Before The Sun Sets (ManxMan)

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1. In the morning

Mornings in the Grey household was always grand. Adam would wake up bright and early by five in the morning, he'd wake Jhoni up first, then George and afterwards Bella. He'd make sure George had his bath properly and help Bella too. While George and Bella shower, he'd lay down their clothes on the bed and let them decide what shoes they wanted to wear for the day.

Adam arranged the plates of pancakes on the table and beside each plate was a tall glass of orange juice. He makes sure their lunches were packed and adds a twenty dollar bill to each paper bag of food. Jhoni comes down first and select his plate of food.

"Morning."

Adam smiles brightly at his son. "Morning, J. How was your night?"

"Good." Jhoni replies. He looks away from his pancake and focused on Adam. Even though Adam tried to hide it, Jhoni could see how tired he was. Underneath his eyes were small dark bags and his nose, as well as his cheeks were pink. A tell-tale sign - Jhoni had picked up on-shows how tired Adam was.

"What time did you go to bed?" Jhoni asks, intently staring at Adam who just shrugs and walks to the fridge. Adam pats underneath his eyes with the hand not holding the refrigerator door. He doesn't know how Jhoni always knows everything.

"Immediately after I left your room. Why?" Adam asks, not moving away from the fridge.

"So it wasn't you watching 2 broke girls last night?" Jhoni asks and it was so sudden that it made Adam turn around and stare at his son with shock.

"You were awake?"

"I wanted to know what time dad would get home." Jhoni replies, shrugging his shoulder in a nonchalant manner. "Is he still upstairs?"

"He came back late, so I wanted him to sleep in a little."

"He's just going to yell at you for not waking him up on time. You always do this. Do you like it when he screams at you and looks seconds away from hitting you?"

"That is no way to speak of your father Jhoni Reign Grey. He brought you into this w-"

"No, you brought me into this world, papa." Jhoni says, quietly. It's been so long since Adam heard his little boy call him papa. Hearing it now was causing a surge of tears to come forward. "The moment he hits you, we are gone. Promise me, dad."

Adam blinks repeatedly. "Jhoni..."

"Promise me, papa. We need you. I, George, Bella and Ian need you. Strong you and not a beaten up you. The moment he hits you, we are gone."

Adam walks around the table and hugs Jhoni, his hand pressing Jhoni's head to his chest. "I promise you. The moment he does, we are gone."

Truthfully, Adam doesn't think it would ever come to that but he has promised his eldest, the first fruit of his womb. With perfect timing, George and Bella walk into the kitchen. They stare at Jhoni and Adam like they were growing extra head and it almost barked out a laugh from Adam. Jhoni has been angry at Adam for so long that George has lost count. The last time George and Bella had seen their older brother hug Adam was Jhoni's sixteenth birthday, four months ago.

Adam pulls back and makes his way to George and Bella. He presses a kiss to their foreheads and to their cheek.

"Morning, Papa." Bella sings, smiling so wide at Adam that her cheeks were red.

"Morning too, Papa."

"My darling, why don't you take a seat and enjoy breakfast." Adam says, leaning down to press another kiss to their hair.