Jay's POV:
I woke up and the first thing I felt was the warm breath against my neck. I smiled even before opening my eyes and nuzzled close to him, and he tightened his grip, pulling me impossibly close.
We're cuddling when the door busted open, followed by the thunder of tiny feet across the floor.
"MAMA! DADA! WAKE UP!"
I groaned softly, burying my face deeper into Keifer's chest. "Too early..."
"Kade," Keifer mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep. "It's six in the morning."
"IS MORNING!" Kade declared, as if that explained everything.
I felt the bed dip as two tiny hands grabbed my shoulder and shook it with surprising strength for a two-year-old.
"Mama! Mama! Wake up!"
"Baby..." I cracked one eye open. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing wrong!" He was practically vibrating with excitement. "I hungry!"
Keifer sighed, but I could feel his chest rumble with a quiet laugh. "You're hungry every morning."
"But TODAY I want PANCAKES!"
"Pancakes?" I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes.
"Yes! Pancakes! With... with..." He scrunched his tiny face, thinking hard. "...the red stuff!"
"Strawberries?"
"YES! And the white stuff!"
"Whipped cream?"
"YES! And the yellow stuff!"
"Butter?"
"YESSSS!" He threw his arms in the air triumphantly. "All the stuff!"
I looked at Keifer, who was now propped up on one elbow, watching our son's morning performance with an amused smile. His hair was deliciously disheveled, and the sheet had slipped down to his waist. He looked unfairly good.
"Pancakes?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Pancakes," I confirmed.
Kade clapped his hands and immediately scrambled onto the bed, wedging himself between us. "I help! I help make!"
"You want to help?" I asked, already knowing this would result in flour everywhere.
"Yes! I big boy!"
Keifer reached over and ruffled his hair. "You're our big boy, aren't you?"
"BIGGEST BOY!" Kade shouted, making us both wince.
"Inside voice, baby," I reminded him gently.
He immediately lowered his voice to an exaggerated whisper. "Biggest boy."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright. Let's go make pancakes."
Kade scrambled off the bed and ran toward the door, then stopped abruptly. He turned around and pointed at both of us.
"You come! Now!"
"We're coming," Keifer said, already swinging his legs out of bed.
"No! NOW!"
I shared a look with Keifer. "He gets his bossiness from you."
"Absolutely not," Keifer said, pulling on his shirt. "He gets it from you."
"You're deflecting."
"I'm stating facts."
Kade stomped his tiny foot. "NOWWWW!"
We both scrambled to our feet, laughing.
---
Twenty minutes later
The kitchen looked like a war zone.
Flour dusted every surface. A broken egg shell sat on the counter next to a puddle of spilled milk. Kade was sitting on the island counter, his little hands completely covered in batter, and there was a smear of flour across his cheek.
But the pancakes? The pancakes were perfect.
"Look!" Kade pointed at the stack I'd just finished. "I made dose!"
"You helped," Keifer corrected, wiping down the counter.
"I helped A LOT," Kade insisted.
I plated the pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, just as he'd requested. "Alright, my big helper. Time to eat."
He reached for the plate, but Keifer gently moved it away. "Ah-ah. Hands first."
Kade looked at his batter-covered fingers as if seeing them for the first time. "Oh."
"Let's wash up, buddy." Keifer lifted him off the counter and carried him to the sink.
I watched them—Keifer patiently scrubbing Kade's tiny hands while Kade giggled at the bubbles. My heart swelled.
"All clean!" Kade announced, holding up his now-pristine hands.
"Good job." Keifer dried them with a towel and set him down.
Kade immediately ran back to his seat at the small table we'd set up for him in the corner of the kitchen. "Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!"
I brought the plate over and set it in front of him. "Here you go, baby."
He grabbed his little fork and stabbed a pancake with more enthusiasm than precision. The first bite made his eyes go wide.
"GOOD!" he declared with his mouth full.
"Chew, baby," I reminded him, sitting down with my own plate.
Keifer joined us, coffee in hand. He looked at Kade, then at me, and something soft passed between us.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." He took a sip of coffee. "Just... I could get used to this."
"Used to what? Being woken up at six in the morning by a pancake-obsessed toddler?"
"Exactly that."
I smiled, warmth spreading through my chest.
Kade finished his first pancake and immediately reached for another. "Mama."
"Yes?"
"You pretty."
My heart melted. Again. "Thank you, baby."
"And Dada handsome."
Keifer raised his coffee cup. "I'll take that."
"And Tito Pershy..." He paused, thinking. "...funny."
I burst out laughing. "He's going to love that."
"He also said Pershy smell good."
Keifer choked on his coffee. "He did not."
"He did! Yesterday, when Percy was hugging him."
Keifer set down his cup, looking genuinely disturbed. "Great. Now I have competition."
I patted his hand. "Don't worry. You're still my number one."
Kade looked up from his pancakes. "I number one!"
"You're number one in our hearts," I assured him.
He considered this, then nodded seriously. "Okay. Dada number two."
Keifer looked at me. "Did he just demote me?"
"I think he did."
"Unacceptable." Keifer reached over and gently tickled Kade's sides. "Who's number one?"
Kade shrieked with laughter. "MAMA! MAMA!"
"Who's number one?"
"MAMA!"
I laughed, watching them. "I think you lost this round."
Keifer finally stopped, and Kade collapsed against his chair, panting and giggling.
"Dada funny," he managed.
"That's better." Keifer kissed the top of his head.
I took another bite of my pancake, savoring the moment.
---
Later that morning
After breakfast, Keifer had to go into the office for a few hours and I'm not going because keifer is going to handle everything as from Mariano side Percy handles things so I don't go regularly puls I'm a mother and I've to give time to my child.
Kade was playing with his toy cars in the living room while I cleaned up.
"I'll be back by two," Keifer said, pulling on his suit jacket. "There's a quick meeting with the board, then I'm all yours."
"Take your time. Kade and I have plans."
He raised an eyebrow. "Plans?"
"Important plans. Arts and crafts."
He smiled. "Sounds dangerous."
"Very."
He walked over to where I was standing at the sink and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "I love you."
I leaned back against him. "I love you too."
"I'll be back before you know it."
"Better be."
He kissed my neck, then my cheek, then my lips. "Bye."
"Bye."
He grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door. "Kade, I'm leaving!"
Kade looked up from his cars. "Bye Dada! Bring treat!"
Keifer laughed. "Treat?"
"YES! Surpwize treat!"
"I'll see what I can do."
The door closed behind him, and I turned back to the dishes.
"Okay, baby," I called out. "Let's get started on those crafts."
"COMING!" He abandoned his cars and ran toward me, his little feet pattering across the hardwood floor.
As he climbed onto his little chair at the kitchen table, already reaching for the crayons, I realized that this—this simple, chaotic, flour-covered, pancake-filled life—was everything I had ever wanted.
And I wouldn't trade it for the world.
___
Keifer's POV
The board meeting was dragging. Endless reports. Quarterly projections. Market analysis that could have been summarized in five minutes instead of fifty.
I tapped my pen against the mahogany table, my mind drifting—as it so often did these days—to the image of Jay in the kitchen this morning, flour on her nose, laughing as Kade attempted to flip a pancake that immediately splattered onto the counter.
She had looked so beautiful. So effortlessly radiant.
"I believe that covers the European expansion," Mr. Harrison said, adjusting his glasses. "Unless there are any objections?"
I didn't respond.
"Sir?"
I blinked. "Sorry. Repeat that."
The board members exchanged glances. Keifer Watson, the man known for never losing focus, getting distracted during a meeting?
"I said," Mr. Harrison repeated carefully, "the European expansion projections are complete. We expect a fifteen percent increase in quarterly revenue."
"Fine. Approved." I waved my hand. "Anything else?"
Another board member cleared his throat. "There's the matter of the Gala next month. The annual Watson Foundation Charity Gala. You'll need to attend with Mrs. Watson."
Now that caught my attention.
"Send the details to my assistant. Jay will need to coordinate with the stylist."
"Of course, sir."
The meeting concluded shortly after, and I was out of my chair before anyone could approach me for small talk. I had somewhere to be.
---
Jay's POV
Kade and I were deep in our arts and crafts project when I heard the front door open.
"Keifer? You're back early."
"I missed you."
I looked up from the glitter-covered paper Kade was decorating. Keifer stood in the kitchen doorway, his tie loosened, his suit jacket slung over one shoulder. His eyes—those piercing grey eyes—were fixed on me like I was the only thing in the room worth looking at.
"Hi," I said softly.
"Hi."
Kade, oblivious to the moment, held up his masterpiece. "DADA! Look! I made a horse!"
Keifer walked over and examined the glitter-drenched creature on the paper. "That's... a very sparkly horse."
"It's a UNICORN!" Kade corrected. "Mama said horses don't got sparkles. But UNICORNS do!"
"Ah, my mistake." Keifer ruffled his hair. "It's a very impressive unicorn."
Kade beamed. "I know!"
I stood up and brushed the glitter off my jeans. "You're home early. I thought the meeting would go until at least one."
Keifer's hand found my waist, pulling me close. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"Keifer..." I glanced at Kade, who was already back to coloring, completely absorbed.
"Don't care. He's busy." He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You had flour on your nose this morning. It was adorable."
"I'm sure it was very professional."
"You're always professional." Another kiss, this time on my cheek. "And beautiful. And mine."
"Yours?" I raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Completely." He kissed my jaw. "Irrevocably. Inexplicably."
"Mama! Dada! Come see!" Kade's voice interrupted us.
Keifer groaned softly against my skin. "We're being summoned."
"Always."
We walked over to the table, where Kade had finished his masterpiece—a family portrait consisting of three stick figures: one with brown hair (me), one with black hair (Keifer), and one tiny stick figure between us.
"Dis us!" Kade announced proudly.
Keifer picked up the drawing, his expression softening. "This is going in my office."
"Office?" Kade tilted his head. "Dada office got big windows. My picture look big in big windows."
"That's a brilliant idea," Keifer said seriously. "I'll frame it and put it right behind my desk so everyone who walks in can see it."
Kade's eyes widened with importance. "Everybody?"
"Everybody."
Satisfied, Kade returned to his coloring, and Keifer pulled me aside again.
"You know what else I was thinking about during that mind-numbing meeting?" he murmured.
"What?"
"This." He kissed me properly—slow and deep, his hand tangling in my hair.
I melted into him, my hands gripping his shirt. "Keifer... the meeting..."
"Is over. And I'm home. With you." He pulled back just enough to look at me. "I spent two hours listening to financial projections, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to see you."
"Two hours? That's all it took?"
"Jay." His voice dropped lower. "I think about you constantly. Every second. Every minute. It's honestly a miracle I get anything done."
I laughed, my cheeks warming. "That's a little intense."
"That's love." He kissed the corner of my mouth. "Intense and all-consuming. You ruined me, jesper-jean Mariano Watson. I was perfectly fine being cold and alone before you."
"I'm pretty sure you were miserable."
"Details."
____
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