John came back from his morning walk and was about to knock on the kid’s door to wake them up when he heard some whispers from the kitchen. He went there and said, “You both are up rather early toda- Goodness!”

On the floor front of the two kids was the dish rack and broken remains of what used to be plates. But that wasn’t important.

“Are you both alright?”

He asked as he looked the two kids up and down to see if there were any injuries. He then took their hands to see if there were any injuries. Seeing that they didn’t have so much as a single scratch, he heaved a sigh of relief.

“It’s good that you’re both unhurt.”

Evan looked at him with guilt and said, “It was my fault. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Be more careful next time, glass shards are quite dangerous.”

“We’ll clean up,” said Grace.

“It’s okay. The edges of these shards are sharp, so it’s best not to get close to them,” John said as he patted the two kids on their heads. Seeing as how both of them looked guilty, he added, “Help me set up the table for breakfast. There should be some plates in that cabinet.”

Grace and Evan went to the said cabinet to take out the plates as John cleaned up the mess on the floor. The two kids took the plates to the table. As soon as they put them on the table, Grace asked Evan in a hushed voice, “Mind telling me what you did earlier?”

Evan evaded her eyes and said, “I was thirsty so I went to the kitchen. The floor was wet so I slipped and accidentally pushed the dish rack.”

“That’s not all, is it?” Grace asked. She was all too familiar with her mischievous little troublemaker of a brother.

“...I might’ve purposefully stepped on the puddle of water.”

Grace heaved a sigh when she heard that. 

“Apologize properly later, okay?”

“I know,” Evan still felt guilty about it, so he was going to apologize whether Grace asked him to or not. He had only wanted to break a plate or two, to see how angry John would be. Pushing the whole rack off the counter wasn’t what he had intended to do. But,

He had wanted to see what John’s bottom-line was.

The kid had anticipated many scenarios, from John yelling at them, to just sighing and telling them to leave the kitchen. But,

‘This was unexpected.’

Evan hadn’t expected John to not even glance at the broken plates and just look at him and his sister with such concern. John didn’t even ask about what had happened, and only asked if they were hurt anywhere. The worry in his voice, the concern in his eyes, the relief when he saw that the two didn’t have so much as a single scratch…

‘He’s way too nice.’

So nice, in fact, that people could easily take advantage of him.

‘Hmph, they can try all they want, but I won’t let them.’

He was just a kid now, but he swore he’d do whatever it takes to make sure that others don’t take advantage of his guardian.

‘Yep, I’ll become a person he can rely on.’

He thought, which was ironic because this was right after he had done something the exact opposite of that.

“Ouch. Why’d you do that!?”

His forehead was flicked by his sister again.

“I guessed you were thinking about something silly again, that’s why,” Grace answered with a smirk.

“No I wasn’t!”

“Yes you were!”

“No, you’re dead wrong!”

Chuckle.

The two stopped their silly bickering when they heard John laugh. He was standing in front of the kitchen and looking at them in amusement. This was the first time they bantered in front of John, so the two kids were really embarrassed.

Looking at their red faces made John laugh even more. He walked up to them and stroked their little heads.

“How are you two so cute?”

This made the two kids even more embarrassed, and they lowered their heads so that John could see their red faces anymore. Suppressing the urge to tease them a little more, he said,

“Although I’ve cleaned the kitchen, there might still be some small shards left on the floor, so be careful when you two go inside, okay?”

“Yes.” “Okay.”

The three then had a peaceful breakfast, after which they got ready to leave for the amusement park.

“Three water bottles - check, three umbrellas - check, lunchboxes - check, power banks - check, extra pairs of slippers…”

John was standing in front of a big backpack with a notebook in hand, checking if everything they might need was there or not. Grace, who had come outside to ask John about something, stopped in her tracks when she heard his mumbling.

‘We’re going to an amusement park, and not for camping, aren’t we?’

She tilted her head in confusion.

“Aren’t there a bit too many extra things?” She asked as she peeked inside the backpack.

“No, you can never be too prepared,” John answered.

‘Really?’ Grace wondered. She pulled out a pair of slippers that had been stuffed into the backpack and asked, “Why would we need these?”

“In case we lose or ruin our shoes.”

“…Okay,” Grace wasn’t quite convinced they’d need that, but she didn’t argue. She saw a medical kit and thought, ‘Okay, maybe it’s not too excessive.’

She then pulled out something from the backpack and asked, “And what’s this for?”

“It’s an inhaler,” John explained. Seeing as how Grace still looked confused, he added, “For asthma attacks.”

“Do you have asthma?”

“No.”

“Then why do you have this?”

“In case someone else needs it.”

“…”

‘This sure took “one can never be too prepared” to the next level,’ Grace thought.

“And this is?”

“A toolbox in case something malfunctions.”

“And this?”

“A signal amplifier in case we enter a place with no signals and can’t get through to each other.”

“And why are we taking walkie talkies with us?”

“In case our phones die.”

“…”

‘It’s not like we’re even going to spend that long at the amusement park!’ Grace thought speechlessly.

“Won’t those power banks be enough.”

“But phones could break easily, so it’s good to have back-up.”

“…”

Grace opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the right words to speak. After a long moment of silence, she asked,

“We’re going to an amusement park, right?”

“Yes,” John answered. He was confused why Grace would ask him that.

“We won’t spend more than 15 hours over there, will we?”

“We won’t. It would close at midnight.” And it was 8:30 now.

“So, is there a need to pack so many things?” Grace asked as respectfully as she could.

“Mm-hmm, definitely.”

Hearing his reply, Grace sighed. The ‘reliable big brother’ impression she’d had of John in her mind slowly crumbled into pieces. No, crumbling into pieces was too mild; it had been blasted into oblivion.

“We’ve gone with our parents to amusement parks many times, and I’ve helped with packing up things we might need, so I know about the things we might need,” she said, “leave this to me. You can get dressed in the meantime.”

“But aren’t you busy getting ready?” He could see that Grace hadn’t dressed up yet.

“Don’t worry. I won’t take long,” she answered.

“Okay,” John said and was about to leave when he remembered something, “Ah, there’s one more thing I forgot to pack!”

Grace knew it was probably, no, certainly, something they wouldn’t need, but she still asked, “And what might that be?”

“A defibrillator.”

Grace used the last bits of her patience to not facepalm. She took a moment to calm herself, and decided to be straightforward, “We won’t need this many things.”

“But I did, last time…” John mumbled.

‘What kind of amusement park did you go to?!’