Breaking Bones

Chapter 11: Happiness in Georgia

Anatalia woke the next morning to the feeling of feather light kisses being placed on her cheek. She smiled warmly at the feeling and rolled to meet the eyes of Leonard hovering just above her, his hand coming to stroke her face as he smiled down at her in return. 

"Good morning darlin." 

"Morning Len. How long have you been up?" 

"About an hour. Breakfast is ready. Mama had me come wake you, but only if you're hungry."

"Yeah of course. Why didn't you wake me earlier? I could've helped with breakfast." 

"It's alright darlin. I know how you are in the mornings. Even now is earlier than you normally wake up." 

"What time is it?

"Seven-thirty." 

"Seven-thirty! You've been up for an hour already?!" Leonard chuckled loudly as Ana flopped back onto the bed after previously moving to get up. He quickly moved to remove the sheets that Ana was already trying to pull over herself again and she whined somewhat like a child as he did so. 

"Come on, we've got breakfast and then I'm going to take you on the grand tour. Come on. Mama's excited to spend more time with you. She raved about you the entire time we were cooking." 

"I like her a lot. We really seemed to click last night. She seems to have some very strong opinions about Jenny." Leonard scoffed at the last remark as Talia moved to dress more appropriately for breakfast. 

"Yeah, you can say that. Mama never liked Jenny. Of course, I can't say I blame her now. Should've listened to her in high school when she told me she was no good. Still, during the divorce, she never once told me 'I told you so'. She never bragged or boasted that she was right. Instead, she just let me move back in. She helped me take care of myself. When the divorce was finalized, when Jenny got everything, when I lost Jo, she told me she was sorry and that she wished she could take away my pain. Not all mothers would do that believe it or not." 

Anatalia had remained silent during Leonard's retelling. It wasn't often that Leonard spoke about his ex and their messy divorce, and Talia certainly didn't feel as if it was her place to pry. But it was moments like these that Ana felt reassured in her relationship. She knew Leonard wouldn't be telling her any of this if he wasn't entirely comfortable around her, and that alone brought her a great sense of peace. At the end of his speaking, Anatalia made her way to stand in front of Leonard, lifting his chin a bit to look her in the eyes as she spoke softly. 

"Right or not, she knew you didn't deserve any of it. And above all else, her first priority is to love you, no matter what. You're lucky to have someone like her in your life." Leonard smiled softly down at Ana and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss to her lips. When he pulled away, he spoke in the softest of whispers. 

"Not just her anymore." Perfectly understanding his meaning, Talia smiled wide and pushed herself up on her tip toes to kiss him once more before grabbing his hand and pulling them both downstairs towards the kitchen. 

The sight Anatalia was met with as they rounded the corner from the stairwell to the kitchen was absolutely shocking. The piles of pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, eggs, sausage, and toast that lined the countertops was astounding. And completely unnecessary given there were only three of them. Martha was still hard at work making fresh orange juice from the trees out back to notice yet that the couple had made their way down. 

"Martha! You shouldn't have done so much for us." The older woman turned suddenly at the young woman's voice, smiling widely as she rushed over to give the girl a big hug before pulling her further into the kitchen.