Despite her exhaustion from the night before, Jude was the first one up the following morning. Sun spilled in through the gauzy curtains that were never closed during the previous night. She never even managed to change out of her clothes either. Stumbling into the adjacent bathroom, she washed her face and brushed her teeth before peeling off her clothes and changing into a pair of flimsy pajama bottoms and a small white tank.
She soundlessly opened her room door and pad footed it down the hallway and poked her head in the now open guest room. Tom was still asleep hugging a pillow against his body and Cora was laying on her back, but wide awake as she was playing the game with her fingertips, bringing them together in different patterns.
"psst" Jude tried to get her attention but wasn't loud enough.
"Psst…" she tried again, louder though. Cora stopped playing her little game and looked at Jude finally noticing her. Cora smiled and gave a small wave. Jude motioned for the young girl to follow her. Cora slowly slid out of the bed and Tommy shifted some and pulled the pillow closer to his body, his muscles rippling under his skin.
The two girls left him to sleep behind the closed door and made their way to the small kitchen. Both of them in their pajamas and mussed hair, they were quite the sight. "Want to help me make breakfast?" Cora gave her a wide smile and nodded enthusiastically. "Miss Sandra always cooks for me, but I want to help sometimes." She stated in a matter-of-fact way.
"Well, I need all the help I can get. But first and foremost- you always need to cook to music." Jude walked over to her stereo and thumbed through her CD collection until she found what she was looking for. She popped the CD out of the jewel case and put it in the player. Cool, relaxed guitar playing came over the speakers along with laid back vocals. Jack Johnson filled the living space as he sung about making banana pancakes and pretending it was the weekend.
Jude and Cora danced around while they put all of the items they needed for breakfast on the counter. Pancake mix, eggs, bacon, along with a mixing bowl and a pan on the stove. Jude went and pulled out a stool from a storage closet so Cora could work on mixing the pancake batter while Jude took care of the eggs and such.
While waiting for the pan to heat up to cook the eggs, Jude put on a pot of coffee- the easiest way to wake Tom up without leaving the kitchen. The aroma of the coffee accompanied by the cooking breakfast finally reached his sleeping form and roused him from the dreams he was surrounded in. He yawned and stretched before he got out of the bed and threw on a t-shirt before leaving the room. The music and giggling from the kitchen covered up any noise from walking on the hardwood floors.
They had their backs turned to him, dancing to the music and cooking side by side. A smile crept on his lips as he watched them together, laughing, playing and having fun. It was perfect, and it felt right. This was exactly what he wanted for the rest of his life.
He watched them a little bit longer before clearing his throat to get the duo's attention. "Ahem." Cora stopped mixing the pancake batter and leapt off the stool to give her father a hug. "Morning Daddy!"
"Morning my love, aren't you quite the sight." He laughed and wiped off powdered pancake mix off of her nose before letting her go back to helping with Jude. "Jude let's me help with breakfast." She said, taking a jab at Sandra.
"Well, Sandra knows that you're a little…no, really messy."
"Ah, I don't mind." Jude turned away from the coffee pot with a hot steaming mug of plain black coffee for Tom. "Just how you like it." Smiling at him.
"Thanks." He took it from her hands and took a sip, "You feeling better?"
"Much. You were right, I was just tired. It was a long day…and today is going to be the same way. After I eat I need to head down to G Major for a little bit, you don't mind staying here, do you?" She brought three plates full of a delicious looking food out to the small table.
"Not at all, I can show Cora around or we can stay here. But don't worry about us." Tom smiled at her as she turned back to get three glasses and a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator. Jude had changed a lot too. She was so…domestic right now. Cooking breakfast, taking care of Cora occasionally...he was falling in love more and more with everything she did.
Jude ate rather quickly as she needed to get down to the studio to take care of a few things, and Tom told her to leave the kitchen, that he would take care of it once they were done. "Ah thanks, you're the best." And without thinking, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before running off to shower and leave.
He didn't say anything about it, but it didn't go unnoticed by Cora. With the shower running and feeling it was safe to talk, Cora looked at her father for a second. Her head tilted as if she was in deep concentration, "Daddy?" She finally asked.
"Mmmhmm?" He swallowed the coffee he was drinking.
"Do you love Jude?" Thankfully, he had swallowed because he inhaled so sharply he was sent into a fit of coughs. Once they subsided he tried to compose an answer for her without giving her too much hope. "Um, well….I care for her a lot. I always have." He nodded to himself, pleased with the response.
Cora nodded, taking in what he told her. "So, is she going to be my mommy?" Her tone surprised Tom. It wasn't hopeful or anything of the sort, just blank interrogation. Like asking why she should drink milk or another pointless piece of information.
He smiled at her weakly. He wanted nothing more than that, if he had to be completely honest. "We'll see what I can do." Cora liked her, he loved her. Now she just needed to love them back.