Page 12 of Manny for the Alien
Despite the early hour, I ended up going to bed as well. Normally, this would be the time I pulled up the Alien Mates app and tried to find someone worth talking to, but I didn’t even think of it tonight.
Instead, I picked up the book long forgotten on my night stand and started reading it over again.
I couldn’t pay attention to the words for more than a chapter though, my thoughts preoccupied by the man in the room next to mine.
Setting the book down and switching off the night light, I laid back onto my pillows, subconsciously looking at the wall between us. The house was silent. He was probably already asleep... I just hoped he would be happy here.
Tomorrow, I will make things right, I silently promised.
I woke up from a deep sleep to an abundance of light in the room, which was strange and disorienting. I always woke up early, while it was still dark, so for a moment, I thought I was somewhere else entirely.
It took me far too long to realize that I had slept in.
Shaking myself, I crawled from bed, went to my washroom and quickly showered before hastily getting dressed as sounds echoed up the stairs.
I followed them down to the kitchen, where to my surprise, everyone was already up. Aster and Iris were in their chairs, eating breakfast. Well, Iris was eating it. Aster appeared to be playing with it. Azalea was sitting at the island. Marco was on the other side, holding a piece of paper and reading to her.
“Two times five,” he said.
“Ten,” she answered.
“Good. Two times six.”
Azalea paused long enough to count.
“Twelve!”
“Great! You’ve got this!”
She beamed—a complete turnaround from yesterday, I thought—and then finally, Marco glanced over and noticed I was standing there.
“Oh, good morning,” he said, smiling shyly. His eyes flickered over me but he quickly looked away, turning to the stove. “Want some breakfast?”
“Sure,” I said, entering. “What’s going on? Do you have a test?”
“Yes, I forgot to study!” Azalea pouted.
“That’s because you were watching TV all night,” I chastised, coming up behind her to place a kiss on top of her head.
Marco glanced back at us, biting back a smile.
“She was in a panic until I said I would help her,” he said, turning around with a plate laden with breakfast food.
He set it in front of me and I took it to sit down next to the other two so I could give them some attention too.
“Come sit and eat with us?” I asked.
Marco paused, looking surprised and shook his head.
“I actually ate already,” he said, blushing. “The little ones woke up early, they were hungry.”
He looked genuinely embarrassed, clearly taking responsibility for that even though the blame surely fell upon me.
“You should have woken me,” I said. “I was home.”
He shook his head at once.
“That’s what I’m here for, right?”
