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Papa bought biscuits today. A special tin with lots of different kinds that he got from a specialty bakery close to the institute. Whenever Jon and Martin passed by it on their way to work, they could feel their little sides trying to tug them toward the bakery to get a few pastries for themselves. But they could never seem to find the time to actually go, even when it tempted them every single day. Papa knew this, because he knew his babies well, and he bought enough biscuits after work earlier to tide them over for hopefully up to a week, if they rationed well.
The problem was, Mama and Papa had told Jon and Martin that they weren’t allowed to have any until after dinner. And dinner was taking forever.
“Mama, can we just have a taste p’ease?” Jon pleaded as Sasha moved the biscuit tin to the highest shelf on the bookshelf.. Martin and Jon knew that Mama would never let them eat even a single crumb, that eating biscuits before dinner would ruin their appetite just like she’d told them plenty of times before. But that didn’t deter them from relentlessly asking her. “Martin and I can share! You can just give us one ‘cause then I can break it in half so then it’ll be two! One for each of us!”
“Good job for using your maths, baby. But you know the rules, no biscuits before dinner.” Sasha hoped her two babies would obey but just to be sure, she made sure to tuck the tin to the very back of the shelf where it was guaranteed to be safe.
“But Mama!!” “Mama p’ease…” Jon and Martin whined as they watched their precious biscuit tin disappear out of sight.
“I’m sorry but you two need to be patient. Now, you two go and play while Mama and Papa start dinner, okay?” Sasha waited until the two boys slowly nodded their heads before heading off to the kitchen.
“This isn’t fair! I know we can’t have any biscuits until after dinner but I asked nicely!” Jon huffed, sulkily walking over to his toy chest and half heartedly sifting through his toys. “I even did maths so that we could both have some.”
Martin stayed where he was, standing right in front of the bookshelf and looking up to catch a glimpse of the forbidden snack. “Biscuits…” He really wanted to see if Papa got the biscuits he liked, the ones with the chocolate on them.
“I know, Martin, but you heard what Mama said-” Jon picked up his head from where it was nearly buried in his toy chest to look up at his friend but paused. His eyes shifted from the top of the bookshelf where he could just about see the bright red biscuit tin to Martin who was only a few inches shorter than Mama and Papa. He stood up and tiptoed over to the kitchen, peeking inside to confirm that Mama and Papa were deeply invested in a conversation while they prepared their meals.
“Perfect,” Jon whispered as he creeped back to the kitchen. “Martin! I think I know how we can get the biscuits. And Mama and Papa won’t even know about it so then we can get even more biscuits after dinner!”
“Biscuits?” Martin tilted his head curiously, Winnie tucked close to his chest in anxious anticipation.
“Yes biscuits! Okay so, I would be able to reach it on top of the shelf if I was super duper tall like Mama but I’m short…” Jon stopped dramatically before pulling Martin down to whisper into his ear. “But! You’re super duper tall and maybe if we work together we can get the biscuit tin.”
“Biscuits?” Martin’s eyes brightened at Jon’s idea. Yeah, that could totally work! Maybe he could stand on something to get even taller so he could reach it all by himself. A chair? No since the only chairs in the flat were at the kitchen table. The couch? No, he didn’t think he could move it without making too much noise. The toy chest? No he was too afraid of breaking one of their toys by accident.
As Martin looked around for something to stand on, his eyes landed on Jon and he smiled. In one swift motion, Martin placed his hands under Jon’s armpits and lifted him up as high as he could until Jon was able to clearly see the biscuit tin on the top shelf. “Biscuit!”
Jon gasped and reached out for the tin, grabbing it and signalling Martin to put him down. “Martin! You’re so smart! Now come on, let’s go to our room before Mama and Papa find out.”
The twin sounds of giggles followed by fast footsteps and the slam of a door stopped Sasha and Tim dead in their tracks. Walking out into the living room, Sasha took one look at the now empty shelf and confirmed her suspicions. “Welp,” she said reentering the kitchen, “They certainly lasted longer than I thought they would.”
“Yup, a whole 5 minutes before they went full on heist mode,” Tim laughed. “Should we go and stop them before they ruin their appetite?”
“Nah, let them have a few treats. They deserve it.”
Later that night, after picking at their dinner more than actually eating it, Martin and Jon were offered the now half empty biscuit tin and admitted to their earlier plans. Luckily their Mama and Papa weren’t mad but withheld the biscuits for the next two days. But it was worth it if they were being honest, especially since Papa had gotten the chocolate biscuits that Martin loved.