The Marriage Contest

Chapter 12: A rude awakening.

Song for the chapter: "Bad blood" - by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar.

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He stirred in his sleep, his eyes fluttering, questioning whether to brave the day or to remain shut in a state of relaxed consciousness and dreams. He rolled onto his back and took a deep breath in. Then, almost as a reflex, he rose from the bed into an upright position, his eyes still closed but his nose sniffing the air.

He smelled bacon.

Jonah's body reacted on its own and eventually he was opening his eyes. When his eyes were open and his brain awake, Jonah frowned. He had almost forgotten about being sent to the spare bedroom of his new house.

The room itself was nothing spectacular, neither was the house from the little he remembered seeing. It was decent but nothing ostentatious or glamorous. It was surprising to Jonah. He had assumed from meeting Vanessa's parents and brother that she too would live the high society lifestyle and yet, he was pleasantly surprised to see the opposite.

Vanessa lived simply, with nothing more than she needed and nothing less than she needed. He wondered why her parents didn't support her and AJ though. Surely with all their money, they'd make sure Vanessa was well looked after, never having to stress about anything financially.

Was it possible that she'd been cut off financially from them?

"Ssh." Jonah frowned and turned his head towards his bedroom door where the sound of harsh whispering was heard. He stilled and waited for more sounds. "We don't want him to hear."

Nothing more was said for a minute before the handle of his bedroom door slowly began to turn. Jonah held his breath.

The door began to open and Jonah found himself smiling at the sight of AJ with a tray in his hand and a look of dedication and concentration pulling his face tight.

Jonah said nothing and instead watched in admiration as the tiny boy walked carefully into the room and placed the tray of food on Jonah's lap.

"Mommy helped me make this for you. I hope you like bacon. I love it."

Jonah grinned at AJ and leaned forward to ruffle his hair. "This looks delicious little man. Thanks for making it."

AJ smiled at him and then without question, hopped on the bed at Jonah's feet. He looked down at the tray and then at Jonah, nodding towards the food. Jonah chuckled and reached for the fork on the edge of his plate.

Jonah looked down at the bacon that was spread into a half-moon and then to the Sunny-side up eggs for eyes. It was sweet. Jonah hadn't had breakfast in bed in years and having now been given food made by an adorable eight-year-old, it brought back happy and painful memories.

Stabbing at his eggs and bacon, Jonah put some into his mouth and moaned in appreciation. The eggs were slightly rawer than he preffered, the bacon was practically stiff with crispness and over cooking, and yet to him, it tasted like a five star meal.

"This is really good AJ. You did a fantastic job."

The boy in question grinned and turned his face away. Jonah noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. "Mommy did most of the work since I can't use the stove. I made it into a smile though."

Jonah grinned and said, "The smile is the best part."

AJ seemed to like the compliment and smiled, moving slightly higher up on the bed towards Jonah. "Where is your mom?" Jonah asked, noticing the house was rather quiet.

"Shower," AJ answered. "She doesn't want to be late."

Jonah frowned, "Late for what?"

"Dropping me at school and for work. It's Monday today."