He had fallen asleep on the right side of his bed, facing the glow of his nightlight coming from his very small bathroom. As he brought his weight up onto his elbows, he slowly opened up his eyes and looked over at the other pillow next to his. He brought it close to his face and it smelled of lavender and vanilla, just like Juliette. It wasn't a dream. She had helped lull him to sleep.

Jude almost felt as if it was all a dream.

He certainly wished what happened the other night was just a dream. If it were, he would not have to try to fix what he did wrong.

It seemed he was always able to get himself into trouble or hurt others, but he could never figure the right way to get out of that trouble or how to erase the hurt that he had caused.

He really smelled horrible. He sunk his head one last time into his pillow and then got out of bed. He stripped his bed of the dirty sheets and wadded them up into his arms before going up the stairs. A smell greeted him as he reached the top--his door was left ajar.

"Don't forget to sprinkle on some turmeric, Candy." Jude could hear Juliette.

His heart started to race. Was he ready to see Uncle Andy? Was Uncle Andy ready to see him?

He squeezed the sheets close to his chest, as if they were some kind of armor, some kind of shield to protect his erratic heart, and he walked over to the washing machine which was directly across from the open kitchen.

"How come?" Andy asked as his eyes looked over at Jude for a moment before he reached up into the cabinet above for the turmeric.

Juliette glanced over at her brother over her shoulder, making sure to shoot him a welcoming smile, before  she turned back toward the sink and rinsed off some strawberries and then began to slice them into quarters. "To give it a yellow hue. Just like scrambled eggs. Don't forget to add ground black pepper."

Jude looked over at his uncle, meekly, before putting his sheets into the washer and adding in some detergent. He turned the knob, started the machine, and then entered the kitchen and sat at the table. He frowned, thought otherwise, and got up from the table.

Andy set the spatula to the side of the pan and said, "I'm making some tofu scramble. Breakfast burritos and fruit on the menu this afternoon."

"Oh," was all that Jude could manage. He brought his hand up to his chest, where his heart was, and he almost winced at how fast it was beating.

Andy backed away from the stove and walked over toward his nephew. As he did so, Jude almost took a step backward. Andy passed him and advanced toward the dryer. He crouched down and opened it and got a clean towel out of it.

"Here ya go, bud. Haven't folded them yet."

He handed the fluffy towel over to Jude and his nephew gave him a nervous smile. Andy was about to walk back to the stove but then he turned around and took the towel gently out of Jude's hands and set it down onto the kitchen table.

"I heard ya stink, son, but that never stopped me from givin' anyone a hug before, so..." He opened his arms out in front of Jude and his nephew rushed into them.

***

"Shouldn't we wake up Lenny and Krista?" Juliette asked as she rolled up her burrito.

"Ya snooze, ya lose," Jude said with a mouth full of tofu, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. "Mmmm. Good."

Before taking another bite of his burrito, his uncle laughed and warmly said, "Wow, boy, you must be really hungry. You hate tofu."

Jude hungrily kept on eating and shook his head up and down.

"Well," Juliette brought her burrito up to her mouth, "there's a lot left over I suppose. No need to wake 'em up just yet."

When the three of them were done with their very late and very tasty breakfast, Juls gathered up the plates and glasses and brought them over to the sink to wash them. Uncle Andy went over to the stove and began putting the leftovers away for the sleeping beauties to eat once they awakened.

Jude was standing behind a chair, his fingers firmly gripping the back of it. He looked over at his uncle and his sister, both seemingly content and lost in their own activities. He ran his tongue over the inside of his teeth, picked up the towel that was still on the table, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Once the temperature of the water was just right, Jude got in and slid the shower curtain shut. He went face-first into the warm water and ran his fingers through his hair as the soul-lifting powers of the falling water drenched his entire body.

Lenny had bought a new shampoo. Something fruity and all natural. He frowned but put a dollop of it in his hands, regardless, and lathered it into his longish curls. He inhaled the tropical aroma and instantly he thought of a time back at his old house. The house he and his siblings shared with their parents.

He was out in the backyard, sitting on a blanket, with his best friend. The late summer sun was filtering through the leaves of the tree above them. They were eating mangoes. Jude had never eaten one before that day.

"Ju-Ju! You're almost eleven years old, dude! You haven't had a mango yet?" His best friend asked him earlier, completely blown away by this information, and then swiftly elbowed Jude in the tummy.

He rubbed the sore spot under his ribs and confessed, "Nope. I sure haven't. Whatcha gonna do about it, huh?"

"Get ya some mangoes! And we're gonna eat 'em all. Over there! Under that tree!"

"Okay. It's a deal then."

His best friend smiled at him and then ran down the street to the third house to the right of the Wakelin home.

He waited on the grass in front of his house for about five minutes. In the distance he could see his friend walking, hurriedly, with a plastic bag that looked weighed down with whatever was in it. The mangoes. Lots of mangoes.

"Ju-ju! C' mon! Let's do this!"

Jude followed his best friend to the backyard. He picked up the blanket off the ground and laid it down underneath the tree as his friend had instructed earlier. "Alright. Ready!"

"Awesome! Okay," his friend brought the bag of mangoes onto the blanket. "This is the way I like to eat 'em, okay? It's the super super messy way."

"Messy way is the best way!" Jude flashed a huge smile and he watched as his friend began to peel back the red and green skin of the mango to reveal the sherbert-colored fruit inside.

His friend's hands were all sticky. "Here ya go, buddy."

"Thanks, dude," Jude reached his hand out and took the sticky, dripping fruit into his hands. "Now what do I do?"

"Bite into it, of course! Watch out for the pit, though, it's huge!"

Jude bit into the orange flesh and it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted.

***

After briskly rubbing the towel over his curls and then wrapping it around his waist, he opened the bathroom door and saw that both Juliette and Candy were no longer in the kitchen. He saw a piece of notebook paper on the table.

Candy and I went to the grocery store. We'll be back soon.

Juls

Jude lifted his brows and set the note back down onto the table. He went down into his room to put his jeans and boxers into his hamper and put on a clean pair of grey pajama bottoms. When he resurfaced, he saw a sleepy and messy-haired Krista helping herself to some leftovers in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi," he approached the kitchen table slowly and then took a seat across from Krista as she brought her plate and glass of orange juice to the table and then sat down, too.

"Where is everyone?" She groggily looked around her and put a slice of strawberry into her mouth.

"Lenny's sleeping. Juls and Candy are at the store."

She nodded and took a bite of her burrito. She swallowed, sighed, and wiped at her mouth with a napkin.

Jude couldn't help it. His lips curved up, ever so slowly, into a smile.

Krista touched her mouth with her napkin again and asked, "What is it? Do I still have food on my face?"

Jude softly chuckled. "No. You're good. You just've never been a morning-person, huh?"

Krista made a face, scrunching her brows and pouting, "No more than you are."

Jude nodded and continued to smile at her as she ate her food.

"Are you okay?" Krista set her burrito down onto her plate and brought her glass of juice to her lips.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

"No. I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"How do you feel?"

Jude's smile left his face and his features went to a darker place.

"Like a failure."

Krista shoved her plate of food aside and slid her glass over as well. She reached her hands out and rested them on top of Jude's. He blinked at the action and froze before her.

"You're not a failure, Jude. Come here."

Krista moved her chair closer to his and gave him a hug.

Being in her arms again sent Jude into a place he hadn't been in a very long time.

He felt as if he was being carried away on a cloud up into the sky to greet the sun and look down below at the very tiny people beneath him, who really do all look so insignificant when compared to the hot, blazing sun.

He buried his face further down onto her shoulder. He could smell her hair. It smelled like mangoes.

A/N: Howdy, awesome readers!

I'm proud of myself! Record-breaking chapter posted---didn't take me over two weeks this time. I hope you're proud, too.

I could have waited some more to let y'all in on what I've unleashed in this chapter, but c'mon, it was really hard to resist. And it's been on my mind a whole lot. Like all throughout the day. I am driving with my mom and daughter up north for a family reunion.

Wow. I came up with so many ideas, not only for this story, but for others as well while I was driving and while I was not. Nothing better than that, right?

Ok ok.

I love y'all! Thank you for reading.

The mangoes in this chapter remind me of one of my favorite poems--"Oranges" by Gary Soto. Google it and read it. You'll love it.

What did you think of the chapter?

Was it a surprise, or not? Lemme know.
If you wish, please vote/comment.

<3
Leanne

P.S. I chose One Eskimo's song "Amazing" for this chapter. To say I love this song is an understatement. I had first come across this absolute gem of a love song back when I was dating my hubby. I had to share it with y'all. What better time for it, too, huh?
;)