Chapter Twenty-eight

The next morning Dawn woke early like normal. Well, earlier than Mark and it seemed most everyone. Everyone except Diana it seemed. Dawn had wandered into the kitchen to find Diana already working on breakfast.

"Need any help?" Dawn from just inside the door.

Diana looked behind her and smiled. "Sure. I haven't started on the pancakes yet. The box is in the cupboard."

Dawn shook her head. "Modern women and their boxes. I know I grew up in a time of casseroles and box mixes, but I hated them. I prefer the made-from-scratch method."

"But you're just the same age as me, aren't you?" Diana asked looking at Dawn.

Dawn swallowed as she picked out her ingredients from the pantry. "Actually no. They must not have told everyone." She fell silent for a minute and she retrieved the last of her ingredients and a mixing bowl. She set everything down on the massive butchers block of an island. Dawn looked up to the woman studying her. "This may sound strange, but I've not aged in fifty years."

"Holy...!!!" Diana clamped a hand over her mouth. She was in shock.

"Yeah. I know. A lot to take in." Dawn said as started to mixed the dry ingredients together. "Try imaging living fifty years not being able to settle down. Not to mention the horrible way I was made...immortal I guess you could say."

Dawn stopped there clenching her jaw tightly shut. She never spoke so much about herself. She was really just speaking to herself out loud. She wasn't even paying attention that she wasn't alone. At the moment she didn't care. She just needed to speak. To say something after all these years.

Diana reached out to Dawn to comfort her. Diana could feel Dawn was wounded and needed someone. Dawn felt her moving close and shifted away. Diana took the hint and went back to cooking a new set of bacon.

"I'm sorry for moving away. I have a thing about touch."

"You don't have to explain. It's been a while for you and you need time to get close to someone. At least you have Mark to be there with you."

"I feel like I'm burdening him too much with my problems."

Diana turned around. "I bet he doesn't think so. I can see how protective he is of you. He just wants you happy."

"He's made me happier than I can remember. The way his words breaks the walls around my heart. The way his touches seem to move the shadows away. The way he just looks at me with those eyes."

"You know your skin sparkles more when you talk about him." Diana tilted her head to the side. "I never knew there were non-animal creations out there."

Dawn looked down as she stirred the ingredients together. "I'm not a creation. I'm like this by chance. Targ thought he was healing my wound, but something happened. The small amount of his blood altered me somehow. After that I sparkled and my...powers became more." Dawn grimaced internally thinking she just said too much.

"Wait. You already had gifts before he gave you some of his blood?" Diana couldn't imagine that. But Dawn had lived for fifty years not aging. Could that be linked to her powers.

Dawn nodded not looking up. "One thing I've had for the fifty years besides not aging." Dawn sighed. "Umm.. I'm ready to make the pancakes now."

"Oh...yeah. Right over here." Diana lifted a flat surface to reveal a long large griddle. She turned a knob on the stove. "It should be ready in a little." Diana turned back to Dawn. "You can always talk to me about anything. I wouldn't tell a soul. Even Han."

"Thank you, but I need time and to tell Mark first."

"That sounds good." Diana grinned like a mischievous school girl. "So... How is it being with Mark Darlene?"

Dawn's lips quirked up. "He's a very good kisser. Very patient too."

"So nothing else just yet?"

Dawn shook her head. "He's taking his time for me. He knows some of what I've been through, and doesn't want to push me too quickly into anything."

Diana pulled down a big serving plate and set it next to Dawn who flipped the first batch of pancakes onto the plate. "Those smell and look so good." Diana took a big long sniff of the fresh pancakes.

"Wait till you have some. Made-from-scratch is the best."

"Oh I bet. Did you make enough batter for that big hungry group that might be waking early once the smell of these crawl up those stairs?"

Dawn smiled nodding. "Yeah. I tripled my normal recipe seeing as there are quite a number of hungry animals at the table."

"I think you're good for them. They are acting a bit better than normal because they saw you eating so properly."

"You know. I asked Targ if I should teach them table manners while I was here. He thought it was a good idea till we saw them mimicking me."

"Really? I would love to see that. Them sitting down with a ruler in your hand smacking them when they did something wrong." Both girls giggled at the image. "Oh. I have a Jacqueline Onassis gown I wore for Halloween two years ago."

"And my hair could be up in a tight braided bun with a flat cap with a few tulle bows fluffed on the side."

"Oh that would be perfect!" Diana squealed as she got the last of her serving plates ready.

"And what would be perfect?" Dawn glanced over her shoulder to see Han smiling as he went over to Diana and gave her a kiss. "I see you have help this morning."

"She is amazing and fun to be around. We were just thinking about her teaching the boys table manners with her dressed like Jackie O. She could wear my dress and she said she would put her hair up into a pretty cap that Jackie used to wear."

"Why would she wear your costume? Just for affect?"

Diana looked to Dawn. Dawn made eye contact and shook her head. "You can tell him later. Not right now."

"Sure!" Diana said giddily as she moved away from her husband and pulled out pitchers and filled them with milk and orange juice. Han helped by filling the coffee pot like every morning. All three could hear the first of the group entering the dinning room.

"I'll fend off the masses till help arrives." Han joked as he held the decorative coffee pot up before he pushed his back into the swinging doors that separate the kitchen from the dinning room. There were cheers from the dinning room when he emerged with the pot in hand.

The two women giggled to the themselves at the cheers and the chatter in the other room. That was always the routine. Han holds them off with coffee. "They really are something, aren't they?"

Diana smiled as she leaned against the counter near Dawn. "Yeah they are. Coming from a big family myself, it feels nice to hear that sound."

"How big?"

Diana looked to Dawn. "Five brothers. All older."

"Wow. I just have one brother. He's younger than me, but you wouldn't think of it if you saw us now. He looks like he is more my grandfather than my younger brother."

"I bet, with you being so much more...much older than you look." Dawn giggled at Diana's little hiccup in speaking.

"All done." Dawn declared with a flourish as she put the last pancake on the huge pile.

"That does look like enough for all those growling stomachs in there. I'll round up the hands." Diana started to walk to the swinging door, but stopped at turned back to Dawn. "Oh, I was thinking. Wait till we take everything else in there. I'll say 'I thought the cook should present them' when they ask about the pancakes and then you come out with the tray. See their jaws drop while giving them a little show."

"A show?" Dawn asked with a shaky voice.

"Have a little fun with them. Please?" Diana batted her eyelashes at Dawn.

Dawn sighed giving in. "Okay. But if I get scared, I'm going to go hide out in my room with the pancakes." She smirked thinking of shifting to her room holding the pancakes.

Diana was laughing as she went into the dinning room. Dawn heard the soft scrapping of chairs against the floor. Then the sound of footsteps walking to the kitchen. Dawn shyly bowed her head when the door opened.

"So this is where you went. Mark thought as much when he woke to an empty bed." Targ said smiling as he came in.

"He wasn't worried, was he?"

Targ shook his head as he lifted a plate with bacon and sausage piled high. "He knew that if you got scared or uncomfortable, you would just pop back into the bedroom. He liked that you ventured out on your own."

Dawn relaxed hearing that. "Thank you."

"No problem. Guess its time to feed those heathens in there." He exclaimed as he winked and walked out into the dinning room. Cheers boomed again. Then thwacks were heard with Targ telling someone to wait.

The other plates were taken into the dinning room. Finally all the plates were in the other room. Dawn waited by the swinging door for her que.

"Hey! Where's the pancakes?" Dawn could picture Barr with a pout.

"Well. I thought the cook should present them."

Dawn smiled and blushed as she pushed through the swinging door. She held the plate up so no one really saw her, only the pancakes. She peaked around and saw wide eyes and jaws dropped. Dawn couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her throat.

Suddenly the room busted into cheers and soft pounding on the table. Dawn bit her lip as she walked slowly to the table and set the plate down in front of her seat. It was the only open spot available on the table. Everyone was ogling the giant pile. The pancakes were pile three times higher than any other plate at the table.

Mark rose and kissed her cheek. "I knew you were cooking. You just couldn't resist." He chuckled into her ear after he whispered to her.

She shook her head. "Not after constantly working for so long. Hard to sit still." He just bursted out laughing as he helped her into her seat.

The whole breakfast was filled with everyone moaning and offering their compliments to her. They loved the pancakes and even teased that they may steal her away from Mark once in a while to cook for them. They even asked what box mix she used. Their eyes popped out when Diana said 'no box, made completely from scratch'.

"Awe man. Then we need the recipe. These are so good!" Barr proclaimed as he shoved another fork full dripping with syrup into him mouth.

"I'll write it down. Mostly I just make, but I could figure out the amounts of everything later."

"How about figuring it out tomorrow morning if you could make them again?" Barr whimpered his plea.

"Barr! That is not on the schedule for tomorrow. French Toast is tomorrow." Diana reprimanded him. "I make sure there is variety for you all."

Barr's shoulders slumped. "Alright."

"But you could still enjoy what I made today. I'm sure Diana might like help tomorrow morning too if she'll have me."

"Of course. You're always welcome to help out if you're up to it. I so appreciate any help." Dawn and Diana smiled at each other. They were already friends which pleased Mark.

Diana looked at Mark smiling at Dawn affectionately and remembered when Dawn spoke of him. "Hey Mark." He turned to look at Diana. "Did you know Dawn shimmers when she talks about you?"

"Oh?" He grinned delightedly at Dawn and saw her blush. "You talked about me? Anything good?"

"Everything good." Dawn admitted with a brighter blush.

"Like what?" Mark asked with an air of amusement at the bright blush on her face.

"Just girl talk." Dawn felt embarrassed.

"Yeah. She adores you."

"Adores huh? I like the sound of that." He was now just adoring her with his eyes. He leaned close to her ear. "I adore you too."

Dawn smiled at him. "Are you done teasing?" She asked politely. Mark nodded returning her staring.

"Ahem!" Barr cleared his throat. "Save that gooey stuff till after breakfast. Bad enough with those two next to you." He jabbed his empty fork at Han and Diana. "We don't need you two too."

Everyone laughed and went back to eating their breakfasts. Dawn felt like the more they were there, the easier she felt she could loosen up. The more she could just be apart of something. And it was all thanks to Mark. Mark was the one to break her out of the dark and into the light. He was her light.

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