401 Elven Messenger Arrives (1/2)

”But Bis Sis, I didn't mean to…” Lina looked back up at Maura with pouting eyes.

Maura sighed and patted the girl on the head. ”Just be careful next time, okay?”

”Okay!”

With that over with, both of them resumed eating their breakfast. Maura had decided to make a breakfast fit for kings, or at least her father, according to her mother.

There was an egg frittata filled with local herbs and tender, roasted pork belly that melted in your mouth with every bite of the fluffy egg. To garnish there was a light salad that Maura adjusted to use a citrusy berry vinaigrette, using the local delicacy known as relst berries. And to top it off, Maura had pulled out a bottle of morning ale. It wasn't heavy and it was quite diluted compared to most alcohol, but the gentle warmth it gave the body was a great wake up call along with the meal.

Finally, someone exited the main bedroom in the courtyard. Jack was already dressed and prepared for the day, taken aback to find Maura and Lina with such a feast for breakfast.

”Come on, Jack. If you don't eat it now, the eggs will get cold,” commented Maura, moving on to her next bite.

Jack smiled and patted Lina's head before sitting down beside his wife. He kissed Maura on the cheek, quietly responding, ”Thank you.”

Taking a bite of the frittata, Jack's senses were instantly alerted. He felt his entire body waking up, recovering all the energy he had spent the long night before. It didn't take Jack long to finish his frittata and help himself to another serving.

Seeing that, Maura giggled, ”Don't forget the salad. If you don't eat well, how can you expect to keep up with all three of us?”

Caught off guard, Jack's throat tightened up while guzzling his morning ale. A few drops managed to leak out of his mouth as the hero coughed, pounding a fist into his chest. Jack forced the drink down and glanced a Maura, who was still calmly smiling like nothing had happened.

”Right…” Jack then slowed down a bit, taking more time to savor the meal and notice the balance it had. ”You know, this reminds me of your mom's cooking. It's really good!”

”Who did it better?”

”Do I even have to say it? I never would've thought a salad would work so well as part of a breakfast, but you've proven me wrong. That berry flavor goes well with the pork,” replied Jack. ”You should show her this sometime, maybe she'll ask for the recipe.”

Smiling, Maura changed the subject. ”How's Eliza?”

”She's still in bed,” replied Jack. ”She didn't get much sleep last night and faced the most mental exhaustion of everyone yesterday. So there's nothing wrong with her sleeping in. I'm sure she'd like to talk with someone other than me, so maybe--”

With that in mind, Jack asked, ”Maura… how do you feel about that?”

”About what?”

”You know… having kids? We never really talked about that…”

Maura hesitated to reply, but stated, ”Well, what do you want, Jack? Are you asking me if I'll--”

”No, it's not like that,” Jack clarified. ”I just want to know your honest thoughts. I always thought girls had planned how many kids they would have and have their names picked out, or something like that. And since we're husband and wife, I thought it was a topic long overdue…”

”... I wouldn't mind having kids,” Maura replied after a pause. ”Though, I'm not sure I'd want them right now… But it couldn't wait too long either, cause you'll become a god eventually and that means having kids would get more difficult.”

”You know you'll become a god too, right?” added Jack.

”Maybe in the future… But I'd rather we try it before you're a god, just to make sure I can have at least one…” Maura was blushing slightly, however, her smile and tender gaze remained unmoved. ”Is… that okay with you, Jack?”