Morning Delight

Lucien set his alarm clock for an ungodly early hour that morning. He contemplated just staying up all night, rather than trying to get up before everyone else in the house, but since he had nothing to occupy his time, he decided the alarm clock might be better. As soon as it began ringing, he turned it off as quickly as he possibly could.

Inevitably, his wife stirred beside him. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek. "Just the phone. I'll get it. You sleep," he murmured to her. She mumbled something and went right back to sleep.

Once he was satisfied that she was asleep, he quietly got out of bed and dressed for the day as silently as possible. He didn't want to wake her. That would ruin everything.

Downstairs, everything was dark and quiet. He did love to be up before first light. He rarely was, as he tended to keep very long hours, requiring him to sleep late more often than not. But when he had a worthy reason to be up early, he quite enjoyed the special feeling it gave him. And now that he was up, it was time to get to work.

Mattie came down shortly after, still in her dressing gown. "What on earth are you doing?"

"I told you, I need you and Charlie to be out early today. We'll all celebrate together when you come home tonight, but I'm taking care of the morning by myself," Lucien reminded her.

"Yes, I remember you said that, but that doesn't answer what you're doing down here."

He frowned. "I'm making breakfast. What does it look like I'm doing?"

Mattie sighed in a slightly patronizing manner. "It looks like you don't know what you're doing."

"I've been paying very close attention when Jean makes breakfast all this week. I think I've got the theory down quite well," he defended.

She held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, whatever you say. I'm sure it'll all be fine." Mattie returned to her room to change for the day. She wisely decided to go to the cafeteria at the hospital for a spot of breakfast before her shift.

Charlie, who was also instructed to leave the house early that day, reacted wholly differently to the sight of Dr. Lucien Blake attempting to cook. "Here, Doc, can I help you out?" he offered. "You're going to burn the eggs if you do that."

"I will accept advice and nothing more. I am going to do all the actual cooking all on my own," Lucien insisted.

Charlie smiled, impressed by his efforts. "Alright, well you need to keep stirring the eggs if you want them to scramble properly. Otherwise, you'll just have a lump of egg."

"Right. Thank you, Charlie." Lucien attempted to do as Charlie recommended, but it was easier said than done.

"I think I'll be on my way. I can stop by the café to get some coffee before I go in." Charlie didn't think Dr. Blake would be able to navigate toast and coffee while focusing on the very sad attempt he was already making. "Best of luck," he added before making his way out.

Now satisfied that everyone was out of the house, Lucien continued with his task. The eggs were finished. The toast was toasting. The tea was steeping. The bacon was the last thing left to cook. And how hard could it be to fry some strips of bacon?

Much harder than anticipated. The stove must have been too hot, so the fat cooked off very quickly, causing grease to crackle and jump from the pan, burning his hands as he tried to flip the bacon or get anywhere near the pan. He hissed a stream of profanities as he added the bacon to the plate of eggs and toast.

At last, everything was put together on a tray. Satisfied with his efforts, Lucien carried the breakfast tray upstairs to the bedroom. He gently opened the door to find her still fast asleep.

Lucien put the tray down on top of the dresser. He came to sit on the edge of her side of the bed. "Jean, love, wake up," he said gently.

She rolled over onto her back and stretched with a groan. "What time is it?"

"Nearly nine," he replied.

"Nine!? Why didn't the alarm go off?" she asked in a near-panic. She was wide awake now.

Lucien put his hand on her arm to calm her. "I turned the alarm off. Mattie and Charlie are at work. And I've made you breakfast in bed."

Jean sat up and nearly burst into laughter. "You did what?"

He retrieved the tray and brought it to her. "Happy birthday, Jean."

She was speechless. "I…oh my," was all she could say. She had a sip of tea first. It was quite good. But he'd made tea for her many times before. "Lucien, I didn't know you could cook."

"Neither did I. But I did want to do something nice for your birthday. You've always worked so hard taking care of me. I wanted to return the favor."

Jean reached out and put her hand on his cheek, caressing his beard in the way she often did when expressing her affection. "You are a sweet man."

"And you deserve to be pampered as a queen," he replied.

She picked up the fork to try a bit of scrambled eggs. It took every single bit of strength in her body to swallow it instead of spitting it back out. How a person can ruin scrambled eggs was beyond her. But it was revolting.

"How is it?" he asked eagerly.

"Lovely," she lied.

Lucien frowned. "That bad, eh?"

"I'm sure the toast is alright," she reasoned. She took a bite. He had somehow managed to burn one side and leave the other completely undone. He had both over and under cooked it.

"It's terrible."

"No, it's fine!" she assured him, trying hard not to hurt his feelings. After all, he'd gone to all the trouble.

But he could see right through her. He picked up the tray and put it back on the dresser. "I've completely buggered a basic breakfast. I had a feeling I might. I am sorry. But you don't have to eat it. I won't be offended."

Jean exhaled. "Oh good. Because that was truly awful. I love you dearly, and there's no one else I'd trust with almost anything else in this world more than you, but that breakfast is practically inedible!'

Lucien laughed. "Well, I am glad I tried, even if it was an utter failure."

She reached her hand out to him, prompting him to come back to her side. "You are a dear, sweet, wonderful man. I'm lucky to have such a good husband who loves me enough to even attempt to make me breakfast."

He leaned down and kissed her. "I love you more than anything in this world. I'd give you the moon if I could. Next time I'll stick to buying you lavish jewelry instead of cooking."

A warm feeling spread through her chest. Even though they'd been married for some time now, Jean still wasn't quite used to being so loved. It caught her off guard every time he spoke to her in such a way. She bit her bottom lip, thinking. "You said Mattie and Charlie are out?"

"Yes, I wanted to be sure we had the morning all to ourselves."

"Good. I think you should get back into bed. It is my birthday, after all," she said suggestively.

Lucien didn't need to be told twice. He immediately took off his shoes and socks and jacket. Jean grinned excitedly as she watched him unbutton his waistcoat and shirt.

Suddenly, she remembered something. "Lucien, what state did you leave my kitchen in?"

"I don't think it's too bad. But we can worry about it later. We can make a game out of it," he proposed.

"That's fine," she replied distractedly. He'd removed his trousers now and was crawling across the bed to her. All thoughts of breakfast and messes were completely out of her mind as soon as he began kissing and caressing her.

Lucien paused, pulling away from her just enough to look into her bright blue eyes, darkened by desire. His lips spread into an appreciative smile. "Happy birthday, Jean."

She grinned and pulled him back down into a searing kiss. In the back of her mind, she realized that they'd be working up quite an appetite before attempting breakfast again.