#finchwrites

MommaBear: guys?

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[sent 3:22 am to “Oops! All Sleep Deprived!”]

MommaBear: uhh

MommaBear: does anyone want bao i kinda made food

[seen 3:27 am by QueenShit, MonsterEnergyIsLife, and 3 more]

QueenShit: what the genuine fuck

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Anna arrives first, the door clicking open and letting in the harsh fluorescent light from the hallway. She has her phone in her hand, replying to some text or another, and sidles up behind Jane in the kitchen, leaning over her. Jane laughs softly and shoves a bao into Anna’s open mouth. Anna mumbles something that sounds like a thank you, but with a mouth full of food, it’s muffled, so who can really tell.

After taking a moment to chew and swallow, Anna asks, “What’s got you up this late?”

Jane sighs, pinching the dough shut on yet another bao and placing it with the others that still have yet to be steamed. “I don’t know, I think it’s just a bad night tonight for no reason.”

Anna nods, taking another finished bao off the plate. “That’s fair. Guess I’ll keep you company then.” Jane smiles and leans back ever so slightly, letting Anna’s weight behind her ground her.

Anne stumbles in next, Catalina close in tow. Plopping down at Jane’s kitchen table, she pulls piles of notebooks out along with the new novel her class assigned her. Jane sets down a plate next to her, and Anne absently murmurs a thank you before starting to take notes, one hand holding a bao. Catalina sits next to her, munching on her own, just watching Anne work.

At some point, Anne swears under her breath and shows the book to Catalina, who says something in return, pointing out some passage, and Anne brightens immediately. She kisses Catalina chastely on the lips and goes back to her studying while Catalina turns bright red.

After a few minutes, Cathy shuffles in from her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She walks in, almost smacks full force into Anna, grabs what looks like an armful of bao, and leaves for her room once again.

“Please don’t fall asleep eating again!” Jane calls, getting only a grunt in reply. Looking back at Anna, Jane asks, “Can you drag her back out here to make sure she doesn’t choke in her sleep?” Anna laughs and nods, walking towards Cathy’s room. A moment later, she returns with Cathy slung over her shoulder and deposits her at the kitchen table where Anne and Catalina barely acknowledge her. Catalina’s pulled out work of her own and scoots over some to let Cathy sit a little more comfortably next to her. When Cathy slumps over, cheek pressed against the pock-marked wood, a bao still in her mouth, Catalina chuckles and gently shakes her awake. Cathy grumbles, but sits up a little straighter and begins reading Anne’s book over her shoulder.

Kat’s the last to walk into the small flat, a blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. Anne looks up as she walks in, concerned, “Did you walk here on your own?”

Kat flushes a little embarrassed, and admits, “I maybe stole your car and drove.”

“Anne, did you leave the car at Kat’s dorm again?” Catalina asks, a little teasingly.

Anne stammers for a moment, saying “Hey I mean, I only forgot it one other time, we’re over there so much anyway, I didn’t think-”

Gently taking Anne’s chin in a hand, Catalina pulls her gaze over to hers. “I don’t mind too much babes, as long as we get it back eventually.” She kisses Anne lightly on the cheek, then looks over at Kat. “Also how did you have our car keys?”

Kat stares for a moment, mouth open and eyes wide, and says “I may have copied your keys at WalMart.” before dashing into the safety of the kitchen.

Jane stands there, hands on her hips, and raises an eyebrow at Kat as she runs into the kitchen, blanket still tucked around her shoulders. “Katherine Howard, did you actually copy their keys?”

Pursing her lips, Kat sighs “Just the car keys, I get tired of Anne taking four detours to four different fast food restaurants before getting me from class, and I mean I can drive.” Kat pouts at Jane before adding on, “I just can’t afford a car. Or insurance.”

Chuckling softly, Jane asks, “Since when did you care about that after you went sledding off the music hall roof with Anna last winter, screaming that you had no health insurance?”

Kat crossed her arms. “I was just informing the people below us. Plus it was fun, and neither of us broke any important bones.”

Jane wants to ask what bones are considered unimportant enough to be sacrificed to sledding off buildings, but instead she just puts the last batch of bao in the steamer and shoos Kat out of the kitchen.

When the timer dings, Jane pulls the bamboo steamer off the pot of water and places it on the kitchen table, smiling fondly as her family opens it up and tears into the food inside. Jane wouldn’t trade this for the world, the feeling of quiet domesticity that she’s brought together here. No she doesn’t even care it's almost four in the morning, it feels right to have them all here. Sitting down next to Anna on the couch, Jane leans her head against Anna’s shoulder and lets herself relax, a bao held gently in her hands.

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Jane’s alarm rings at 7:00 on the dot as always and she groans as she hits the dismiss button on her phone. As she always does after a late night of cooking, she swears to herself she’ll never do it again.