"And now.... your spirit is set free! The world will now be able to share your original recipe of toast, you will be able to be free of your toast burden, and I will be able to have breakfast," Carlos said. "Thank you for the wonderful invention, Mr. Toast. This has been, Carlos the Ghost Toaster. Toast ya later!"

Carlos turned off his camcorder, ending his video right when Flynn and Julie came down the stairs together. Mr. Molina was quietly humming Stand Tall while cooking something.

"Morning Dad," Julie greeted her father who was making breakfast in the kitchen.

"Julie, you're up! I'm glad. You get some good sleep after last night? I made sure to make you a big breakfast to start your day of great," Julie's dad said.

"Yeah, I did. Thank you. How did you sleep?" Julie asked.

"Fine."

"Um...so, what are you making for breakfast?" Julie asked.

"It isn't obvious? Julie, it's your favorite. Customized pancakes. One with blueberries and one with chocolate chips, but one at a time is how you eat them. And no, I didn't forget the bacon," Mr. Molina smiled.

Julie's face lit up. "Dad, thanks! You shouldn't have. Now I feel bad for making you wait so long on me to get up so you could make breakfast."

"Oh, it's fine. I think we all slept in a little late this morning after being up so late," her dad said, turning to rinse the pan off in the sink.

Realizing you could see the boys in the garage from the window above the sink, Carlos quickly tried to distract their dad. "Dad! Isn't Julie's coral shirt pretty? I gave it to her for...her birthday...uh...last year. When we checked to make sure her closet wasn't haunted, we saw it and she wanted to wear it. Um....doesn't it look good on her?"

Julie's dad turned his attention to Julie's shirt while he washed the pan and said,"Oh that does look good on you, very pretty. But, Carlos, didn't I give her that for Christmas last year?"

"Oh, maybe you're right. I knew one of us gave it to her for her birthday," Carlos shrugged, glad he at least made up a passable story.

"Christmas. It was for Christmas,"their dad corrected him.

"Right. That's what I said," Carlos said, still only halfway paying attention while mainly focussing on the boys outside.

Mr. Molina just shrugged, put the pan away, and went to make their drinks.

"Dad, I'll make the drinks, you and Julie can set the table," Carlos said, trying to direct his father away from the kitchen, or more specifically, away from the window.

"Ok. Flynn, will you be joining us for breakfast?" Mr. Molina asked.

"Um...sure, if it's alright with you," she answered, grabbing napkins from a drawer.

He smiled and said, "Of course, I made you some pancakes. I figured you and Julie would be doing something today so I assumed you would be over early."

Julie caught on to why Carlos wanted to make the drinks when she saw him eyeing the window. She soon found herself also glancing at window frequently to watch the boys in the garage and make sure her dad didn't see them. When the boys could be seen leaving the garage, Julie's heart skipped a beat. This was it. Any second now, the boys would get to meet her dad, and everything would start to fall into place.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Julie nearly burst out of her skin. 

"I'll get it in one minute," Julie said, realizing her hands were full of utensils she needed to put on the table. Thankfully, her dad's hands were full too, so he didn't object to her getting the door when she could.

Julie quickly placed the utensils down while Carlos went behind her and corrected the way the knives' blades faced. Rushing to the door, she opened it gently, to find a...surprise. 

 "Hi! Nick!"

Author's Note:

 I just changed the last line real quick btw because I realized Julie says Hi before saying Nick's name, not the other way around. I am working on the next part now...🙂