Bloom

17. bothering flower petals

Zephaniah

Carefully bringing the tray upstairs, my eyes were trained onto the two glasses of orange juice, my tongue rolling over my lips in concentration. I sighed in relief when I had reached their room without anything spilling, but, then came the next thing.

How on earth would I knock when both of my hands were occupied by the tray full of food? Holding my knee up, I tried to rest the tray onto it and quickly knocked, sighing, once again in relief when nothing had fallen off.

"You can come, bud." Dad's soft voice spoke, the sleepiness definitely audible still.

Repeating the same action as before, I reached for the handle and quickly opened the door, placing the tray on their bed before closing the door and slightly opening the curtains.

Fiddling with my fingers, I pressed my bare legs, as I was still in my pajamas- basically my boxers and oversized sweater- against dad's side of the bed.

"Uhm," I said, smiling a little. "Anniversary breakfast in bed," I whispered, not even sure why myself. How can I express my thoughts into the right words?

"That's amazing, Zeph! Thank you," dad smiled as he eyed the tray of food in front of him. I had done that ever since I turned sixteen. Mum had taught me how to make scrambled eggs without setting the house on fire, and dad had taught me how to use the oven without me burning my fingers.

I had figured out myself how to make fresh orange juice and had my own way of rolling the fresh dough into croissants.

It was no surprise for them, though they always acted as if it was. It made me feel warm, even a tad bit proud, although I knew that was probably weird.

"Come here," Baba patted on the empty space beside him on the bed and I sat down on it, fiddling with my fingers still. He pressed a kiss to my cheek and held me into his embrace for a while, a habit he had never lost, a habit I didn't mind, whilst most older children probably did. "I love you,"

I chuckled and looked away, "I love you too, dad."

"Hannah," Baba nudged mumma's shoulders, whispering into her ear until she woke up, sitting up after a moment of silence.

Mum and dad kissed. They always did after they first woke up. It was their 'good morning', I thought it was sweet, though my nose scrunched up almost automatically.

"Zeph," mum smiled, ruffling my hair wildly, making me pout, trying to tame it again. "You're amazing, do you know that? Come here,"

Mum patted at the empty space in between them and as I carefully crawled over dad's lap, I snuggled in between them, covering my bare legs with their duvets.

Ten years of marriage. It had been ten years since dad married mum. Ten years since Ms. Hannah, that was once my caregiver, had turned into mummy. Ten years since dad had finally found his happy, safe, and resting place in a person. Ten years that had changed me as well.

Mum and dad started eating, touched my cheeks tenderly to let me know they were thankful. They knew I didn't like too many words in the mornings, perhaps, not even during the day, so they chatted softly with each other, including me so now and then.

"I cannot believe it's been ten years," mum said, softly pushing the tray aside. She cupped my cheeks, we made eye contact. "You and your dad are the best things that have ever happened to me, Zephaniah. Do you know that?"

I nodded, giving her a warm smile. She had always told me this, and I believed it. Her deeds were louder than words. She had always given me the motherly love I had lost in the first seven years of my life, she gave even more than that.