ᕙ༼Jay Jay's༽ᕗPOV
I pulled Keifer into a tight, crushing hug, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and pressing my face into his chest. I could feel his heart hammering like a trapped bird against his ribs.
"Breathe, Keif," I whispered, rubbing his back. "Just breathe. The beast is gone, the table is 'in custody,' and you're safe."
He finally let out a long, shaky sigh, melting into me. "My brain is actually leaking out of my ears, Jay. I told your father you're a snack. I'm a dead man."
"You're fine," I giggled, pulling back just enough to see his face.Rosee scrambled onto the bed, crawling right up to Keifer and poking his cheek.
"Keif-Keif, I still have questions for my book! You said Jay Jay is 'tight.' Like a jar of strawberry jam that won't open?"
Keifer looked down at Rosee, and for a second, the terrified "schoolboy" vanished. A tiny, wicked smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth—the first glimpse of the confident man I knew. He shot me a quick, burning look before turning back to the five-year-old.
"Yes, Rosee," he said, his voice dropping into a smooth, teasing hum. "She's very tight. Just like a jar that only I can open."
I blushed a deep scarlet, swatting his arm.
"Keifer! Behave!"Rosee didn't miss a beat. She tapped her chin with her pencil.
"Otay. And you said she 'feels'—no, 'tastes'—good. Does she feel good, Keif-Keif? Like a fuzzy teddy bear?"
Keifer's gaze drifted to me again, his eyes darkening with a flash of that possessive heat from the night before. He didn't even hesitate this time.
"Yes," he admitted, his voice low and dazed as he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "She feels... incredibly good. The best thing in the whole world."
"Is she soft?" Rosee pressed, scribbling furiously."Very soft," Keifer murmured, looking like he was about to start "blurring" again. "But very stubborn. Like a soft, vanilla-flavored rock."
"Did she tasted good"little rosee asked tap her pencil on her chin.
"Yeah"he said kiss my nose"she tasted very much good,that's why I want eat her whenever she look at me with her big eyes"
"Hey!" I protested, laughing as I shoved him lightly.Keifer suddenly remembered where he was.
He leaned in close to Rosee, making a 'shhh' motion with his finger. "Now, Rosee, this is a super-duper secret. If you tell Percy or your Dad about the 'vanilla' or how 'tight' the jam jar is, the Secret Furniture Police will come and take away all the dessert in the house. No cake for a year!"
Rosee's eyes went as big as saucers. She zipped her lips shut and threw away the invisible key. "My lips are locked! No cake-stealing for me!"
"Good girl," Keifer exhaled, finally collapsing back against the pillows. "Now, Jay... how do we explain to your brother why I'm hiding in your room like a fugitive?"
I pulled Keifer back into my arms, kissing him for ten minutes until the frantic buzzing in his brain finally quieted.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯10 min later⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
We were so lost in that deep, grounding heat that we didn't notice Rosee had climbed onto the bed and was sitting cross-legged, watching us with her chin in her hands.
"Why are you both eating each other?" she asked, her voice tiny and full of wonder.We broke apart, gasping and flushed. I looked at her, then at Keifer, realized we hadn't noticed her at all because she was so small.
"We weren't... eating," I squeaked, my face a bright scarlet.
"It looked like eating," Rosee insisted, leaning in to sniff my shoulder. "Is she tasty, Keif-Keif? Does she taste like the strawberry jam in the kitchen?"
Keifer let out a dazed, helpless laugh, his eyes still glassy. He didn't even try to lie. "Yes, Rosee," he admitted, his voice a low, silly blur. "She's very, very tasty. Better than jam."
"Is she soft like a marshmallow? Or chewy like a gummy bear?" Rosee pressed, her questions coming faster now as she poked my arm. "When you bite her, does she squeak? Is that why she was making those funny noises earlier?"
Keifer's face turned a shade of neon crimson. "She... she's soft! Like vanilla silk! And she doesn't squeak, she... she sings! It's a very sophisticated 'tasting' process, Rosee!"
"Can I eat her too?" Rosee asked, her mouth opening as she leaned toward my arm. "Just one little test bite?"
"No!" Keifer yelped, suddenly becoming the protective "beast" again, but this time it was playful. He scooped her up, tickling her until she squealed. "Only I get to eat Jay-Jay! If you take a bite, there won't be enough left for my dinner! She's my special, private snack!"
"But I want to know how she feels!" Rosee giggled, squirming away. "Does she feel like a fuzzy blanket? Why are you so hungry for her? Are you going to eat her all up until she's gone?"
"She feels like heaven," Keifer whispered, looking at me with a smirk that was half-silly and half-possessive. "And I'm going to keep eating her forever! Now run! Go find Mamma Riceee before I start tasting your cookies!"
Rosee jumped off the bed, her eyes wide. "I'm going to tell Dadda that Jay-Jay is a snack and Keif-Keif is a hungry monster!" She scrambled out the door, her little feet thundering down the hallway.Keifer collapsed back onto the pillows with a groan.
"She's going to tell them, Jay. She's definitely going to tell them I'm a cannibal."
"At least she's not asking about the table anymore," I laughed, crawling over to lay on his chest.
Keifer and I were still huddled on the bed when we heard the thundering of little feet stop abruptly downstairs. The silence lasted exactly three seconds before Rosee's voice rang through the entire estate with the clarity of a megaphone.
"DADDA! PECCY! I have the report!" Rosee shouted. "Jay-Jay isn't hurt by a table! She's actually a snack! Keif-Keif was just eating her face she tastes like vanilla jam!"
A loud, wet sound echoed up the stairs—the sound of Jasper spraying his "strong drink" halfway across the room. "He was what?!" PAPA's roar of laughter followed, sounding like he was gasping for air. "He's tasting the vanilla again! I knew it!"
"And he said she's very tight like a jam jar!" Rosee added, her voice high and proud. "And she's soft like a marshmallow ship! He said he has to eat her all up so there's none left for anyone else!"
Keifer buried his face in a pillow, let out a long, muffled scream of pure agony. "I'm moving to the forest," he groaned into the fabric. "I'm going to live in a cave. No people. No furniture. Just me and my shame."
"Keifer!" Papas voice boomed from the foyer, no longer sounding confused, but dangerously focused. "Get down here! I want to know why you're treating my daughter like a five-course meal in my own house!"
"And bring the 'jam jar ' with you!" Percy hollered, his voice weak from laughing. "I want to see the 'clumsy ship' for myself!"
Keifer peeked out from the pillow, his eyes wide and pleading. "Jay, if I go down there, your father is going to turn me into a mahogany coat rack. Tell them I've been abducted by the flying table. Tell them I'm gone!"
Mamma Riceee's voice floated up, sounding remarkably calm. "Oh, hush, Percy! The boy is just hungry. Let them be! But Keifer—if you're going to eat her, do it at the dinner table like a civilized person!"
Keifer looked like he wanted to dissolve into the mattress, but the sound of Mamma Riceee's voice was like a divine intervention.
"Percy! Jasper! Enough of this nonsense!" we heard her shout from the kitchen, the clinking of glasses following her words. "You've both had way too much of my special 'Forget the Night' punch. You're hearing things! A flying table? Vanilla snacks? You're both drunk as sailors!"
"But Mamma!" Percy protested, his voice muffled by what sounded like a fresh fits of giggles. "He said she's a jam jar! A tight jam jar!"
"And Rosee is five years old!" Mamma Riceee countered, her voice firm. "She has an imagination bigger than this house! She probably thinks the cat is a dragon too. Now, sit down and eat your soup before I tell the 'flying table' to come for your dinners!"
Keifer let out a breath so long it sounded like a deflating balloon. He slumped against me, his head thumping onto my shoulder. "Mamma Riceee is a saint," he whispered, his eyes finally losing that 'deer-in-headlights' panic. "I'm going to buy her a vineyard. No, a whole country. She just saved my life."
I giggled, stroking his hair. "See? I told you it would be fine. They think they're just hallucinating because of the drinks."
"I'm still never looking your Papa in the eye again," Keifer muttered, though he finally started to sit up, adjusting his tie with a shaky hand. "A 'tight jam jar,' Jay. I actually said that to a child. I should be banned from speaking forever."
"Well," I said, tugging on his hand to get him off the bed. "The 'hungry monster' better get downstairs. If we don't show up for dinner, my dad might actually sober up enough to come looking for that 'vanilla snack' again."
Keifer groaned, but he stood up, offering me his arm with a newfound, slightly embarrassed dignity. "Fine. But if a table so much as shivers in my direction, I'm jumping out the window."
Dinner was almost peaceful until Mamma Riceee decided she wasn't quite finished with us. She set a large bowl of her homemade pudding in the middle of the table, right between papa, who was still squinting suspiciously at the furniture, and Percy, who was fighting back a smirk every time Keifer breathed.
"Here we go," Mamma Riceee said, her eyes twinkling with pure mischief as she looked directly at me. "I made a special dessert tonight. I thought about making chocolate, but then I remembered how much everyone in this house seems to appreciate a certain classic flavour lately."
Keifer froze, his spoon halfway to his mouth. I felt my face start to heat up as I stared intently at my napkin."Oh?" Percy leaned forward, his voice dripping with mock innocence. "And what flavour would that be, Mamma?"
"Vanilla," she chirped, plopping a massive dollop of white cream onto my plate. She leaned down, whispering just loud enough for the whole table to hear. "I made sure it was extra sweet, Jay Jay. I know how much Keifer likes his 'snacks' to be high-quality."
Keifer choked on his water, a frantic coughing fit erupting as he turned a spectacular shade of beet-red. Percy slammed his hand on the table, pointing a finger at Keifer. "See! I told you! The vanilla! It's a conspiracy!"
"Now, Percy, don't get your feathers ruffled," Mamma Riceee laughed, patting my shoulder. "I just wanted to make sure our girl felt 'well-tasted.' It's important for a 'clumsy ship' to have the right fuel, don't you think?"
"Mamma, please," I whined, burying my face in my hands as Jasper started howling again.
"What?" she asked, her grin widening as she winked at a completely mortified Keifer. "I'm just being a good host! Though, Keifer, if you find the pudding isn't 'tight' enough for your liking, do let me know. I have some extra jam in the cupboard if you need to practice your 'jar-opening' skills."
Keifer looked like he wanted to crawl into the soup tureen and never come out. He looked at me, his eyes wide and pleading for death. "Jay," he wheezed. "The window. Is it still an option?"