Morning rose to bring a new day to the world, and bright light flickered through Nathan's sleepy eyelids. Hoping to avoid the beaming light, he rolled over to the other side of the bed, holding his blankets tight and preparing for another day filled with work. Peace began to slowly sneak back for him in these last few moments of relaxation. Alas, such a moment was cut off with the wails of the woman who had been taking care of him all these years.
"Nathan."
He heard this first call but chose to ignore it in hopes she would give up.
"Nathan!"
Another call came up in a louder tone. Silent prayers flood his mind for more relaxation, but his bedroom door bursts open in a flash.
"Nathan, I called you down so many times already."
Nathan reluctantly got up from his sheets to respond to his frustrated mother.
"(yawn) Come on, it wasn't that many."
"Oh, so you did hear me."
His eyes widened in realization as he made the mistake of revealing his past intentions.
"I- I'm sorry…"
She sighed and looked at the dark circles around his eyes.
"Did you even sleep at all last night?"
"I did, as soon as I came upstairs, I fell asleep."
She softly grasped the face of her tired-looking son. A worried expression came across her face, and she asked,
"Are you sure you're fine?"
"I'm fine, why ask?"
"You look like the undead."
He chuckled at her claim.
"I'm fine, honestly."
"Okay. Then come downstairs and eat your breakfast before it gets cold."
She left his room, and he dropped his head back onto the pillow, rubbed his eyes, and stretched his arms up high. He got out of bed and went downstairs to be introduced to his favorite breakfast, garlic bread and eggs with bacon and mushrooms.
"You didn't have to make this, you know."
"You're right, I wanted to."
They both smile cheerfully.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. But aren't you going to wash up first before eating?"
"I'll do it after I'm done. Can't leave food like this alone after seeing it."
She laughed at his remark.
"Okay, okay, you can do it after."
Nathan looked at the plate in admiration of what she did and the aroma of the pieces of bacon, and began to feast on the meal until it was spotless.
"Done. Thanks for the food, I'm going to go wash up."
Nathan started freshening up preparing for the day ahead and heads back to the kitchen to help his mother. He arrived only to see that she's not there and called out to her to then receive no response. He called out again and again with no response but heard footsteps in the bakery entrance. He went over there to see her greeting and helping customers with their orders. He walked over to her and says,
"Mom, I called you multiple times and heard nothing from you."
"(smile) Now you see how I feel."
"(sarcastically) Haha, very funny. I thought you were the mature one here."
"Just because I'm mature doesn't mean I can't joke around."
He looked around the bakery to see how packed it was.
"I guess business is doing well."
"Tell me about it. I thought it would've been as calm as yesterday, but I guess I was wrong."
"How about I help around?"
"Are you sure?"
"Why not? I don't have school today, and no commissions either."
"Why aren't you going to school today?"
"I may be(cough) suspended…for a week."
She looked at him in shock.
"I'm sorry, maybe my age has caught up with my hearing because it sounded like you said you were suspended."
"(cough) For a week."
She pulled him to the backroom to question him.
"What do you mean suspended?!"
"It was part of Prof. Nowell's punishment for me."
"Do you mean that teacher with the cold, dead eyes like a fish?"
"Yes, him, and he also doesn't like it when people call him a teacher."
"Why?"
"He feels like it's belittling and prefers to be called professor."
"Aren't those the same thing?"
"Professor is someone that is teaching at a higher level and teacher is someone that-."
"We're drifting away from the main problem now. So, it's just a one-week suspension and nothing more, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay… I think that's fine (takes a breath), it's fine."
He looked at his mother, trying to take this information in.
"But are you fine?"
"I'm fine."
He opened his arms wide and reached out to her in an effort to comfort her. She recognized this and embraced him as well.
"Since when were you this considerate?"
"You raised me, so you should know.
"(softly) I did, didn't I?"
They took a moment in each other's arms and came to a conclusion.
"Okay then, you can help me around in the meantime."
"That's fine."
They both got back to the bakery, and she gave him a list of tasks to do while she was busy tending to the customers.
"Let's get to work."