CHAPTER 47

AVA'S POV.

I woke up with a sense of solitude and calmness and that has been missing in my life for a long time now.

Although the event of the previous day had initially left me drained, I was able to shake away the deserted feeling it caused me after spending hours talking late into the night with Mark.

I quickly slipped out of my bed, pushing my duvet to the side, threw a robe over my nightie, and left the room to greet Mark who had spent the night over at my place.

Maybe I was so excited about the morning because I was seeing him.

I tiptoed downstairs, my heart light, like a child going on an excursion to a different city from the one they have spent their entire life in.

I reached the door of the guest room Mark had spent the night in and I peeked my head into it, expecting to see him all curled up on the bed still fast asleep or swiping through his phone as was his habit back then.

But to my surprise, the bed was empty. I pushed the door wider to glance through the entire length of the room to see if he was already up and was probably by the window taking in some sunlight, but that also wasn't the case.

Wondering where he might be at such a time of the morning, I left the room and went to check on the kids, maybe he was already in their room having another moment with them as he was very fond of them.

The kids were still very much fast asleep when I entered their room, their soft steady breathing and mumbles filling the room, and there wasn't any trace of Alpha Mark.

I then decided to head downstairs, and a mouth-watering scent was the first thing that greeted me as I made my way down the stairs.

I followed the nice aroma that hovered around, and it led me to the kitchen, which wasn't surprising.

There in the kitchen, I found Mark busy presenting breakfast.

He wasn't making anything out of the ordinary, but it was a full spread of fluffy, yellow scrambled egg, crispy bacon, and fresh, golden pancakes stacked high.

Seeing him so focused on what he was doing, moving around the kitchen with ease, brought a smile to my face.

“Ava,” He called out softly when he noticed my presence, “Good morning to you.” He added, walking up to me.

“Good morning Mark,” I smiled harder, “Did you sleep well?”

“Of course I did, and you?”

“Perfectly well,” I answered, and Mark's face flickered with a smile.

“How do you feel this morning?” He went on to ask, I know he was referring to what had happened yesterday.

“I am doing well, I mean, I have been able to get that off my mind. I assured him.

“Why are you up so early?” I asked, moving past him further into the kitchen to inspect what he was doing.

“I wanted to prepare breakfast for the house.” He replied, returning to what he was initially doing before I walked in.

“You know that is what Jane is being paid for, right? She would have been able to handle that, why stress yourself over it?” I asked, watching him expertly flip a pancake onto a plate.

“I know, but that wouldn't make it special.” He answered, glancing at me with a twinkle in his eyes.

I nodded my head, understanding how he had been trying to be intentional about everything right from our date night the last time until this very moment.

“Alright then, I think I should go back now to wake the kids and get them ready so we can all be seated before breakfast Is served,” I said and Mark nodded his head in approval.

I headed upstairs to Kenny and Kendall’s room, wondering if I should have just stayed back in the kitchen to help Mark out and allow Jane to take care of the children, but on second thought, I reasoned there wasn't so much work to help him out with.

They were still fast asleep when I arrived which was understandable as they had gone to bed late the previous night.

I gently rocked them one after the other until their eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning, mum.” they greeted me with groggy, sleepy voices, rubbing their eyes.

“Good morning my loves, hope you both had a wonderful night's rest?” I asked, and they nodded their heads in response.

“Okay, it is time to get ready for the day.”

Kenny, who was always reluctant to rise in the morning and get himself started for the day, grumbled and buried his head under the pillow.

“I want to go downstairs and see Mr Daddy first before any other thing.”

“Mom said you should stop calling him that, Just call him Alpha Mark like I do” Kendall responded to him and I felt guilty keeping the truth from them.

I will look for a time to tell them the truth but certainly not now so I pushed the thought out of my head and focused on the moment.

“No Kenny, that isn't happening,” I said firmly, not listening to their quarrel.

“You have to have your bath first before stepping out of this room.”

“Why is that so necessary? I can do that at any time of the day.” He went on.

“You are going to do as I have said, or I will have no choice other than to lock you up in your room until you are ready,” I replied to him, completely not in the mood to banter words with him or entertain his stubborn attitude.

Kenny, on hearing my threatening words, immediately got up from the bed and followed Kendall into the bathroom to brush his teeth while I looked into their closet to pick out their outfit for the day.

Once the kids were ready, I took them to my room, so I could also shower and get dressed for the day before we all proceeded downstairs together.

We met Jane helping Mark to set the table up when we got downstairs.

Kenny excitedly ran from my side to greet Mark, who pulled him into a warm tight hug and asked him about his night before he called on Kendall to join them and we settled in on the dining table to eat.