Positioning on the dining table was a small spread of perfectly cooked pancakes, vegan eggs, tofu sausages, and hash browns for everyone.

Seeing the food made Caleb's mouth drool a little. He tries to take a bite, but Brooke asked if he had brushed his teeth.

"I did," he replies. Caleb beams at his mature girlfriend like a proud child. A suspicious Brooke casts him a doubtful look.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I even flossed as you told me to."

That made the teenage oracle smile. "Good. Now, I'll set the table while you pour some orange juice."

Sooner or later, she received a vision that the siblings are going to dirty the kitchen floors with sand and broken seashells.

Irritated, she grabbed a long towel off the kitchen floor, threw it close to the back door, and unbolted the locks in case they didn't have the keys.

"That was badass!" Nessa hollered, drenched in water. "We are so doing it again!"

Johnny laughs, wiping the sand off his feet.

"I can't believe you got it on your first try." he ruffles his sister's wet hair and asks Brooke if their breakfast is in the microwave.

"No, it's on the dining table." Brooke takes her plate out of the microwave and carries it over to the table. "But first, you two need to brush your teeth, or else you won't get anything."

Bobbing their heads in silence, the Phoenix siblings hurry upstairs where Brooke and Caleb prepared the table.

White paper napkins spread under the dishes and fresh orange juices.

Warm daylight caressed Brooke's brown skin.

Her dreadlocks brushed against her exposed back. Brooke's silver sun pendant swished across her chest like a pendulum clock.

Silver Bohemian rings enclosed around her fingers as Brooke gave her friends their breakfast.

"Thanks, Brooke," Johnny says. After taking his plate, Johnny positions it and his glass of orange juice on the table.

Unexpectedly, her boyfriend Caleb slid down the stair rail, then greets Brooke with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, Angel," he whispers in her ear.

Brooke massages his cheeks then plants a kiss on his forehead.

"Hi, sweetie," she greets, wearing her typical alluring smile.

For today, he had on an oversized brown flannel with wide-leg jeans and black suede shoes. Caleb's short dreads hover over his forehead as he attempts to push them away from his eyes.

Delighted, Brooke tells him that his breakfast on the table.

"And make sure you eat your tofu eggs." she reminds him. "It keeps you healthy and makes your muscles grow."

That made him smile, and purred, "Oh, so you like my muscles?"

Brilliant red aroused Brooke's cheeks. "Will you please sit down and eat your breakfast?"

Caleb put on a coy smile, then wraps his arms around her waist. "Not until you confess that you are attracted to my muscles."

Brooke couldn't help but laugh.

Oh my God, he is such a child! She thinks as Caleb kisses her cheeks.

"Guys, I am eating!" Nessa whines from the dining table. Her fork stabs her tofu sausage, and yet her eyes shudder at the humorous display.

Johnny snickers in his orange juice, whereas the telepath caught a glimpse of Nessa's outfit.

Her brown hair is patted dry. She wears a dark red flannel shirt, a black halter top, acid-washed jeans, and her favorite pair of Doc Martens.

A moon choker necklace clasped around her neck as Nessa gobbles on her pancake and licks the maple syrup with her fingers.

"Wow, nice appetite," Johnny comments sarcastically. Nessa sardonically flips him off, then gulps down her beverage.

After setting the table, Caleb joined the siblings whereas Brooke places the greasy pots, dishes, and silver utensils in the sink.

Brushing her hands against her jeans, Brooke then waltzed over to the dining table and ate her breakfast in silence.

Her blunt knife sliced her pancakes. A pool of warm maple syrup spread over her eggs and sausages.

After taking a sip of orange juice, Brooke sets down her glass across her plate, then asks the siblings how their surfing went.

"It was tougher than I thought," Nessa says after she had eaten her pancake. "Thank God you were there, Johnny, or else I would have drowned.

Johnny leans his back against the wooden chair, munching on his tofu sausage. "It was a challenging wave, but with a little practice, we can surf better than Mom and Dad."

"Your parents were surfers?" Caleb asks, intrigued.

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, our parents used to take us surfing when we were kids. After Prometheus died, we got kicked out of Idlewild and our home."

"Shit," said Caleb. "That sucks."

Brown eyes studied the glob of melted butter, as Johnny's head shifts up and down.

"Yeah, it sucks." agreed the boy. He observes the solemn looks on his allies' faces, then decides to change the subject. "So, what do you guys want to do today?"

He straightens his posture in his chair. His dark green sweater sagged like his frown.

An ink-black Screaming Trees shirt hid his athletic build. Ripped jeans exposed sections of his hairy legs, whereas his coal-black Birkenstocks uncovered his feet.

Johnny always looks like he is in one of those cheesy 80s action movies Nessa had loved growing up.

He is brooding, intelligent, and serious-the traits of a mature nineteen-year-old boy. His leadership and fighting skills are incredible, but his abilities in socializing could use a bit of work.

"We should go shopping," Brooke suggests.

Johnny, Nessa, and Caleb stare at her in absolute surprise.

Like many people, I despise shopping. There is nothing I hate more than being surrounded by faceless mannequins, anxious people, and body-shaming images.

"No one wants to go to the mall." Johnny picks his cold pancake, severs it with a fork, then devours the chunk in two bites. "It's Monday!"

Puzzled, Caleb lowers his cup and gazes at his friend.

"Really?" he asks questionably. "I thought today is Sunday."

Johnny gapes at the telepath slouching in his chair, toying his scrambled vegan eggs with a fork.

"Yesterday was Sunday." he corrected. "Today is November 2nd. Day of the Dead, I think."

Caleb shudders at the name.

Contrary to his adopted family, the telepath hates the Day of the Dead. The chilling face paint scared him; large crowds gave the boy anxiety and the gravestones filled his heart with dread.

He tries to avoid the macabre carnival, but his adopted parents thought the festival is necessary to "learn his heritage".

"Day of the Dead," Caleb grimaced. "Why am I not surprised? "Anyway, I am not going shopping."

"Why?" Brooke asks.

"I am allergic to people and Mondays."

"Aren't we all?" Johnny snorts, wiping the corner of his lips with a napkin.

An annoyed Brooke set down her fork and leans towards Johnny.

"What's so bad about pop music?" she asks in a sincere tone. "Caleb has a huge stack of Backstreet Boys albums in our bedroom."

Nessa and Johnny laughed. Their forks and knives scratch the ivory white surface. Burnt hash browns crumbs scatter across the moist puddles.

"Brooke!" Caleb whines. "Don't say that in front of them!"

His girlfriend blushed, then said apologized.

Finishing his breakfast, Johnny asks Brooke about the herbs she had purchased last night.

"So, are you going to make dozens of cures and lotions?"

"Yeah," Brooke said. "I have bought enough herbs that would last us a couple of weeks."

"Cool."

Brooke grins and adds, "I am not an expert at making medicine like my mom, but I'll give it a go."

An inquisitive Caleb shovels tofu eggs in his mouth. "Okay, so does that mean we are good?"

Brooke's smile fades like a fire sitting on a candlewick.

"Not exactly," she responds. "So far, we are slowly running out of food."

The surprising news stabbed Johnny's chest like a knife. This can't be true. He thought. Johnny made sure that the fridge is stocked with all the food they can eat.

Reading his facial expression, Brooke shakes her head in dismay. Her tongue ran across the maple syrup coating her thick lips.

"We are going to be out of food in two weeks."

"What?" Nessa frowned. "Since when did you have a vision about that?"

Brooke slashes her sausage in half with a butter knife and stabbed it with her fork.

"It came to me before you two went surfing."

Astounded, the Phoenix siblings and Caleb exchanged frightened looks. It was a good thing Brooke had reminded them; her visions were as powerful as her relatives.

Her friends heavily counted on Brooke to tell them events occurring in the future. Some were promising while others were horrendous-like this one.

Getting up from his chair, Johnny retrieves his glass of juice and plate off the table.

"Whoa, I guess you're right, Brooke." he sighs softly. "After breakfast, let's head over to the car so we can pick up some stuff."

Brooke, Nessa, and Caleb devoured their meals and picked up their greasy dishes, coarse glass cups, and used forks while Johnny scrubbed the dishes.

Later, they retrieved their bags containing their passports and money.

"Since we're going to the mall, we need to be extra careful about carrying firearms," Brooke advised, tucking her leather bullwhip in her purse.

"Aw, so no guns?" Nessa whined.

"Well, duh Nessa." Johnny snorts. "We're not in Texas!"

Caleb nods silently, taking out his loaded Beretta and setting it on the countertop.

"There." he shrugs. "Easy peasy, just like Brooke says."

"Do you have any weapons on you, Nessa?" Brooke asks.

Nessa blushed; she has a small assortment of blades and daggers hidden underneath her clothes for emergencies. But there is no chance in hell that she's giving them up to Brooke.

"Nope." she lies, shaking her head. "I am clean."

Caleb gazes at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

Nessa nods as she pretends to put her hands through her pockets and pull them out wearing a funny grin on her face.

Shrugging his shoulders, a relaxed Johnny takes the keys off the kitchen counter and heads outside, whereas the others followed him.

The children first went to Wal-Mart, where they purchased food with the money Brooke and Nessa received from their old boss. Next, they stopped at Dairy Queen and ate ice cream from wafer cones. Finally, the kids journeyed to JC Penny to buy new clothes.

"Hey, Caleb." Johnny strolls out of the men's dressing room, wearing a dark red fedora, black gloves, and a matching red trench coat.

Caleb stops searching through the drab dress slacks and glances up from his moody best friend.

"Yeah?" he asked lazily.

Johnny presents his strange attire to Caleb, who gawks at it as though his bony chest was strapped to a bomb. "What do you think about this?"

At first, Johnny expected Caleb to approve of his choices, but when he heard his friend snickers under his breath, Johnny instantly regrets it.

"I don't know about you," Caleb snorts."But I think I found Carmen Sandiego."

Johnny flips him off, which made Caleb laugh even harder.

"Hey, Brooke! Nessa!" the telepath called over New Kids on the Block playing in the store.

The girls enter the men's section, rotting shopping bags with purchase clothes and long receipts.

Brooke's pretty face is painted in frosted blue eyeshadow and Burgundy lipstick. Nessa, on the other hand, had on smudged pencil kohl liner and maroon shade lipstick.

As soon as they look at Johnny, the girls burst out laughing.

"Oh my God!" Nessa wheeze. "You look like Carmen Sandiego!"

"That's what I said!" Caleb roared, collapsing on the floor.

Studying them were male customers pushing clothes hangers and business clothes. When the customers caught a glimpse of three kids laughing at a boy dressed in a bold red trench coat.

They seem a little confused at the scene; however, the men did not interfere with the teenagers mainly because they are on a schedule.

Johnny unbuttons his red trench coat and tosses it on a shelf full of navy blazers.

"I do not look like Carmen What-Her-Face," he said in disgust.

Brooke rolls her eyes. "It's Carmen Sandiego."

"Whatever."

Caleb and Nessa stopped laughing when a humorous thought came to them.

"Oh man," Nessa breathed. "We have got to sing that theme song."

"Definitely," said Caleb in agreement.

Bright red depleted from Johnny's face as he said, "Please don't sing the song." in a pleading voice.

Ever since Johnny had watched Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? with his little sister, he couldn't get that damned theme song out of his head.

Though chuckling, Brooke politely tells Nessa and Caleb to stop hassling Johnny.

"We have all the things we need," Brooke reminds them "Now, all we need to do is go home."

* * * *
Grocery and shopping bags are stored in the trunk of Johnny's car as the kids head home.

Wheels turned under the speed limit; Traffic lights shone down on the cars. A focused Johnny continues heading North. His hands clench around the steering wheel, determined not to let go.

Bill Clinton spoke on the radio; he praises the strong economy, low employment, and the increase of technology in the States.

But despite the progress Clinton has made, he did not mention anything about the growing bias between meta-humans and disgruntled bigots.

Scowling in disgust, Johnny turns off the news and continues to drive in silence.

He would have endured the ride home if Caleb and Nessa would stop singing that stupid theme song.

"Well, she sneaks around the world from Kyiv to Carolina." Nessa sang aloud. "She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize."

"She'll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China," Caleb continued. "Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?"

An irritated Johnny groaned some more.

"Cut it out," he tells them.

"Hey," said Caleb. "Don't be mean, Carmen."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed, pouting. "What would Waldo say?"

She was about to say something else when Brooke senses troubling coming in their way.