Joy woke up to the smell of pancakes.
"Mom is making pancakes?" she thought.
That was unusual.
Joy rushed downstairs.
"Grandpa!" she cried.
Grandpa was in front of the stove, flipping pancakes.
"Who wants pancakes?" he asked.
Joy gave her grandfather a huge hug.
"When did you get back?"
"Early this morning.
Your dad and I woke up at sunrise and drove straight here," he said.
"I heard you were up late, finishing schoolwork."
Joy grinned. "I was. But I finished my leaders project.
So I'm ready for pancakes and ready to play in the snow!"
Just then Katie bounced into the kitchen.
At the same time, Dad came in the backdoor, carrying firewood.
Mom followed him.
"Dad! Grandpa!" Katie cried, surprised.
"I can't wait to hear all about your weekend," Dad said.
He gave Katie's ponytail a playful tug.
"Isn't it nice that we're all home together again?" Mom said.
Grandpa set a huge stack of pancakes on the table.
"And isn't it nice that Grandpa is back to cook breakfast for us?" Katie replied. Mom laughed.
"So what did we miss while we were away?" Grandpa asked.
He winked at Mom.
"Besides cold cereal and burnt brownies?"
"Well, first of all, it was freezing outside," Katie began.
"And we thought we had an egg and chicken thief!" Joy added.
"But really some chickens were escaping through a hole in the fence!
And they were laying eggs in your burn pile, Grandpa," Katie said.
"Wow!" said Grandpa, surprised.
"I'm glad there wasn't a real thief!" said Dad.
"Then Joy fixed the hole in the fence all by herself," Katie said with her mouth full of pancakes.
"Wonderful!" said Grandpa.
"And tomorrow at school we're finally giving our reports on leaders," said Joy.
"Who did you end up choosing, Joy?" Grandpa asked.
"Harriet Tubman," Joy said.
"She spent her whole life working for something important:
getting slaves to freedom."
"Good choice," said Dad.
"Thanks." Joy poured maple syrup on her pancakes, thinking for a minute.
Would she ever be a great leader like Harriet Tubman?
"Dad," Joy said slowly.
"When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?"
Dad smiled. "I wanted to work in a park, taking care of trees."
"Now you take care of trees by helping people recycle!" Katie said.
Dad laughed. "I guess I do."
"What about you, Grandpa?" asked Katie.
Grandpa had been a mailman in Willow Creek for thirty years.
"I knew I wanted to be a mailman since I was nine years old," Grandpa said.
"I loved seeing people smile when they got a special letter or package."
"I always wanted to be a librarian," Mom chimed in.
"What about you girls?"
"I'm going to be the mayor of Willow Creek!" Katie announced.
Dad laughed. "That's perfect for you."
Joy grinned from ear to ear.
"I want to be a vet," she said.
"Those are great jobs," Grandpa said.
"They're about helping others, just like leaders do.
And like sisters do too."
The twins smiled at each other.
"So, sister," Katie said.
"Are you done with your pancakes yet?"
"Yep. I'm done," Joy told her twin.
"Time to go play in the snow!"
Katie was already by the door.
"Catch!" she said, tossing Joy's boots at her.
Joy laughed as she caught the boots.
Sometimes she wished she had an older sister.
Other times she wished she had a younger sister.
But today she was glad that she and Katie were twins.
"Isn't it fun being a twin sister?" Joy asked.
"Yes," answered Katie.
"Sometimes it's even fun being your twin sister!"
Then the Willow Creek twins raced out into the snow together.
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