Martin drove her home. She had been grimacing at the outdoors, which began pouring ten minutes before she left, and Martin offered her a ride. I can't have you melting or freezing to death out there, then I'd be stuck with Mona in the mornings again. A calculated hit from a hand towel was the old woman's only response.

After putting her things down in her room, the first thing Rosemary did was shower. Harry told her there was some leftover pancakes in the fridge that she could help herself to, and she thanked him as she shut the door. The hot water felt wonderful. She hadn't realized just how sore her feet were until she sat at the table with her pancakes. Since she hadn't eaten breakfast this morning and it was already 12:45, her stomach had been growling incessantly.

She ate them quickly, rinsed the syrup off the dish, and went back down stairs. Rosemary got into her pyjamas and folded her work clothes, left them on her side table. She fell back into her bed, and was asleep before she could properly wrap herself in blankets.

•••••

It was close to 9PM when her eyes opened again.

Truthfully, she would've stayed asleep longer, but the two female voices arguing upstairs made it impossible. With being half asleep and they being just quiet enough, Rosemary couldn't fully make out what they were saying. The words she did manage to catch made her cringe.

"—what he did was horrible...want to help you but...help yourself...something...change—" That was Sue.

"—I'm angry, mom!...don't need...just leave...alone...fine...stop bringing it up." Definitely Leah.

She was so focused on the conversation that she let out a yelp when her bedroom door swung open. Seth looked instantly relieved, and let the backpack hanging on one shoulder fall to the floor. "It's a lot quieter down here," he grimaced. "I thought you were asleep, so I was gonna check...if you were then I'd sit over in the game room but—"

"—get in here," Rosemary smiled at him. "Just make sure both doors are closed."

Seth nodded almost sadly as he left to close the game room door. Then he closed her door, sat on the bed, and flopped forward. "I brought ear plugs if you want them," he said, voice muffled by blankets. "There's also snacks in there, so help yourself."

She assumed there meant his backpack. Sure enough the bag of jelly beans was at the bottom along with two apples, a jar of peanut butter, pretzels, and a knife. Stuffed on top of all that was his pillow. A portable DVD player was slid down the back. Rosemary grabbed the pillow and brought it over to the bed, giving him a light thwack with it to get his attention.

Naturally he sat up, his black hair sticking up at odd angles. "The DVD player is mom and dads, but he said we could use it."

"Movies?"

"In the game room."

They settled on the three Die Hard movies that Seth had bought with allowance money ages ago. Rosemary had only seen each of them once, which was apparently a crime, so he decided it for her.

It seemed to cheer him up a bit, so she agreed. They sat on her bed and got comfortable in the blankets, then put in the movie. He quoted the yippee ki yay, motherfucker! perfectly in the first two, but by the third one he was beginning to fall asleep. It was nearly 3:30 in the morning, and he'd been up early for school so it was understandable.

Thank god he'd wake up to a peaceful Saturday morning.

The movie ended, and Rosemary got up to move the player off the bed and put the DVD back in its case. When she turned around again, Seth was fast asleep.

He was sitting awkwardly, half leaned up on the wall behind him. His mouth was wide open. Either he's gonna wake up or he's gonna be more comfortable, she thought to herself and grabbed his feet. She pulled his legs farther down the bed so he was laying somewhat properly. His neck wasn't as angled, anyway.

When she was finished, he hadn't moved on his own accord at all. Rosemary smiled faintly to herself and pulled her blanket over his legs, and decided to get ready for work early.

Once she was dressed she brought the jar of peanut butter upstairs, and found Harry sitting at the kitchen table. A mug of something hot — tea or coffee — was steaming to his right. He pinched the length of his forehead between his thumb and middle finger, clearly trying to ease a headache.

She murmured her good morning as she put the peanut butter in the fridge, and grabbed syrup and two of the five remaining pancakes at the same time. She microwaved them so they were warm, and then sat down at the table with him. "You okay?" She asked quietly.

The kitchen walls amplified her voice somewhat, and Rosemary cringed as she sounded much louder than intended.

Harry nodded once.

"Have you gotten any sleep?"

Harry pointed over to the counter where the full coffee pot was sitting. Fair enough.

"Seth is downstairs," she told him quietly. "We were watching Die Hard and he fell asleep in my bed...we didn't do anything—"

"—I know," Harry cut her off with a knowing smile.

"Okay good." She cleared her throat after finishing a mouthful of pancake. "Is it okay if I take some coffee with me to work?"

"Help yourself."

"Thank you."

The walk to work was quiet, the same few people out and about at 4:30. When she got to the door, Mona was already unlocking it for her, and had gone back to the kitchen before Rosemary even closed the door behind herself. She dumped her stuff in the back office and then went ahead to do as much of the morning routing she could remember.

There was double the muffin batter and doughs set out in trays, and her boss explained that a lot of people went fishing on the weekends. On Saturdays a few took their kids along so they would buy extras to eat on the boats.

Martin came in not long after her, happily asking if she could but on a coffee pot so he could wake up. When Rosemary asked if she was allowed to do that, Mona just shrugged. "There's a jar of cash and change in the office we all contribute to, I take it from there."

So at exactly 5AM, with a coffee discretely paid for from her own wallet, Rosemary was unlocking the door. The crowd that came in was more of a variety in ages. Older folk came in with what was likely their kids, and shortly behind was grandkids.

Just as yesterday they all went to their usual tables, so Rosemary gave them the chance to settle in. She went to the back and took a few sips of coffee, got the rest of the machines going, let Martin know it was fairly busy, and went back out to do her job.

Another group of people had made their way in and stopped to talk to the first table she had started with the day before. It was two older men, one with a cane and the other in a wheelchair, likely with their families. A middle aged woman somewhere in her forties and two teenage boys.

While they talked, Rosemary went to the other table and took their orders. Blueberry and chocolate chip muffins. Breakfast sandwiches. Chocolate milk. Coffee. Hot chocolate. Pancakes. She read it all out again so she could be sure and then brought it back to Martin. Upon reading it he leaned his head out the kitchen-to-register window to yell, "hey Mike, good to see you!"

Mike, one of the older men sitting with his two children on his lap, hollered a returned sentiment that was lost in the movement of chairs. The new group had taken to getting into their seats, and they chose one of the tables near the bathroom.

Rosemary gave them the chance to settle in and took orders from the other table. She brought that list to Martin, who had finished up nearly everything for the first table, so she took those out while he started again. It took her two trips, but she made it without issue.

As she grabbed a fresh pot of tea for the first table, she saw movement from the corner of her eye. A waving hand that she recognized belonged to Jacob. His friend Quil was beside him, face buried in his hands while the old man with the cane laughed.

Rosemary smiled at them as she came over and introduced herself. Still grinning, Jacob introduced everyone. His father Billy, in the wheelchair. The older man was Quil's grandfather, Quil Ateara the 3rd; she was instructed to call him Old Q. Joy, Quil's mother was the smiling woman.

They chatted for a short moment, and another group of people came in and went straight to the front counter. Rosemary turned to serve them but Maggie was already there, waving her back onto the floor. Judging by the stool pulled up behind the register and the tea pot and mug off to her left, Mona would be handling the take-out customers.

So she went back to the table and got everyone's orders from Joy; toast, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate, cinnamon buns, and muffins. As she walked back to the kitchens with the order, Rosemary heard snickering from the table. When she glanced back, Old Q was smacking a hand to his grandson's shoulder while the others laughed. The snickering had been from Jacob.

She brought the list of orders back to the kitchen with a small laugh. A few for the other table were ready, so Rosemary took a sip of her coffee before taking them out. Martin continued his loud conversations with the folk out at the tables, telling stories that had most of them laughing. Mona would cut in and correct him quite frequently.

The early breakfast rush began to slow down as the clock ticked on and by 7:30, the only table left was with Jacob and Quil. They had finished their meals a while ago, but had ordered a few cups of coffee and chatted. They nibbled on what they bought at the front counter. As this pot of coffee emptied, they began packing their things.

A general peace settled over the room. "Appreciate it while you can, kiddo," Martin called as she walked back to her coffee at the front counter. "It'll last for about fifteen minutes. Grab a snack, use the bathroom." Mona was nodding her agreement from the front counter. "And get yourself another coffee going, hun, it'll keep you chipper until you go home."

Rosemary smiled faintly at them and waved to Jacob and Quil, who tripped on the table leg and nearly knocked them both over. Regardless of the near fall, he all but dragged Jacob through the door and disappeared around the corner. Joy, his mother, was flushed red with laughter and leaned against the table.

After a quick bathroom break Rosemary can back and found the table occupied by only the two older men, who were grinning. After catching their breath from laughing at something they grabbed their things.

While Joy and Billy made for the door as well, Old Q hobbled his way up to the front counter. "I hope you like cinnamon buns, kid." Despite her confusion, Rosemary watched him pay for the meals along with a mixed bag of muffins and then leave.

The diner was now empty of all customers.

From the heavy rain beginning to fall, Martin was right in saying it wouldn't last long. Rosemary poured herself a coffee that she mixed to her liking; an unnecessary about of sugar and some milk. She reached under the counter for a muffin, but was stopped when she was swatted with a rolled up newspaper. "You've got something to eat already," Mona chuckled and set it back on the ledge beside her.

"But I didn't—"

"—I know, now go eat while you can.

Rosemary followed her gesture to the other side of the register. Tucked off to the side out of the way, a cinnamon bun had been put on a small side plate with a folded piece of paper beside it. "What the hell?" She muttered to herself.

With quick precision she opened the note and read it over:

this is from Quil, he's just
too awkward to say so
—Jacob

A small smile grew on her face as she thought of Old Q's comment only minutes ago; I hope you like cinnamon buns, kid. Rosemary couldn't help her short laugh and tucked the note into her back pocket.

Basking in the silence of the morning fog, Rosemary began unraveling and breaking off sections of the roll, and she ate them as she went. Her mother always said it was childish; Rosemary was completely fine with that.

As she worked her way to the centre, where the frosting had pooled, she couldn't help but think that it was a well-judged purchase. She could eat cinnamon buns every day for the rest of her life.

She was nearly finished with it when the door chimed and a group of three came in. Rosemary quickly went to wash her hands and went back to work.