Rhea woke up to find two surprising things; she was alone in her bed and someone was in her kitchen preparing...pancakes. She sat up slowly, she had half-expected Mitch to come in here sometime in the middle of the night and sneak into her bed, now she wasn't sure if she was glad or disappointed that he had proved her wrong.
She rubbed her arms to relieve them of numbness and inhaled deeply, blueberry pancakes, mmh, she could really use some of that right now. Her eyes suddenly grew wide as she realised the only person that could be in that kitchen was Mitch, and she had specifically told him she would NOT be feeding him.
She flew out of bed in a fit, prepared to give him more than a piece of her mind. He had some nerve defying her orders in her own house. She got to the kitchen and halted in her steps at the sight she met. Mitch was frying some bacon, two piles of pancakes stacked onto two plates on the counter as he told Jonas a story about dragons. They made such an adorable, perfect sight; Jonas listening in awe as he shoved blueberry pancakes into his mouth and drank some milk without completely chewing the pancake in his mouth.
As she studied the scene, she realised there were more pancakes than she had ingredients for, and then there were other items she knew weren't in her kitchen previously, like the large bottle of orange juice, the pack of crackers, the bowl of ice-cream and the box of chocolates on the dining table. She rarely bought any chocolates and ice-cream to prevent Jonas from getting a sweet tooth too early in life- plus, she didn't want to spend any money on dentists anytime soon.
Mitch had bought all of this? She smiled at his caring attitude, appreciating this new side of him. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she had thought after all. She coughed to alert them of her presence just when Mitch was about to end his story. Identical pair of emerald eyes turned to her in unison, both looking slightly miffed that she had interrupted the story just when it was getting good. She almost laughed at the sight they made, particularly Jonas, whose right cheek was puffed due to the food he had in his mouth, if she had a camera with her right now, she was sure to take an award-winning photograph.
"Good Morning." She began to break the ice, "I see I'm not missed." She added.
"Morning mama." Jonas replied after swallowing the chunk of pancake that had been in his mouth when she interrupted.
"Good Morning Rhea. Joining us for breakfast?" Mitch asked cheerily, but Rhea knew it was an intentional jab. Of course, she had denied him her food, so he just went and got some for himself, and now he was throwing that fact in her face...she should have banned him from using her cooking gas too.
"Where did all of this come from?" She asked, totally ignoring his question despite how much her mouth watered to get the taste of his cooking, it definitely had an inviting aroma.
He shrugged, "The grocery store, where else? Jonas woke up a bit early and wanted some blueberry pancakes, so we drove down to the grocery store and got some items for breakfast." He summarized like it was a daily routine with them. He was blending into the whole 'father' role a bit too quickly, but he loved every bit of it, if he had been told being a dad would be this awesome he wouls have been one a long time ago; having a little boy look up to you like you were some sort of demi-god and speak to you with such awe...Jonas didn't know he was his dad yet, but it felt the same to him anyway.
"Mitch makes the best blueberry pancakes ever! Mama." Jonas gushed.
Rhea raised her brows, "Does he now?" She asked, just a bit offended that Jonas would rate Mitch higher than her.
Jonas, recognising that as the 'oh-no-you-didn't' look, re-phrased his sentence, "I mean for a man"
Mitch smiled at what had just gone on and shook his head as he turned off the gas, "Rhea! Intimidating a child, I'm highly disappointed." He scolded, but his expression was far from stern.
Rhea rolled her eyes just as Mitch turned around fully to set the plate of bacon and a large jug of orange juice on the table. She had to admit, she had never thought a man could look so yummy in an apron and a wife-beater, his broad chest stretching the fabric and his toned arms showing off perfect biceps, she unconsciously licked her lips wishing those arms were currently around her, and those eyes were looking at her with lust rather than...concern? She snapped out of her day-dream long enough to hear him ask if she was okay, though by the smug smile on his face as he asked that question she knew he could tell what had her in a trance.
She frowned, "Lemme go freshen up a little. Will join you guys soon." She replied as she turned around and made her way back into her room. And by 'freshen up' she meant go into the bathroom to finish her day-dreaming and maybe curse out Mitchell Montgomery for arousing these feelings in her, and that would take longer than 'soon'.
*****
Mitch drove to Amy's elementary school in high spirits. Rhea insisted they enroll Jonas in the same school Amy was, and he had no qualms with that. He hummed his way there, he couldn't remember the last time, if ever, he had had a day this good. Everything felt so right, this morning with Rhea and Jonas had been awesome, in fact it scared him a little just how perfect they seemed; everyone at the table, talking and laughing about random things, even the receptiveness of Jonas toward him barely a week after he had been hostile was heart-warming. He was feeling the whole 'family' vibe a bit too quickly, he knew very well he would need Rhea's co-operation to make them a real 'family' like he wanted and there was only so much he could achieve through threats.
If they were going to be together, he would prefer if both parties were willing participants, Lord knows he was willing to try whatever with her, but he really couldn't say where she stood as of now. Sometimes, he felt like they were on the same page, but just when he relaxed into the mood, she would zone out totally and become this stand-offish, aggressive shrew. It was like she enjoyed pulling his strings and playing him like he was some musical instrument- and she was the only woman who could do that to him.
Her current tune was Jared. He was aware she liked him, not romantically though, but it could be if Jared pushed just a little harder. Whatever he had with her right now was unstable, he was just a one-time thing, the only connection they shared was Jonas and a mind-blowing sexual connection, that was it. With Jared, she had more than that, she had a friend, and that would always beat some dude she fucked once. It scared him. He didn't want to lose her- he didn't want to lose them to Jared.
He parked his truck in the school's parking lot and stepped out, remembering all the times he had passed by this school and scoffed at all the mushiness that went on between parents and the kids they dropped off, he almost laughed at himself. Now it would only be a matter of days before he'd join that crew, how funny life was.
He made his way to the school building, once inside, he encountered a man he assumed to be the janitor- he was wearing a yellow over-all, and once up close, he read the nametag 'Jimmy', well, he wasn't the headteacher. The man looked him up and down, Mitch knew for a man as lanky as Jimmy was, he probably looked threatening, he was four inches taller and packed a lot more meat and muscle than the fella did. He recognised him as one of those who frequented Shawnie's bar- he was one of the loud talkatives he tried to avoid, they let this train-wreck around people's children? He hoped he was sober during working hours at least.
"Whaddaya want?" He asked in his really annoying, croaky voice, reminding Mitch of why exactly he hated listening to his tales.
"Is the headteacher in?"
Jimmy looked Mitch up and down, sizing him up, he knew the infamous Mitchell Montgomery, everyone in this county and beyond did, if not for his famiy's money, you'd definitely know him for his good looks and womanizing ways, he was just one of those people you couldn't afford to ignore, "Who wants to know?"
Mitchell frowned, "The person who's asking dumbbell."
Jimmy snickered, not the least bit offended by the accompanying insult- he had been called worse, "Why? Ya got a kid ya wanna enroll?"
