Only Mine

Chapter 1- What a Bliss!

ANGELA

"More... More... More!" I jump in front of Jared. He smiles his "oh I am so crazily in love with you" smile taking all the shopping bags from my hand and then kisses me some more. We walk hand in hand to the parking lot.

"You want to drive?"

"Uhnn"

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Nope” I roll my eyes. "I am super tired."

"How was your day, doll?" He asks, starting the car, after both of us and all my shopping bags are comfortable in the car.

"Super awesome! Mel and I went shopping and then to the spa and then we had lunch and then we shopped some more." I chirp, excited.

Well, Mel is my best friend since kindergarten and now my sister in law too. She is married to J’s brother Sam!

"Happy?"

"More than happy!" I spring up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you!"

"You are welcome, baby girl." He grins, as we drive off home.

We reach home and J retires to his study to work. He is an Architect and is working on this new wing in Sam and Melissa’s hospital, which is taking most of his time these days. After keeping my new dresses, bags, watches and shoes away. Since I have nothing else to do, I change into my new Minnie Mouse PJs and decide to cook dinner for J.

Abby is on a holiday. J will cook dinner all by himself. So, I decide to surprise J with dinner.

I can't cook at all. But here I am in the kitchen trying to prepare a surprise meal for my husband, while he is busy working in his den. I decide to make his favorite Pasta from the recipe that I find online. I start off by chopping veggies for the mixed sauce pasta. I take the longest knife and start slicing the mushrooms very carefully. Ten minutes later, I am done with the mushrooms and pick on the olives, a little more confident with the knife and without even realizing I cut my palm instead of the olives.

"Oh f**k!" I swear under my breath.

Why do I even try to cook? Why can’t I just stick to baking? I internally scold myself for the umpteenth time. I barely manage to put my bleeding hand under the tap when I hear J's footsteps and pull back my hand and turn the faucet off, just in time. Phew!

"Hey, love.. What’s going on? You look so cute in these new PJs." He is standing just outside the kitchen, his hands in the pocket of his jeans with one shoulder propped against the wall.

"Hey.. Hi.. Nothing. Would you like something? Coffee or tea or anything?" I smile; a bit too much with my hand carefully hidden behind my back.

"What the f**k" J swears and I follow his eyes only to see blood, too much blood and water, flowing off the kitchen counter.

He pulls my hand from behind my back and puts it under water. I wince and he glares at me. I cut my hand, crap! I try to hide it from him, double crap! We don’t hide stuff from each other. J tells me every little thing about his day and loves to hear about mine.

"I am sorry, I'm sorry. I thought you'd get mad if you knew. Ouch!"

His eyes soften. Phew. He moves to get a towel from the nearby drawer.

"Don’t move your hand, baby." He grips it tighter when I move my hand.

“Okay, now let's fix this up!”

He takes me to the bedroom and puts some antiseptic liquid on my hand, which by the way hurt like crap. He then puts a bandage on it to stop the bleeding.

“Better now?” he asks. I nod.

“You rest. I will clean the kitchen counter and be back in a bit.” He kisses my forehead and heads downstairs. Ten minutes later, I am fidgeting with the bandage, trying to loosen it a bit when he comes up and sits next me.

"Why on earth were you trying to cook? Didn’t I tell you that I'd prepare the meal?" He scolds me.

"Because you were working and I wanted to help." I say meekly.

"You are not to step inside the kitchen. Okay? I don’t want you to hurt yourself or burn the house down for that matter."

Each time I am in the kitchen, trying to cook, disaster happens! I can only bake and I bake awesomely well. That is what mostly happens, when Abby, our fifty-something old housekeeper and cook, takes leave even for a day. She has been with J ever since he was a baby, and now she takes care of both of us.

I just look down, fidget with my fingers and bandage some more, and nod imperceptibly, pools of tears threatening to fall off my eyes any second. His anger fades away at the sight of my tears.

"What is it?"

"My hand hurts.” I mutter, sulking.

“There-there.. Come here.” He scoops me up and settles me down on his laps. He pampers me too much.

"Baby, remember the day we first met?" J asks and kisses me on the cheek.

"Yeah! I was at the hospital! God, it was funny now that I think about it." I giggle.