Chapter 16
Ann woke up the following morning to sunshine streaming in through her window. She jerked awake, then flinched at the pain in her shoulder. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been yesterday. That was probably because Tazim had woken her up in the middle of the night to give her more pills and water to wash them down. She vaguely remembered feeling very warm and secure last night. Usually, she heard night sounds outside of her bedroom window and woke up, listening intently to determine if someone was trying to break in.
But last night, she hadn’t worried. Nor had she even woken up except to take more pain medicine.
So what was she hearing now? And why hadn’t Archer woken her up? It was well past noon and Archer usually woke with the sun.
There were a few clangs in her kitchen, then…laughter?
Climbing out of bed, she gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, she carefully pushed her wounded arm through the sleeve first, then tugged it over her head. She hadn’t bothered to take off the tee-shirt and she desperately wished for a bra. But putting on and latching the bra was not in the cards. With help, she could do it. But there was no way she’d ask Tazim to help her put on a bra. After last night’s dressing assistance, Ann knew that she’d never survive him touching her breasts like that.
Hmmm…taking off her bra?Absolutely!
No! Wait – she wasn’t going to let Tazim take anything off! She was…he was off limits! The note. She had to remember the hateful note!
After a rushed glance in the mirror, Ann tried to finger comb her hair. But it didn’t help much and there were more unexpected sounds coming from the kitchen that she needed to investigate.
Hurrying down the short hallway, she paused in the kitchen doorway and watched as her son and her former lover attempted to make pancakes. Tazim had found her apron that said, “Kiss the Cook and Stand Back” on the front and Archer had a dishtowel tucked into his jeans as a makeshift apron. Both had a light dusting flour covering their dark hair and smears of some sort of batter across their faces. The floor was covered in flour and…other unidentifiable substances, indicating that the pancakes hadn’t been their first attempt. And they were both laughing at whatever was in the pan.
“It doesn’t look like a panda bear,” Archer said.
What didn’t look like a panda bear? And why would they want something in a frying pan to look like a panda?
“Good morning?” she called out, feeling painfully self-conscious without a bra on.
They turned at her voice. Tazim’s eyes moved directly to her breasts, then quickly lifted to her face. Archer’s expression was much more lively. His huge smile showed off his little, white teeth and those dark eyes, so similar to his father’s, were sparkling with excitement.
“We’re making you breakfast in bed!” Archer announced with a little-boy bounce.
Ann looked around at her disaster of a kitchen, then laughed. “You are?”
“Yeah!” he said, standing on the chair that had been pushed up to the counter. “Go back to bed so we can bring it to you!”
The doorbell rang and Ann turned to look at the closed door, then back at the two cooks. Immediately, she knew what was going on.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Archer jumped off his chair, then ran over to her, pushing her back down the hallway.
Ann gave in and allowed her son to “hide” her away for another few minutes. “Well, I guess I could brush my teeth before breakfast instead of after.”
“Good! Go do that, Momma!” he encouraged, then pulled her bedroom door closed.
Ann leaned against the door, chuckling as she heard Tazim’s deep voice thanking someone for…whatever was going on. She figured it was a breakfast delivery, but wasn’t exactly sure.
Moments later, Archer knocked on the door again. “Okay, we’re ready! You’re going to like breakfast, Momma! We did a really good job with your favorite!”
Ann didn’t bother to tell the little guy that she wasn’t a huge fan of pancakes. She preferred waffles, but there was no way she was going to disappoint him. Not today.
“Excellent!” she replied. “I’m starving!” That was true, at least. She hadn’t eaten dinner last night and she couldn’t remember if she’d had lunch. The past few days were a bit of a blur.
Archer took her hand and led her down the hallway again, but instead of going into the kitchen where the table and chairs were located, he led her out of the house. “Don’t look, Momma. Me and Daddy are going to surprise you.”
She didn’t look in the kitchen again, afraid of the mess she’d already noticed. There were some odd noises, but she allowed Archer to lead her out of the house and off to the side yard where his play-set was located along with…a blanket spread out on the grass?
“This looks wonderful!” Ann exclaimed, honestly charmed by the effort. From the looks of her kitchen, Tazim and Archer had tried very hard to make her breakfast. But a picnic outside was just as nice, even if it was a bit chilly. She wasn’t going to worry about cleaning up the kitchen. Not yet. For this moment, she was going to sit outside in the early morning sunshine and relish having breakfast with her son and…yeah, she was going to enjoy being with Tazim too. She shouldn’t be excited to see him. Except, she was.
She wasn’t going to think about the note he’d given her the last time they’d been together. This was a new chapter, so she was going to make an effort to be friends with him. Now that he knew about Archer, they would need to co-parent their son together.
However, she wouldn’t be fooled into thinking that a relationship between them could go anywhere other than a co-parenting relationship. She’d thought that there had been more between them the last time. Now she knew better.
Instead, Ann decided to take each moment and savor it for what it was; just another experience and nothing more.
She would have to ignore the magnetic pull of his presence. She would have to avoid touching him and letting him touch her. That road led to dangerous thoughts and more heartache.
Tazim came back out of the house, and this time, he carried a brown paper bag. When they were all settled on the blanket, he pulled out three boxes. Handing one to her, she peered inside and… “Waffles!’ she gasped, delighted and surprised at the thoughtfulness. She would have thought that Tazim wouldn’t remember her preference for waffles.
“I got pancakes and Daddy got eggs bandit.”
Ann was searching the bag for syrup but she paused, blinking at her son with confusion. “Eggs bandit?”
Tazim chuckled. “It’s eggs benedict,” he corrected, then handed her a large container of maple syrup.
The breakfast was amazing. Her waffles were decadently delicious and Tazim noticed her eyeing his eggs and gave her a bite. The salty goodness of his eggs was the perfect compliment to her sweet waffles.
The only sadness was that Archer questioned his father about Androna throughout the meal. Ann knew that her son had always been curious about anything and everything, but hearing her child’s intelligent questions about a country he hadn’t known existed before yesterday made her heart ache.
Archer wasn’t asking about the ponies or the cats today.
Her sweet, wonderful, adorable son was asking Tazim questions about how his father ruled fairly in his country. Archer wanted to know how his father ensured that everyone got a chance at happiness.
Remembering her vow to live in the moment, Ann pushed aside her concerns for her son’s future and simply enjoyed this lovely breakfast picnic. When they all headed back into the house, intending to spend the day at the Philadelphia Zoo, Ann came to a stumbling halt to discover that, not only was her kitchen sparkling clean, but her whole house was immaculate! As she looked suspiciously at Tazim, he winked at her as he herded Archer into the bathroom to brush his teeth.