Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 61-Meg

Meg

I get ready for church in the morning, taking my time and wearing one of my nicer winter outfits.  It's a grey sweater dress that's somewhat fitted but not tight.  It has long sleeves and a round neck.  It's knitted and comes down to my knees.  I wear some winter tights and tall black boots with a slight heel.  I decide to curl my hair today and put on a little makeup. 
"You about done in there?" Mikey knocks on the bathroom door. 
"Yeah, I can finish in my room," I tell him opening the door.  I grab my makeup and unplug the curling iron.  "Don't touch that or you'll burn yourself."
"You look nice," he compliments.  "Are you dressing up for Jai?" he grins. 
"I'm dressing up for Jesus, thank you very much," I tell him stepping out of the bathroom.  I stand up against my dresser applying the rest of my makeup.  I wonder... am I dressing up for him?  I shake that thought out of my head.  I always wear something nice to church, do something special with my hair, and put on a little makeup.  Today is no different.  I think Mikey is just teasing me. 
I grab my dressy winter coat and a purse that matches to switch my things around.  I head downstairs as I hear the shower turn off.  I change my things in my purse out and hang up my coat.  I arrive at the kitchen to see my mom working on breakfast.  I hear the doorbell ring and I turn around to answer it.  I smile seeing Jai at the door. 
"Good morning," I say opening the door. 
"G'day," he smiles back at me. 
I take his coat and hang it up for him.  I walk him into the kitchen to see my mother plating a meal for each of us. 
"You two can go ahead and start.  Knowing Mikey, we'll probably be running late," she says. 
"You know, you could always make him drive himself," I tell her. 
"I don't like taking up all the extra parking spaces," she explains. 
"True," I nod. 
"You two can drive separately.  We don't want to make you late.  Save us some seats, though," she requests. 
"Alright," I nod.  I look at the beauty of my mother's meal and smile.  There's a pie slice of the blueberry clafoutis with powdered sugar sprinkled over the top, two fried eggs over easy, and two sausage patties. 
"This looks really good mom, thank you," I say. 
Jai thanks her, too. 
"Oh, it's the simplest thing, really.  Just mix the ingredients in a blender, pour it in a pan, and stick it in the oven," she waves the compliments away smiling. 
"This is really good," Jai whispers in my ear. 
"I told you she's a great cook," I say. 
"And so are you," he says kissing the top of my head.  I see my mom trying to hide the fact that she saw that.  I know what she's thinking. 
We finish up our breakfast and Jai escorts me out to his car.  He opens the door for me and I thank him. 
I direct him to the church and he compliments how beautiful the land is.  It is a nice property.  We step in to smiling faces.  I receive so many hugs.  Everyone either tells me they're happy to have me back or they're sorry to hear about Spencer.  I smile and thank them for their kind words.  I introduce Jai to many of the people at my church.  He shakes several people's hands and walks in with me. 
Alexandra approaches me. "Megan!" she waves. She comes up and hugs me. "We're so glad to have you back."
"Thank you. I'm glad to be back," I tell her.
"Who's this?" she asks me smiling and motioning to Jai.
"This is Jai. Jai, this is Alexandra," I introduce them.
"I've heard a bit about you," Jai says shaking her hand.
"All good news I hope," she laughs. She looks at him more closely and asks. "Have we met before?"
"I don't think so," he replies. "This is my first time to the area."
"I must be confusing you with someone else," she blows it off. "We're happy to have you here."
"Thanks for the warm welcome," he replies.
I see Mrs Archer seated and I excuse myself for a moment. I get some hot water and a teabag for her. I bring her the cup.
"Why, thank you dear," she says. "We've missed you."
"I've missed you, too," I say hugging her.
I join Jai who's speaking to Pastor Gill. I speak with them a bit and take our seats. I set my coat and bag beside me. I turn to Jai and he's smiling at me. I realize how he's been to church with me these last three times and I wonder what he thinks of all of this. I hope it's having an impact in his life. My parents and Mikey join us just before the worship begins. Mikey sits on the other side of Jai. We rise and sing together. This is the first time in a while that I've been a part of the congregation during worship and it's nice. I've kind of missed that connection during the service. I'm usually too focused on hitting the right notes and other such things that I forgot how important this part is. I feel a strong connection with God today and I ask him to help Jai to see him. I don't hear a response so I wait. I spend worship loving on God. We take our seats and Pastor Gill speaks about the mission trip. He even shows a few pictures and videos. I've never seen these. Most of the ones with me have Jai by my side. I look to him to see his eyes already on mine. I smile at him and face forward as Pastor Gill begins the message. I listen in and take notes as Pastor Gill teaches the word. I feel like he's speaking to us all, that we ought to grow continually and not become complacent. We need to read our Bibles daily and be in a constant position of improvement. We don't want our relationship with God to grow cold. We're all a work in progress. I look to Jai and he's nodding in agreement. He meets my eyes and smiles at me. I smile back thinking that perhaps he's beginning to understand... That thought brings me so much joy.