Feeling of contentment

the sound of rain droplets ticking on the glass window stirred Juan from his slumber. despite being awake, he refused to open his eyes, lazily lying there in a fetal position, the fluffy blanket wrapped around his body keeping him warm. straightening his posture, eyes still closed, Juan let his hands search for his phone on the nightstand. when he gets a grip on his phone, he drags it in front of his face. the time reads 9 am. he slowly opened his eyes again, gaze wandering outside the window. it's pouring. giving out an evening vibe even though it's only 9 in the morning.

Juan unwrapped the blanket around his torso. dragging his body out of the bed, frowning when the cold wooden floor kissed his naked foot, he made his way towards the bathroom to engage in his usual morning routine. Juan let out a weary sigh when his gaze met with his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. he looks like a mess, his black mop of hair sticking out everywhere, and his eyes are puffy and a little red from all yesterday's crying episodes. His mind ran to Alex all over again—his piercing blue orbs, the fluffy blond locks covering his forehead, the mole he had on the side of his sculpted jaw. and finally his smooth pink lips on a girl's own. Juan almost whined at the memory. he forced himself from tearing up early in the morning. he's tired of this. why can't he stop thinking about this guy already?

He clench his eyes tightly when the ice-cold water made contact with his skin as he splashed water on his face. after brushing his teeth and making himself a little presentable, he slid on his house slippers and skips downstairs.

"Huh? isn't it early for you to be wakened up already?" He asked when he saw his sister sitting on the kitchen island and chewing on her toast while his mom left one more on her plate.

"the same question for you too, it's only been 9.30, you've never been awake before 11 o'clock on the weekends, even if I and mom dump a bucket of water over your head." she retorted, his mom let out a sound of hum as she agreed with her daughter.

"Well, I woke up early today. why? is it a bad thing now?" he rolled his eyes, stealing a piece of toast from Anna's plate. she shoves him away with a loud whine, "stay away from me dumbhead, Mom will give you yours!"

"Kids, don't start." their mom stepped in, handing Juan his toast. giving a kiss to the side of his head as she whispered a "good morning, baby~"

Anna rolled his eyes, fighting off the smile blooming on her face. Juan smiled fondly at his mom, mumbling a "good morning, Mom."

"Jasper is coming home with his Billy and Toto and Anna is restless since the moment he called to inform us that they are spending the weekend here. that's why she's up early." His mom said, leaving one more toast on his plate.

Jasper Will is Juan's 24-year-old brother with a wife and a 1-year-old son. They've been moved to NYC after their marriage. Even though he's a bit younger to start a family, he really is a great husband and an amazing father with a stable job that pays him pretty well. He had fallen in love with Billy when he was 17, she is 3 years older than him. he got married to her at the age of 21, They were grossly in love with each other and couldn't wait to be together, forever.

Billy is their mom's best friend's daughter, she used to come to their home and hang out with them most of the time. And that's exactly how Jasper had fallen in love with her and now, they are leading a very happy family with their little ball of sunshine.

"But I didn't know! you guys didn't tell me." Juan frowned.

"well, I ran to your room to tell you this the moment he called. but your damn door was locked so I banged on it like 100 times until dad shouted at me to stop it. you slept early and didn't even care to have dinner with us yesterday." Anna gave a kick on his leg, forcing Juan to let out a pained groan.

"Anna!" Mrs.Will warned. Anna rolled her eyes for the nth time that morning. she is a year older than Juan but also the silliest one among them.

"When will they get here, Mom?"

"before noon, darling."

***

"Hey, It's just your grammy! she just wanted to hold her grandson." Jasper tries to reassure the whining one-year-old in his arms who refused to stay away from his dad. the toddler looks up at his father with wide glossy eyes and wobbling lips before hiding his face in the crook of Jasper's neck and rubbing his face on his sweater, wetting it with his tiny teardrops. Toto let out a shaky sob. Jasper's one hand soothed his son's small back as his other one slowly patted his bum.

"It's okay~ Dada is here" Jasper cooed as he pecked Toto's little ear, it was reddened by all the crying he did. he squeezed the baby close to his chest.

"he is always a little grumpy after waking up. he took a very good nap in the car, and now he's like this!" Billy sighed as he took in the tiny figure of her son in her husband's arms. Mrs.Will looked fondly at her son and the baby in his arms, almost tearing up from the sight of them, it's been a while since she saw them last. smiling ear to ear she said, "it's fine, I'm so happy you guys came home"

"Yes, we missed you guys, really!" Anna announced and Juan agreed with her, nodding and smiling at them fondly.

"We missed you too, and are also happy to finally be home," Jasper says, a hand still soothing his son's small back. Toto fidgeted his father's sweater quietly with his tiny fingers, finally calming down a little.

Juan gazed at his brother, Jasper looks young and handsome. he changed a lot from the last time Juan has seen him. the fluffy raven hair hung onto his pale forehead making him look soft while the black turtle neck sweater paired with black pants made him look a lot manlier and hot.

"I think Toto needs his Mama" Jasper let out a laugh when he saw his son trying to mouth at his chest and letting out a noise of frustration when he got nothing.

Billy laughed as she made her way toward Jasper from where she sat between Anna and Mrs.Will on the couch across from him and Juan. she scooped Toto in her arms, "Oh! look at you, why did you cry so much, baby?" she asked with a frown while brushing back Toto's silky strands of light brown hair out of his red face, before disappearing to the room to fill his little tummy up.

Jasper's eyes fall back to his mother when Billy was out of his sight."When will dad be home?"

"After Six, honey."

And just like that the 3 of them chattered about anything and everything, Billy joined them after putting Toto to sleep.

Their slight laughter and big smiles lit up the room. it's been a little long since they had a time like this, Silly but more endearing than anything.

***

Juan looked up at the ceiling of his room erratically while he lay down on his bed, body wrapped in his fluffy blanket as he drowned in his thoughts. today was great, like really. he almost forgets, how it feels to have a family time like today, like just all of them staying together, chatting, laughing, mocking each other...

it had a special ability to heal him, to heal his soul, and eventually help him to escape from all of his turmoils and pain.

he felt contented.