Jayjay'sPOV
The final bell of the day finally rang, echoing loudly through the hallways of our newly rebuilt building. The ulupongs, who had been slacking off and groaning about cleaning for the past hour, instantly sprang to life like zombies catching the scent of fresh food. Within two seconds flat, backpacks were being zipped up at lightning speed, and desks were being pushed out of the way.
"Home sweet home! See you tomorrow, Section E!" Ci-N yelled, being the very first one to bolt out the door, with Blaster and Mayo hot on his heels.
I giggled, shaking my head as I leisurely packed my notebooks into my bag. The classroom emptied out in a matter of minutes until it was just the usual peaceful quiet left behind.
"Ready to go, wifey?" Keifer's deep voice broke the silence.
I looked up to see him standing by my desk, his backpack slung carelessly over one shoulder. He extended a hand toward me, a soft smile playing on his lips.
"Ready," I said, slipping my hand into his.
As we walked out of the building, he gently took my bag off my shoulders to carry it for me. I smiled up at him, feeling a warm flutter in my chest, and we walked out into the warm afternoon sun toward his car. We got inside, and he started up the engine.
As we drove out of the school gates, I noticed he wasn't taking the usual route that led back to our house. He turned the steering wheel in the completely opposite direction.
I arched an eyebrow at him. "Uh, Keifer? Where are we going? This isn't the way home."
Keifer just kept his eyes on the road, a mysterious smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Who said we were going straight home?"
"Keifer, seriously, where are we going?" I asked, turning in my seat to face him properly.
"It's a secret, wifey," he replied smoothly, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music playing on the radio.
I puffed out my cheeks and crossed my arms over my chest. "I hate secrets. Just tell me! Is it a restaurant? Are we buying something? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
Keifer let out a rich chuckle, glancing at me for a split second before looking back at the road. "Stop begging, darling. You'll see when we get there. Just sit back and relax."
"No, I won't relax! If you don't tell me right now, I'm going to open this door and jump out," I threatened dramatically.
"Go ahead, the child locks are on," he joked, his smirk widening.
I let out a loud, defeated sigh and leaned heavily against the passenger seat, staring hard at the side of his face to try and make him feel guilty. But he just kept driving with that same handsome, annoying smile, completely immune to my glares.
After about twenty minutes of me constantly asking and him completely ignoring my questions, the car finally slowed down. I peered out the front windshield to see where his mystery destination actually was.
We pulled into the parking lot of an old, tall commercial building that overlooked the bustling city. Keifer turned off the engine, grabbed both of our bags from the back seat, and looked over at me with a soft expression.
"Come on," he said, opening his door.
Curiosity completely took over. I hopped out of the car and followed him into the building. He led me straight to the elevator, pressing the button for the very top floor. When the doors finally chimed and slid open, we walked up a short flight of concrete stairs that led out onto a massive, completely private rooftop.
The view took my breath away. The sky was turning into a beautiful shade of pink and gold as the sun began to set, and a cool, refreshing breeze whipped through my hair. But that wasn't even the best part. Set up right near the edge of the roof was a small table with two chairs, and on top of it sat a giant, steaming bag of our absolute favorite street food snacks and drinks.
"You've been stressed lately with all the school drama," Keifer said softly, walking up behind me and placing my bag down on one of the chairs. "And since the ulupongs completely took over lunchtime today, I figured you deserved to eat your favorite food in peace. Just the two of us."
A huge smile spread across my face. The blank, exhausted feeling in my brain completely vanished.
"Wow... you really planned all of this?" I asked, looking back at him.
Keifer stepped closer, a genuinely gentle smile replacing his usual cocky smirk. "Anything for my wifey. Now sit down before the food gets cold."
I happily sat down, pulling the warm food toward me, completely touched by how incredibly thoughtful he was being. Even without the rest of Section E yelling around us, this was the perfect way to end our day.
After we finished eating every single bite of the food, we finally went back down to the car. By then, the exhaustion from the long day completely hit me. My eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I tried to rest my head against the cool glass of the car window, but my head kept slipping off every time the car hit a bump.
Giving up, I shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat and gently tapped Keifer's arm. Without a single word, he smoothly extended his arm out toward me. I smiled sleepily, wrapping my arms around it, and rested my head securely against him. It was so comfortable that I don't even know exactly when I drifted off to sleep.
After some time, I faintly felt someone gently moving me, and a sudden, incredibly soft touch brushed against my forehead.
Keifer'sPOV
We finally reached home, but when I looked over, Jayjay was completely fast asleep in the passenger seat. She looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake her up. Moving as carefully as possible, I slowly slid my arm out of her tight grip, making sure not to disturb her rest.
I hopped out of the car, walked over to her side, and gently lifted her up into my arms. As I carried her through the house and into our room, I looked down at her face and couldn't resist pressing a soft kiss against her forehead.
She stirred slightly in my arms at the movement, murmuring something sleepily, and instinctually wrapped her arms tighter around my neck to hug me back. My queen.
"Sleep well, my queen," I whispered deeply.
I carefully laid her down onto the soft mattress of the bed. Leaning over, I kissed her forehead one more time before climbing into the bed and lying down right beside her. The moment I settled in, she immediately shimmed over toward my side, completely burying her face into my chest to seek my warmth.
A massive smile spread across my face as I looked down at her. I wrapped my arms securely around her waist, hugging her back tightly while gently stroking her hair with one hand. Safe and warm in each other's arms, I closed my eyes and quickly fell fast asleep right along with her.
I blinked my eyes open, and the very first thing I was greeted by was my wife's beautiful face resting right beside mine.
"My sunshine," I whispered softly, leaning in to press a gentle kiss onto the very tip of her nose.
She stirred a little at the touch, letting out a soft sigh before instinctually wrapping her arms around me and pulling herself even tighter against my chest. It's funny—whenever she's fully awake, she claims absolutely everything romantic is 'cringe.' But when she's half-asleep like this? Everything is perfectly normal to her.
Tsk. She really has her own weird logic.
"Jay, wake up," I whispered into her messy hair.
She lazily shook her head against my chest, refusing to open her eyes. Instead, she slowly raised one of her small fists into the air and uncurled her five fingers one by one.
"Five... minutes..." she muttered, her voice completely raspy and deep from sleep.
I chuckled, the sound vibrating in my chest. "No, wake up right now."
But she was already completely silent, drifting straight back into dreamland.
"Jay?" I called out again, intentionally keeping still without shaking her. "You really won't wake up? Okay, then."
Amused, I leaned down closer to her ear, lowering my voice into a playful, quiet melody. "Wake up, sleepyhead! My queen is sleeping peacefully while I'm out here trying to wake her up... wake up. The sun is shining, the birds are loud, and you are snoring right on your cloud. My queen, darling, sweetheart, wife, life, everything... wake up now. Wake up! How many times do you need to be told? The blankets are warm, but the morning is bright, you've been dreaming away all through the night. So shake off the sleep, come on, let's go, you're moving too slow, it's time for the show! Open your eyes, look at the screen... time to wake up, my lazy queen!"
I whisper-sang the entire ridiculous rhyme right into her ear, and a small, helpless smile immediately tugged at the corners of her lips. She finally fluttered her eyes open, leaned up to press a quick, incredibly soft kiss onto my cheek, and then instantly dropped her head right back onto the pillow.
Once again, her little fist shot up into the air, and her five fingers slowly uncurled one by one.
"Just five more minutes," she grumbled into the blankets.
"You've literally been saying that for the last five minutes," I pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"Did you let me sleep? No. Did you get quiet? No. Was your song good? Hell yeah," she rattled off sleepily.
I blinked, completely amused. Why on earth was she asking me questions if she was just going to be the one answering them herself?
"Why are you asking me questions when you're just going to answer them yourself anyway?" I asked her.
"Inherited it from Kuya Angelo," she muttered, her eyes tightly shut.
I couldn't even argue with that logic. "He really does act like that," I admitted, knowing her brother's dramatic tendencies all too well. "But seriously, when are you actually going to be fully awake?"
"I don't know. And no more questions, answer," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around my waist again.
"Then let me get up at least," I said, making a slight move to shift.
But it was no use. She was already lightly snoring against me again.
"I... forgot my Snorlax plushie..." she mumbled sleepily into my chest, her words barely audible. "And you're right here... so..."
"So what? I'm your replacement Snorlax now?" I asked, a smirk growing on my face.
"No. And what did I just say? No more questions," she scolded weakly. She reached up, placed her hand firmly on the top of my head, and unceremoniously pushed my head back down onto the pillow. Before I could say anything else, she tucked her head snugly right under my chin, completely locking me in place. "Now shut up."
I smiled to myself, wrapping my arms securely around her waist to hold her close. "Okay, sweetie," I murmured softly, pressing one last kiss onto the top of her head as I gave in to her demands.
I woke up again after a little while, and instead of waking Jay up this time, I quietly slipped out of bed and went downstairs. I headed straight into the kitchen and put on an apron. All the maids were currently on leave; half of them had requested time off, and I decided to just give the other half a break as well. Keiran and Kaigan were still over with Angelo. I had asked Angelo to let me bring them back with me, but he insisted they were doing completely fine and were happy staying there, so I decided it wasn't worth arguing with him.
I started cooking, and a few minutes later, I heard the sound of small, soft footsteps entering the room. I turned around and saw Jay standing in the doorway in her pajamas. She was holding a single pillow tucked tightly under one arm while rubbing one of her eyes with her other hand, her hair falling naturally over her shoulders. She looked so unbelievably cute, just like a little baby.
"Keif," she mumbled sleepily.
She walked right over to me and immediately hugged me, wrapping her small arms around my waist and burying her face deeply into my chest. I couldn't even hug her back because I had a spatula in one hand and a hot pan in the other, and I couldn't exactly turn around to put them down without bumping into her.
She finally let go after a long moment and looked up at me with those big, sleepy eyes.
"You know, you look just like a child right now," I teased as I turned back to the stove to continue cooking.
"I want ham, rice, and sugar-mixed eggs," she ordered completely out of nowhere.
I nodded, amused. "And how exactly do we make sugar-mixed eggs?"
She tilted her head up, looking toward the ceiling like she was thinking hard for a minute. "Umm... first, you break the egg into a bowl. Make sure you put the yolk and the white part of the egg in different bowls. Then, you mix the white part until it looks exactly like you put washing powder in it! After that, you add just a little bit of milk into the white part, add the sugar, and mix it all up again. Then you take the yolk and put it into the—"
Before she could finish her sentence, I leaned down and pressed a swift kiss onto her cheek. "—white part," I finished for her.
She chuckled softly. "Yup. Now come on, make it."
"Anything to drink?" I asked, looking down at her.
"Juice or milk, whatever," she replied with a shrug.
"Okay, Your Majesty," I said.
A sudden pink blush instantly crept up her cheeks. Noticing it, I smirked. "Are you blushing?"
"Nope! It's just really hot here in the kitchen, so I'm going," she lied quickly, turning around to walk away. But before she could take a step, I caught her by the arm and gently pulled her right back to my side.
"Come on, help me out. You ordered way too much food, I can't possibly make all of this alone," I said.
She let out a loud groan but reluctantly agreed anyway. I smiled warmly at her and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Eww, Keifer! My forehead was sweaty!" she complained, making a face.
I just laughed out loud at her reaction. She grabbed an apron of her own and walked over, holding the strings out so I could help her. I carefully wrapped the strings around her waist and tied them securely, earning a sweet smile from her. With that settled, she started helping me. She focused on blending the fresh juice while I worked on whipping her special sugar-mixed eggs. Then, she scooped the rice into a bowl while I carefully fried the ham.
Once everything was ready, we carried all the dishes over to the dining table and sat down to eat. She was eating peacefully, minding her own business, when I suddenly reached over and poked my index finger right into her side.
She instantly snapped her head toward me, glaring fiercely, and violently pulled her chair a few inches away from mine. I just smirked, reached out, and pulled her chair right back to its original spot. A second later, I poked her side again.
She glared at me even harder this time, aggressively pushing her chair far across the room where she thought I couldn't reach her. Smiling to myself, I simply slid my own chair forward until I was right next to her again. Without missing a beat, I poked her side for a third time.
She gave me the ultimate death stare. I just casually winked at her, and that completely broke her serious face—she burst into loud, helpless laughter.
"Keifer!" she yelled through her giggles.
"What?" I asked, trying my absolute hardest to keep a straight face and pretend I hadn't done anything.
She shook her head, letting out a final chuckle before turning back to her food. Wanting to see her reaction again, I reached out to poke her one more time. But the second my finger neared her side, she suddenly lunged forward and started aggressively tickling my sides. I sat there completely expressionless. I couldn't feel a single thing—or maybe I was just doing a really good job of not showing it.
"Laugh now!" she commanded, staring at me expectantly.
I just blankly looked back at her. Realizing her attack wasn't working, she finally stopped, huffed, and went back to eating her rice. I waited a few seconds before slowly bringing my index finger closer to her side again. But before I could even make contact, her hand shot out like lightning. She grabbed my finger in a vice grip, holding it incredibly tightly.
"Okay, okay! I won't do it again!" I surrendered, laughing out loud.
"Promise?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
I nodded quickly. She finally let go of my finger, and the two of us comfortably went back to eating our breakfast. This time, I kept my hands to myself and didn't tease her anymore—mostly because I was genuinely afraid she might actually bite my finger off if I tried it again.
We were almost done eating when I thought to myself: What if I did it again?
I carefully sneaked my index finger back toward her side. But before I could even poke her, she suddenly leaned down and bit it. Her teeth dug right into my finger.
"Oww, Jay!" I yelled, trying to yank my finger back, but she wouldn't let go. After a few seconds, she finally released it. I looked down at my finger—it was bright red, and her teeth had left a perfect mark.
Jayjay's POV
After biting his finger, I finished up my food and looked over at him. He was still eating too, but he looked a little sulky by the way he was aggressively stuffing rice into his mouth.
"Show me your finger," I said.
He didn't answer me. He finished his food and stood up, about to walk away, but I quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him right back down into his chair. He looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm?" he muttered.
I pointed toward his hand. He sighed and handed it over. I looked closely at his index finger—it was completely red from where I bit him, and my teeth marks were deeply indented in his skin.
"Say sorry for poking me, and I'll say sorry too," I offered, looking at him.
He just stared at me. "What if I don't?" he challenged.
"Then I won't say it either," I replied.
"Then don't," he said softly, a smile breaking onto his face. "Because I don't ever want you to apologize to me, or to anyone else."
I smiled back warmly and wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. This time, he hugged me back instantly, and we stayed locked in each other's arms for a beautiful, quiet moment. Finally, we pulled away.
"Would you like—"
"I'm not washing the dishes," I cut him off immediately.
He chuckled softly. "I was actually going to ask if you want to go out somewhere?"
"Yeah, let's go!" I said excitedly, instantly standing up.
"Change first. You're still in your pajamas," he reminded me with a grin.
I nodded, ran back upstairs to our room, and headed straight into the shower to get ready.
The End 🌸.