Luke

Present Day

Ari was eating his pancakes with an insatiable hunger, I would have been worried if I didn't know his love for chocolate. He got that from me. Chocolate brought me happiness on worst of days. I relied on chocolate like one relied on their best friend.

I was still on my first pancake when Miraj came in, dressed in black shirt, black pants and a red tie. I had only one word-Perfection. Suits always brought out the best of his features. 'Why couldn't this man have an ugly body!?'

Just as he made it to the table, he said, "Good Morning!"

Ari replied with a full mouth as Miraj dropped a kiss on his head, "Mowing Dada.."

Miraj smiled and said, "Chew first, then speak."

He pulled out his chair to sit down, turned towards me and said, "Chocolate pancakes."

I smiled because I knew he was remembering the first time I had made them. Anyone who knew what happened a year ago and was not a two-year old, understood that I had learned how to make pancakes because I was jealous of my husband hogging all the love from our son. It was embarrassing but it was for Ari's love, so I didn't care.

A year ago, on a morning just like this, Miraj and Ari found me setting the dining table for breakfast. When I let them know I had made pancakes, Ari was over the moon and Miraj was... amused. He had a faint smile on his face because he knew why I was doing it. But the look on his face, when he finally tasted my cooking, was worth all the mockery. I think he knew after the first bite that our son had a new favorite pancake chef. He was visibly disturbed by the thought and I couldn't stop smiling.

Back to now, we were still at the breakfast table, when Luke came in. He was a tall guy with burly muscles and olive skin. He had a handsome face with brown hair and brown eyes and they were by far his best feature. He had a clean shaved face and his hair was set towards the back with gel. He was dressed in a formal grey suit with stripes. Man, I was lucky to be surrounded by men who looked good in suits.

"Good morning Ari!", Luke said and gave him a peck on the head. Ari replied to him after chewing the food in his mouth.

"Morning, uncle Luke."

Aww. My baby was a fast-learner.

"Hi gorgeous", Luke said to me as he kissed me on the cheek.

"Hi beautiful!", I replied with a smile.

"Please tell me these are your pancakes and not this guy's!"

I saw Miraj's lips twitch at that. He said to Luke,"I didn't get a good morning so no pancakes for you."

"I don't want to ruin my day by greeting you. Fortunately, you didn't make these. Ana, do you mind?"

"No, I don't. Grab a plate."

"Why don't you eat breakfast at your own house like a normal person?", Miraj said to Luke as he sat down with a plate.

"If I had a wife like yours, I would definitely eat breakfast at home everyday", then he immediately turned to Miraj like he had thought of something just now and said, "Hey! Why don't I take yours because she is obviously more into me than you? What do you say, Ana?"

Before I could reply, Miraj spoke.

"Ana", said Miraj through gritted teeth,"isn't going anywhere but you are. I am done with breakfast and we are leaving."

Okay, I knew Miraj was uncomfortable with Luke and my interactions but this was beyond rude. Luke had just come into the house and Miraj was practically dragging him out. Though, Luke worked for Miraj, in the last four and a half years, he had become a good friend of mine.

"Luke, have at least one. Then, you can go", I said to Luke and passed him the pancakes. Then I turned to Miraj and said as politely as I could through my anger,"Surely, you can wait till our friend eats something for breakfast. He will be useless on an empty stomach. A big and strong body like his needs the calories."

The last part was unnecessary but I said it because I knew it would trigger Miraj more than he already was triggered. Miraj had muscles but Luke was in a completely different category. Luke's triceps had triceps. I had never pegged my husband as the jealous type but he was jealous of Luke's body.