Sun and Shadow

Chapter 14 - Family Pressure

"Have a nice trip?" Jude froze and looked up at Dana Adams standing there, arms crossed in front of her.

Jude looked at his grandmother standing there in her robe, arms crossed, looking very unhappy. "Huh?" he said so articulately.

"Sneaking out in the middle of the night Jude?" Dana was shaking her head, clearly disappointed. "Brandon or Jesus, them I wouldn't be surprised by, but I thought that you knew better than to sneak out."

"I just needed to walk around a bit to clear my head" Jude said sheepishly.

"A walk? At 3AM? Jude I can't even begin to explain how wrong that is. It isn't safe to be out alone at this time. I went into the back yard so I know you were not just getting some air" she added when he opened his mouth to object. "Go to bed. I will talk to your moms in the morning" she said and turned to walk back upstairs as Jude sat down on the couch and leaned his head back on the couch dreading the conversation in the morning.

Jude woke up before the rest of the house and checked his phone. 6:20am. Try as he might it was getting impossible for him to sleep for more than three hours and he hadn't had the chance to ask Professor Sampson if that was normal. It's not like he felt tired or stressed or anything, he actually felt pretty well rested even with less sleep.

Knowing it was pointless to lay there he got up and headed to the kitchen and started making some breakfast. He had put the coffee on, though he hated the stuff, but he figured with four adults in the house, plus Callie, who all drank coffee someone was sure to want it. He decided to make pancakes to tide him over till everyone woke up. He had stopped eating like a horse thank god but he still had a hearty appetite. Apparently his body was adding muscle and mass and he was using food as fuel and building material as his powers shaped his body. Professor Sampson and the medical team said he would probably go through several more "gorgings" until he became stable.

He was working on autopilot when he realized he had also made oatmeal, bacon, and was cutting fruit when the pancakes came off the grill.

"Jude?" he looked up to see Grandpa Stewart standing there looking surprised. "Are you making breakfast? And you are up so early!" he laughed as he came in and sat down at the table.

Jude smiled and grabbed a cup and the coffee pot putting it in front of him. "I am an early riser" Jude smiled. "Since I was up I figured I would get started on cooking...you hungry?"

Stewart nodded and Jude started moving food to the table and Stewart filled his plate as Jude did and they started eating. "This is really good Jude. Is Lena teaching you to cook?" he asked with a wink.

"Actually yes" Jude laughed. "I mean I cooked for Callie and myself a lot in foster care, but mama has been teaching me some stuff since we came. I like cooking, it's really fun to do it with Connor as he really enjoys it too" Jude chuckles.

"Why's that so funny?" Stewart asks curiously.

"Well his dad is really big on the macho stuff and cooking isn't macho. Grilling...sure, but not cooking. Connor enjoyed learning and has even spent time cooking with mama and me" Jude said with a smile. "I think he enjoys doing stuff that makes his dad squirm."

His grandfather chuckled. At that point he heard noise and looked up to see Lena and Dana coming in to the kitchen.

"Morning dad, Jude" Lena said with a smile as she kissed Jude's head. "Thank you honey" Lena said as she grabbed a mug to make her morning tea.

"Surprised to see you up so early Jude" Dana said giving him 'the look'.

"Jude's been quite the morning person lately" Lena said with a smile. "I don't think he has slept past 6:30am even on weekends." She sat down next to her father with a smile as she started to fill her plate.