Together at Last

Grandpa

Aladdin's POV

I woke up to an empty bed, was I crazy or did Jasmine come sleep with me last night? I was almost sure she did. Quickly I got up and got dressed so I could head down for some breakfast. I was surprised to find everyone sitting at the table, especially, Jasmine, who sat between the two kids.

"Morning dad!" I heard Sari say.

"Good morning sweet girl." I gave her a forehead kiss and sat down next to Genie.

I watched as Jasmine silently ate her fruits and the kids devoured their breakfasts. She barely even looked up.

"So... how's life in the palace so far?" I asked Genie, Dalia, and the kids.

"It's great! It's been so good for the kids to have stability." Dalia responded.

"Yeah man, and for us too you know, it's easier to deal with just life when you're not on the move twenty-four-seven." Genie said.

I sat there quietly for a minute waiting to see if Jasmine would say anything, but nothing came out. She really was serious about this.

"Yeah, I imagine." I responded to Genie who noticed something was up. I signaled for him to try to start conversation with Jasmine, who at this point could very well be mute.

He cleared his throat, "So, Jas, how's the pregnancy treating you? I can see you're finally eating more again so that's always good. I mean not that you should eat a lot cause you know, that wouldn't be that grea—"

Dalia hit him in the arm and rolled her eyes. "I think what he's trying to say is, too much of something isn't good for the baby. Isn't that right honey?"

"Yeah, sure." Genie nodded.

Finally, Jasmine spoke up. "It's good I guess. I'm just tired all the time that's all." She said before speaking up again. "Kid's are you done with that already?" She asked as she looked at there almost empty plates.

"Yup!" They all said in unison.

"Okay, then let me just get those for you." Jasmine got up.

"I'll help." I said as I started to pick up their plates.

I saw Jasmine grab two and almost sprint to the kitchen. I followed.

"Hey..." I said as I got closer to her.

"What do you want Aladdin?" I froze, she never called me by my entire name.

"Nothing, I just thought... I thought we were okay. You know, after last night..." I said as I put the plates on the table.

"Last night was just... it was just that. It doesn't change anything." I got closer to her as I tried to see her face but she moved in the other direction.

"Look I know you're mad about what I said, and I'm sorry, I know it was bad, I just had a moment but doesn't mean anything, I promise." I said as I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Aladdin you basically called me annoying and blamed the baby for it. As if I chose to get pregnant just to mortify you. I can't deal with the fact you had the nerve to complain about something I clearly have no control over. I can't deal with the fact that you blamed our child's existence just because you no patience for your pregnant wife. I can't even comprehend that you had the nerve to call me selfish when I've helped this country and done everything I could for 9 years, and the one time I just wanted to be with my husband and make love to him, I couldn't because I was being "irresponsible"." I heard Jasmine sigh as she went to remove my hand from her shoulder. "It's going to take a lot more than sorry to fix this." She said and left the kitchen.