Denver Cereal -- Chapter 700 (part four)

Return to normal?

“How about some burgers and fries?” Mike asked.

“Uncle Mike, are you sure?” Katy asked.

Mike burst out laughing again.

“Come on,” Mike said.

Mike, Paddie, and Katy started out the back door.

“You know, Delphie’s updating people on how everyone is doing,” Mike said, taking his keys out of his pocket. “What would you say about your trip with Uncle Nelson?”

“We went. We fought bad guys. . .” Paddie said.

“Bad ghosts,” Katy introjected.

“We came home,” Paddie said with a shrug.

Mike stopped walking and turned to look at him.

“Your dad told you to say that?” Mike asked.

Paddie and Katy nodded.

“It’s what my dad says about his work,” Paddie said with a nod.

“What are you to say, Katy?” Mike said as they took the stairs down to Mike’s old Bronco.

“It was so hard, Uncle Mike,” Katy said with an exaggerated sniff. “I can’t possibly speak of it.”

Shocked, Mike stopped walking. Katy gave him a very exaggerated wink. He smiled at her.

“Your mom taught you to wink?” Mike asked.

“Uh huh,” Katy said.

“You look just like her when you wink,” Mike said.

Katy smiled as if Mike had given her a compliment. Chuckling at Katy’s response, Mike opened the back door of the Bronco. Paddie was tall enough not to need a booster, and, finally, Katy was heavy enough not to need a booster, either. Mike helped them with their seat belts and got into the front seat.

“Should we bring something home for the other kids?” Mike asked.

“Nah,” Katy said.

Paddie laughed, which caused Mike to laugh.

“Val would kill me,” Mike said. “I was supposed to make lunch.”

“Auntie Valerie doesn’t think that you’re making lunch,” Katy said.

“What does she want to eat, then?” Mike asked.

“She wants a chicken sandwich,” Katy said.

“Glad I asked,” Mike said, turning on the Bronco. Looking in the rearview mirror, he asked, “Any idea what everyone else wants?”

Katy nodded vehemently.

“Let me guess,” Mike said. “You’ll tell me only if I get you extra fries.”

“For Paddie,” Katy said.

Paddie squealed with laughter at her manipulation.

“Is that so?” Mike asked. “That’s very generous of you.”

Katy gave him a sincere nod. A moment later, they both started laughing.

“Sounds like we have a big order,” Mike said.

“It’s okay, Uncle Mike,” Katy said. “The place isn’t very busy. They want us to go inside.”

“So you can eat fries while they make our meals?” Mike asked.

“You think of everything,” Paddie said.

Katy howled with laughter. She was laughing so hard that Paddie and Mike joined her. Mike drove up to their favorite fast-food restaurant and parked. He let the children out, and they went inside.

**Paddie and Katy’s adventure with Nelson and the Templar Hoard will become a three book trilogy due out either in 2022 or 2023**

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow...

Denver Cereal will continue tomorrow. This chapter is a quarterly review of what's going on in Denver Cereal. It is available to everyone. To receive chapters as they come out, please subscribe.