(Jamie returns...)
Clank.
"Mmm... Steven?"
"What?"
"Did you hear that?"
Clank.
"It's probably just one of the neighbors."
Clank.
"You do realize we have a small child in the house now, right?"
Silence for a moment, then, "Fine..."
Steven rolled out of bed and stumbled into the hallway, where he saw an unexpected sight in the dim light from the street outside. "Jamie, what are you doing out of bed?"
"I couldn't sleep," Jamie said.
"Okay, but why are you in the kitchen? And what are all these pots and pans doing everywhere?"
"Well... I heard you say the kitchen was messy, so I thought maybe I could make it nicer."
Steven looked at the boy for a moment. "Hang on, I'm going to get Jeffrey out here," he said before walking back into the bedroom.
"What's he up to?" Jeffrey asked.
"He's reorganizing the kitchen."
"What?"
"Well, you wanted a challenge. I think you got what you wished for."
Jeffrey groaned and pushed himself out of bed. Sure enough, when he arrived at the kitchen entry, there was Jamie, staring at the cupboard and moving dishes around. "Hey, Jamie."
Jamie looked up. "Hi."
"Steven said you were reorganizing the kitchen," Jeffrey said as he sat down on the floor next to the boy.
"Um, yeah."
"What made you decide to do that?" Jeffrey asked.
"Well... mom and dad said that kids have to help around the house to thank their parents for all the nice things they do, so I wanted to do something 'cause you've been really nice to me," Jamie said.
"Okay, so you decided to reorganize the kitchen for us?"
"Um, well, Steven said it was messy, so I'm trying to make it not messy," Jamie said.
"You know you don't have to do that for us, right? We like being nice to you because we like seeing you happy," Jeffrey said.
"But... I wanted to help."
"You want to help us around the house?" Jeffrey asked.
Jamie nodded.
"Okay, I think that sounds fair," Jeffrey said. "And I do appreciate you trying to organize the kitchen for us, but unfortunately, it's hard to do that quietly since all these pots and pans make a lot of noise when you move them around, so it's not really a good chore to do at nighttime, since it can wake people up."
"Oh. Sorry," Jamie said.
"It's okay. You were just trying to be nice, and I'm sure you didn't know it would be so noisy, right?"
Jamie shook his head. He looked just a little bit depressed now, which pulled hard at Jeffrey's heartstrings.
"Listen, since you want to help out around the house, I think it would be good to make up a list of chores for you to do tomorrow, so that you know exactly what you can do to help out around here. Does that sound good?"
Jamie nodded.
"Good. Now, let's get these dishes put back in the cupboards for now, and we can do a complete reorganizing tomorrow when everyone's awake. Is that okay?"
Jamie nodded again.
"All right. You ready to go back to bed now?"
"I'm not really sleepy," Jamie said.
"Then how about we cuddle up in the living room and read a book until you get sleepy?" Jeffrey asked.
"Do I have to sit in your lap?" Jamie asked.
"Not unless you want to."
"Okay."
Jeffrey smiled. Not only had he resolved the situation without making Jamie cry, but he'd have a good story for his sister when she came to visit...
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