A Song of Change

Chapter 34
Mishaps of the Morning:
I awoke from the morning sun pouring in through the window. I stretched, coming into contact with bare skin. A sound of surprise escaped me before I remembered the events of last night. My face grew hot as images of last night played through my mind. I slowly inched away from Julian, crawling out of bed as quietly as I could, so as not to wake him.
Half way to the door I stopped mid step, after hearing Julian stir behind me. I turned to see him still dead asleep. Even now he looked beautiful. His light blonde hair falling into his face in soft curls, a peaceful look across his face as he dreamed on. The blanket had fallen down to rest at his hips, showing off all his upper body had to offer. The sunlight gleaming off his hair gave him an ethereal feel.
It was hard to look away but within a minute or so I was out of the room, quietly shutting the door back into place. I let out a breath as I shook my head, clearing any of those thoughts from my head. I made my way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me before turning the hot water on full blast.
I stripped from my clothes before stepping into the shower. I welcomed the scalding water as it rained down over my body in a mixture of pleasure and pain. After I was fully soaked I went through the steps of washing and cleansing myself. I turned the water off as the last of the suds went down the drain, reaching for the towel I had placed out before.
I dried myself and got dressed before walking into the kitchen to make breakfast when I saw Julian standing in front of the stove with a pan in hand. He turned when he heard me, a huge grin across his face. He stood their in nothing but his boxers, his hair was still unkempt and now he had what looked to be pancake batter on his forehead.
I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him and soon after he joined in, placing a free hand on the back of his neck with a nervous embarrassment. "I wanted to make breakfast for you," he said with a nervous laugh, "it isn't working out very well, though." I stepped closer to him, still unable to stop laughing, "Well for starters, you might want the batter to actually make it to the pan," I said as I went up on my toes to wipe the batter from his face.
"Oops," he laughed with a shrug of his shoulders. "Here, let me show you," I said reaching for the pan in his hand. He handed it to me and I stepped in front of the stove. He stood on the other side of me, watching closely. I shook my head at him after a quick glance at the stove, "The stove isn't even turned on Julian," I laughed once again.
His eyes widened in surprise and his cheeks grew a shade of pink, "This may or may not be the first time I have ever cooked," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in the process. "Oh Julian," I laughed once more as I turned the stove on.
I placed the pan on the stove before reaching for the cabinet doors above the stove. I had to go on my tip toes just to reach the handles and even then it was hard to open. Julian noticed my struggling and opened the doors for me, "what did you need?" he asked, looking down at me. "The olive oil," I said pointing to the small bottle.
"Thank you," I said after he had handed it to me. I poured a little bit of it into the pan before retrieving the mixing bowl with pancake batter. "Now you don't want to pour it too fast," I said as I poured a medium sized circle in the middle of the pan. Julian nodded his head as he watched my movements.
Placing the bowl to the side I dug in a drawer for the spatula. "Now you wait for the sides to turn a light brown before flipping," I said, handing him the spatula. He did as I said, flipping the pancake perfectly. Julian made the rest of the pancakes as I set the table. He was so happy with himself for not burning a single pancake.
"That wasn't too bad," he said with a large grin on his face. "You did great Julian," I told him as I placed two cups of orange juice on the table, "now let's see if it paid off." I motioned toward the stack of pancakes in the center of the table. I sat down next to Julian and made a plate for myself after him.
He looked expectantly at me, awaiting for my opinion on his cooking. I took my first bite and was pleasantly surprised, "its great Julian!" I said after finishing my bite. "Really?" he asked excitedly. I quickly nodded my head, unable to speak with pancake in the way. His eyes shone bright as he laughed.
We finished breakfast as we talked about our jobs and I found out that Julian was an educator. He said that he specialised in early childhood education and he looked so excited just talking about it. It seemed to me that teaching was a family trait in his case.
When we were done with breakfast Julian helped me clear the table and I washed the dishes as he took a shower. Julian was still in the shower when I was finished so I went into the bedroom to get dressed for work. I placed my clothes atop the dresser before I pulled my pants off. I was halfway through with taking my shirt off when he walked in with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
I backed up from him and in a hurry to pull my shirt back over my head I tripped over my pants, causing me to come crashing down to the floor. "Annabell," Julian laughed as he ran over to me, "are you alright?" he asked, offering me his hand. My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as I tried to cover my body from him.
His eyes grew wide when he realised the cause of my discomfort and he backed up, turning away from me. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from me but that was a big mistake. His towel had been held up with his hand and with that hand now over his eyes the towel fell to the floor, leaving him completely uncovered.
"Julian!" I yelled as I turned away from him. Moments later I heard him scrambling away followed by a loud thud. "oww," I heard Julian utter mere seconds after the thud. "Are you alright?" I asked turning toward him before I thought better of it and looked away.
"Well this is certainly the best way to start off our first morning together," he laughed, making light of our situation. "It'll put all other mornings to shame," I said trying to follow suit. I heard shuffling behind me before he spoke again, "You can turn around now." I looked behind me to see Julian under the covers of the bed with his face turned away from me.
"I'm sorry Julian," I said after pulling my shirt the rest of the way off. "Don't be. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for," he said. "Yes I do. I know that me being uncomfortable with changing in front of you is ridiculous now that we are married and you really shouldn't have to deal with this," I said as I got dressed.
"Don't be silly. Annabell there is nothing wrong with you not wanting to change in front of me. In fact I would be worried if you were comfortable with being naked in front of me right off the bat," he said with a small chuckle, "I wont make you do anything you don't want to and besides, this is just the beginning. We have an entire lifetime together and eventually changing in front of me will be nothing. I'd do anything for you Annabell, you should know that by now," he finished and I swear I could hear the smile in his voice.
By then I was completely dressed in my caregiver uniform, a light yellow dress that ended just below the knee and comfy white ballet flats. I couldn't help myself after hearing his speech and I ran to him, crawling into bed next to him and hugging him so tightly. Julian took this in stride too and without one second of hesitation brought his arms around me and held me close.
"I love you, you know that?" Jace whispered to me after placing a gentle kiss on top of my head. "Yes, and I love you even more," I said as I propped myself on my elbows to look at him. "Oh I don't think that is even remotely possible," he said with his goofy smile in place. "And why is that?" I asked with my eye brows raised.
"Because Annabell dear I love you from here to…" he stopped with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "To what, to what?" I asked after what felt like forever. "Now that is the one answer that I can not give to you right now. Now go get ready for work or at least let me get dressed," he said with a quick peck on my lips.
"Fine," I said as I got up and made my way to the door, "but I am going to figure this out." "Oh and Annabell," Julian called when I was stepping through the doorway, "you look beautiful today." "Thank you," I said before I shut the door behind me, letting out an exasperated sigh. He really was relentless when he put his mind to it.