Seeing Grandma in approval of her grandson’s actions effectively graced a wave of relief over Thomas’ freckled complexion. He had always viewed Rose with a sense of respect and a source of wisdom; the sort of practical knowledge that Thomas felt he could trust when his parents weren’t available. It complemented Grandpa’s primarily academic teachings nicely, he felt, enjoying their different methods of teaching in the past and appreciating their different perspectives on topics that somehow worked together like a jigsaw when put into practise. But then again, wasn’t that what family was supposed to be like? If everyone were a puzzle piece, they weren’t much without the support of their Lao, Lowell and Smith counterparts. Fitted together, it could be said they created the perfect image of unity, a farm, a place of order and belonging...<br/><br/>Thomas secretly hoped that in his simple analogy, he were a top corner piece. Those pieces are awesome.<br/><br/>Alexia soon approached him, equipped with another kind-of-embarrassing-but-admittedly-sweet hair ruffle. In the moment that Mother spoke to him, he pressed his head into her palm softly, raising his head to glance at her humoured face. A grin tugged at his mouth in response to her words; he deeply enjoyed receiving fun nicknames as much as he did liberally giving them out to people... And besides, seeing Ma happy never failed to please him; something that at this age, he couldn’t really explain. It just did, y'know?<br/><br/>Click went the back kitchen door as Father and Uncle Al returned with the prized milk. Still sunken into the kitchen stool, Thomas turned in his chair to see them enter. Hearing his dad ask about the sink made the child smile. It was good to know that his frantic message actually came through, making the rest of the family’s praise actually worthwhile. This was the sort of mentality Thomas had concerning tasks, whether it be at school, home or otherwise: compliments or kind words weren’t valid unless his performance was acceptable. Harsh, it may seem, especially now when it was just a matter of delivering a message, but perhaps it were merely a product of working hard and being strict on himself. The only thing he didn’t worry acting upon was sleeping, ironically enough. To be lazy yet proactive was a battle Thomas found hard to balance out.<br/><br/>Thomas followed after Rose as she sent her husband outside. “Be safe!” He chimed, a phrase that the boy always said, and always needed to say, before someone left the house. Little fingers waved him off before he skipped back to the kitchen and sat back into the stool to watch the family go about the room. His mouth moved open unconsciously, excited to see Alexia about to pour egg mixture into the pan.<span style="font-style: italic">Yes!</span>Glancing over to Alistair, Thomas, out of courtesy, motioned towards the young man and patted the stool beside him. Was it just Thomas, or did his uncle seem a tad down this morning? The man usually was reserved in nature, but he seemed to be clouded with thought today. Maybe it were just the anticipation of wanting to eat food. Whatever the case, Thomas brushed it off, having faith in Alistair to talk to the family if ever he needed help.<br/><br/>“Seems like everyone’s hungry this morning,” Rose commented, and to that, Thomas clasped his hands together and confirmed the notion; “Yup!”