Ah yes, the pleasure of sleep. Some people take this sensation for granted, while others may see it as a gateway to a place near to the Heavens. Nevertheless, some cut this little blessing short for the nappers, sadly but truly enough. And this was the case for unlucky Robert this morning as his trip to paradise was short-lived, when his pleasure of sleep was interrupted.

A little one rose from the side of the bed and whispered in his drowsy ear, “Wakey-wakey Dada.”

However, the whispers were unsuccessful, so the youngster tried once more, but this time there was a lot more stones in his voice,

"Rise and sunshine Dada. It’s time for breadfisttt!!"

Were the shouts Robert heard in his time of slumber to alert him that it was time to come alive. Albeit, the shouting also did little to nothing in awakening the sleeping giant for young Theo.

Thus, the toddler thought it would be a splendid idea to add some hast into the process. He climbed up on the bed alongside Robert and dived onto the lower half of his wearied body as he shrieked, “Cannon Ball!!!!”. 

BOOM! was the sound that rang out when Theo landed on him.

The idea appeared to be splendid, after all, as it successfully carried out its objective of rousing the sheep counter. Though, it was not the preferred way someone would like to start their day.

Robert would be inclined to agree as he swiftly aroused in a great daze from the unforeseen shock. He yelled out in immense confusion, “Wah?”

Since he was unaware of what was afoot, he rubbed his tired eyes to better his cloudy vision, enabling him to see. The white walls in the room didn’t do him any favors either as it made everything brighter.

When he had, at last, cleared his hazy eyes, Robert caught sight of a giggling Theo on top of his legs, and rather than being upset about the situation, he joined in on the giggles as well.

He facetiously roared with all his might, “Who dares wake Papa Bear from his laze?!” when he picked Theo up and sored him through the air. 

“Are you to be the brave fellow to disturb my rest?” he asked while facing Theo.

“*Nodding* Uh-huh,” hummed the courageous youngster with not so much as a little fear in his eyes, staring face to face at the giant who had just lift him off the ground as his feet dangled in the air. 

“Wow, were you in Dreamworld?” 

“Hehe…yup.”

“Oh! Oh! What did you dream about, Dada?”

“I dreamt about a robot invasion and I was the clever mastermind behind to entire thing, bahaha.”

“And!? And!?” The youngster eagerly asked while he swung in the air.

“Well, there was this guy who tried to stop me. Hmm- his name was Sir…”

“SIR THEODORE?!”

“Yup.”

“Wow! did he stop the evil robot?!”

“I’m not sure since someone ended my trip to Dreamworld by waking me up,” Robert said with a simper on his face gazing at Theo.

“Aww! I wanted Sir Theodore to kick robot butt.” 

“So, why have thou done such an egregious crime?” Robert uttered, wearing a forced menacing expression as he got back on topic. With his arm and legs spread wide in the air, Theo announced, “FOR BREADFIST!” 

“Huh?” He snorted from being completely lost with what he had heard. Behaving as cunning as ever, Theo whispered in his ear, “Bread………fist.” Eventually, he understood what the youngster was referring to, slapping his face, and said, “Oh you mean breakfast.” 

“Yah! breadfist.” 

“It's breakfast, not breadfist, look at me, say break……...fast.”

Theo stared directly into his father’s eyes and said in a monotone voice, “Bread………fist.” Then punched him on his shoulder.

“Haa, sometimes I wish to be strict as Mama Bear,” muttered Robert with his head lowered, while tossing him onto the bed. He inspected it, “Speaking of, looks like Mama Bears not here.”  

“Mama left early this morning when the chickens were crowing Cock-a-doodle-do...” 

Robert promptly covered Theo's mouth with his hand and told himself, “She left without me seeing her off again, haa... She is not going to be happy.”

Afterward, he glanced around their bedroom. There were two paintings of black and white contrasting one another. With five gold paint blush lines at different spots. At the bottom corner, these paintings read, “By Aleena Dorsey.” An open book on the nightstand made Robert felt uneasy. He thought to himself, “Seems like she did not get to finish the medical book. Yeah, she definitely won't be in the best of moods later.”

He unleashed another massive sigh when he looked at Theo to ask him, “So what do my modest highness wants to eat on this wonderful morning?”  

With a face lit up by excitement, Theo removes Robert’s hand from his mouth as he shouted with chest, “PANCAKES AND ICE-CREAM!” 

“Yeah…um…no. Just because Mama is not here does not mean you can get ice-cream first thing in the morning.” 

“Aww… Alrighty then.”

Theo hopped onto his back while he yelled out, “All aboard the breakfast ship, sailing to Pancake Reino, destination The Kitchen.” 

“Yay!” happily exclaimed Theo.

The youngster rode on the back of Robert as if he was a starship, while he changed pace from fast to slow, height from high to low, and even spun around and around. Until, they had finally arrived in the kitchen, where he made “breadfist” for Theo.  

Robert commenced making the pancakes Theo oh-so desired. He added to the boil; butter, baking powder, plain flour, and white sugar. Stirring it all up and poured his mixture into the pan as the pancake batter made a soothing sizzling sound when it met the surface of the pan. Next, he served the pancakes to the eagerly awaiting Theo.

However, after the first bite of the pancake, a loud silence filled the kitchen as the atmosphere suddenly changed. Theo peeked over at Robert with an embittered look on his childish face. While breaking the ice in the frozen room, and murmured to him, “Mama……pancakes.”

“Huh, what did you say bud?”

“Mama pancakes are way better than these. Her pancakes are softer, fluffier, and tastier than Dada’s butter on cardboard!! Hers smell like a field of sweet melted butter. But this, oh no no no, this is not the Pancake Kingdom; this is Pancake Prison!!” 

Robert stood up with a pressing look on his face, making the mood a lot tenser. He turns his ghost stare at Theo, adding fuel to the roaring flame. Then out of the blue, Robert coughed out a laugh he tried to conceal and chuckled, “Yikes, it is bad, huh. Real bad, ha-ha. But You did not have to go in on me like that."

He checked the pancake mix box and wondered to himself where he had gone wrong. While he pulled on his little goatee and he asked himself,

“I wonder how Aleena makes hers so tasty? Wait a minute, I forgot the eggs, didn’t I?” 

With this disappointing realization, Robert slapped his face in his failure.

“May I please get some maple syrup, Dada?” kindly asked Theo, searching for different ways to improve his eggless pancakes. Robert contemplated whether or not to approve his son's wishes since Aleena was strict about what enters his stomach. So, he came up with his alternative to this little dilemma. 

“What’s your least favorite subject in school?”

“Uh- Geography. I don’t like it.”

“Okay, tell me the sixth planet in the Solar System and you have to spell it as well.” 

“Hmm... The sixth planet….” Theo had a moment to think of his answer.

“Oh no, Mr. Syrup is getting away. Sir Theodore, better hurry.” Voiced Robert as he slid the maple syrup away from Theo.

The longer Theo took to respond, the further Mr. Syrup got from him. But the witty youngster had an equally amusing response. 

“Aha- I am Saturn that you did not make yummy pancakes. S-A-T….uh.…-U-R-N.”

“Hahaha, that was Mars-velous Sir Theodore. Don’t put too much, okay?”

“Alrighty, I won’t, and thank you.”

While he squeezed the syrup onto his pancakes, he asked, “When will I get to eat Mama pancakes again?” 

“Hmm… I’m not sure, but Mama is super busy saving lives at the moment and doing her best to let little boys and girls taste their parents' pancakes again. So, you better get used to the buttered cardboard, okay?” 

Theo creeped out a little, “From the virus that turns you into a zombie?”

Robert grinned while replying, “Yup, therefore you better wash your hands and make sure to wear your mask when going outside or you will turn into an, argh! an evil zombie who eats brains rather than Mama's delicious pancakes.”

His mother, Aleena, works at the hospital as a doctor. Due to the rapidly spreading virus around the world. She works from early in the morning till late in the night. So, she is not able to see Theo most times. She occasionally comes home to cook at times and check up on Theo.

Had he been so amazed by her occupation. His eyes almost touched the back of his head in admiration as he said, “Wow. Mama is like a superhero.” Robert felt left out of the acclaims. With his chest up high, he said, “Er, well isn’t Dada a superhero too since I put smiles on the faces of kids by giving them hi-tech gadgets and toys?”

Theo began to chuckle at his statement and answered, “Nay.” 

“Eh!” expressed Robert as his chest had instantly deflated in embarrassment while lowing his head in disappointment. 

Yet again, being as optimistic as always, “Hmph, okay. If thou, not a hero, thou must be a monstrous fearsome ogre, Grr!” 

Robert started to chase him around the house. Theo played along as he looked upon the Ogre towering above him, a grim giant, empty of feelings and a colossal cruel while running for dare life. 

“Eek!” the youngster playful squealed as he desperately tried to evade the clutches of the terrifying Ogre. Jumping and ducking all over the living room as if the furniture were attractions at a play park. But, at last, all the running was in vain as the Ogre put an end to the stirring chase by cornering young Theo.