creaked under her weight, much like the floor. Megan looked like she could fall back asleep without hesitation.
"Just a few minutes swee- Morgan." Alan said.
"I like your name Dad" Janet said presumably trying to keep her awake.
Steven bounded in youthfully, the only one of the 4 who slept better than they usually would. "Have you called us out of school yet? Or off of work?"
Megan perked up at this, "Your mother and I discussed this last night Steph, It's only temporary but we need to play it out, If you don't show up you will have to engage with each teacher to get your missing homework assignments and play catch up. Your mother will call off, and try to get some kind of expert to come out which will hopefully be within a day or two. If that doesn't work we will focus on trying to read the book instead of activating it."
"What! That's not fair!" both Janet and Steven cried. Janet would have protested further but Steve was already in a hormonal rant. "We are in the middle of a semester, which classes do I take, in what order, and where exactly are these classes?" Steve paused for a second to let it sink in before continuing. "That's not beginning to cover the relationships we all have, or how you think you can just fall into a skilled profession requiring a college diploma with half of a high school education! Your plan is ludicrous!"
There was a long awkward pause as nobody had any better plan to offer, and nobody gave ground. Building in anger and refusing to accept the plan his children devised Steve stormed into the dining room and calling back, "I'd rather take my chances."
Allen looked across the half wall from the stove in horror. Megan popped up and began to charge into the other room, though the 230 lb frame didn't handle turns like the 110 lb body she was used to, Janet stood, her extra two inches as a teen male giving her a clear view of everything.
The book flashed as Steve whipped it open unceremoniously. Megan had only reached the doorway and could do nothing to stop him.
The light was accompanied by a new sensation, a ringing in the ears... it took a moment for the family to regain it's senses but when they did they realized...